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17th out of 153 books
—
44 voters
Doctor Who: The Glamour Chase (Doctor Who: New Series Adventures #42)
by
Gary Russell
An ancient spaceship and deadly illusions force the Doctor and Amy to doubt reality itself
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
August 7th 2010
by BBC Books
(first published 2010)
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When archeologists unearth a dig in the 1930s, what they find isn't from any dead human race. In fact, it isn't human...and it is very much alive. A spaceship and its crew trapped, trying to survive and escape.
The Doctor receives a distress signal and he, Amy and Rory, investigate the strange dig and the even stranger people. No one is quite who they seem to be, even among the travelers of the TARDIS.
Who sent the distress signal? What is the Glamour and who is trying to claim it at any cost?
I ha...more
The Doctor receives a distress signal and he, Amy and Rory, investigate the strange dig and the even stranger people. No one is quite who they seem to be, even among the travelers of the TARDIS.
Who sent the distress signal? What is the Glamour and who is trying to claim it at any cost?
I ha...more
Gary Russell has always had a strong respect for this history of Doctor Who and his novels reflect a strong knowledge of the minutae of the show and the place each story holds in the larger tapestry. His The Scales of Injustice remains one of the most important Who novels telling an important story that fills a noticeable gap in series continuity.
The Glamour Chase does not fulfill as critical a function but does set itself in the wider scope of the series with its mentions of Mars and its evocat...more
The Glamour Chase does not fulfill as critical a function but does set itself in the wider scope of the series with its mentions of Mars and its evocat...more
You know, when it comes to licensed stuff, I tend to find myself stopping from time to time to echo lines of dialogue in my head, trying them out to see whether they work as representations of the characters I know. It can be kind of annoying, but I do it anyway. With Glamour Chase, I found that the dialogue in the book seemed to fit my ideas of the characters fairly well. So that's a good start.
Glamour Chase features Rory pretty heavily. I like Rory a lot, so as far as I'm concerned, that's pre...more
Glamour Chase features Rory pretty heavily. I like Rory a lot, so as far as I'm concerned, that's pre...more
I'm not generally a fan of the new books, and the new new books don't really deviate from my ... not dislike, but not love as much as I'd like. The Glamour Chase isn't remarkable in any real way. In fact it's a pretty straight-forward Doctor story; Wibbly bits 'n all.
What sets it apart is that this story is Rory-heavy, which makes me quite happy. Not because it has a lot of Rory dialogue (both internal and external, which are delightful). It's actually because Rory is quite a good character, and...more
What sets it apart is that this story is Rory-heavy, which makes me quite happy. Not because it has a lot of Rory dialogue (both internal and external, which are delightful). It's actually because Rory is quite a good character, and...more
For what it is, The Glamour Chase is fairly entertaining. The beginning started surprisingly strongly, with some nice depth added to Rory's backstory -- which was undermined, sadly, in the bi-polar way in which he was praised then belittled, then praised again by those around him. The second half felt muddied, to me, and what was missing from this novel that the television show captures, I felt, is how well The Doctor engages those around him. In this novel that dialogue seemed perfunctory, thou...more
The story isn't the greatest ever told but by no means is it the worst either. So it quite nicely kept me occupied for a couple of days. The last Doctor Who book I'd read was 'The Coming of the Terraphiles' which was just plain diabolical so after that stain on the Whoniverse it was nice to read a book that actually made sense and can quite easily fit into the canon of the TV show. Whilst the story was not the strongest ever written the characters were very akin to the ones in the TV show and th...more
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This is one of the best New Who books I have read, and certainly the most mature of the standard range of Eleventh Doctor novels (which I felt generally have been written for a younger readership). The plot is an alien conflict being played out in rural England in 1936, but the point is the rather good exploration of the regular characters - particularly Rory, from a point in time shortly before his wedding to Amy - and a lot of squeeful continuity referen...more
This is one of the best New Who books I have read, and certainly the most mature of the standard range of Eleventh Doctor novels (which I felt generally have been written for a younger readership). The plot is an alien conflict being played out in rural England in 1936, but the point is the rather good exploration of the regular characters - particularly Rory, from a point in time shortly before his wedding to Amy - and a lot of squeeful continuity referen...more
Overall, this is a pretty solid Doctor Who story. It combines a lot of familiar sci-fi tropes--which is something that Doctor Who has been doing for almost 50 years--but manages to do so in a way that doesn't distract the reader from the story.
If I were pressed to nitpick, I'd say this:
(1) It takes a bit for the Doctor to properly appear and, when he and his companions finally arrive, the narrative seems to focus on the non-TARDIS-y folks a little more than I would have liked.
(2) The novel is...more
If I were pressed to nitpick, I'd say this:
(1) It takes a bit for the Doctor to properly appear and, when he and his companions finally arrive, the narrative seems to focus on the non-TARDIS-y folks a little more than I would have liked.
(2) The novel is...more
So tempted to give this just one-star.
After watching the Doctor Who Christmas Special, I just couldn't sit and wait patiently until the new episodes came out this Spring. So I indulged my nerdier half and bought Doctor Who: The Glamour Chase.
What was I thinking?!!!
Russell is a writer for the series, so he's great at coming up with dialog that belongs in the characters' mouths, but I think script writing, not novel writing, is is forte.
My favorite sentence from the book: "The dining room, which...more
After watching the Doctor Who Christmas Special, I just couldn't sit and wait patiently until the new episodes came out this Spring. So I indulged my nerdier half and bought Doctor Who: The Glamour Chase.
What was I thinking?!!!
Russell is a writer for the series, so he's great at coming up with dialog that belongs in the characters' mouths, but I think script writing, not novel writing, is is forte.
My favorite sentence from the book: "The dining room, which...more
Oct 13, 2011
Jennifer
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
library-loan,
audiobooks
Any Doctor Who audiobook is up against it for me - short bursts of listening and not a genre I would choose for myself. But sometimes the stories really pull you in and the stunning opening scene of The Glamour Chase did that for me this time, in a way that would be nothing like as effective done visually. The Weave are particularly fine aliens - intimately related to one another, Fibonacci sequenced numbers for names and their ship being an extension of their communal selves. It certainly gives...more
Reading this book was like watching one of the episodes. It was a delight to read. And what Doctor Who episode isn't fun to watch? This was the very first Doctor Who book I've ever read, and it was purely entertaining. I look forward to reading more. I think Gary Russell, the author, got the characters down pretty good. The plot wasn't too thick, which I liked. Sometimes, it's just nice to sit back and read a simple book, with no real thick plot line to follow, instead of reading a "War and Peac...more
Though I don't think it worked in its entirety, I found Gary Russell's The Glamour Chase to be one of the more satisfying entries in the eleventh Doctor tie-in novel series.
I really appreciated the spot-on characterization of the Doctor and Rory here and I loved that Russell took the opportunity to flesh out the latter in a way that felt consistent with his character in several sequences. Fans of Amy are likely to be disappointed though that her role in this story is pretty small, though Russell...more
I really appreciated the spot-on characterization of the Doctor and Rory here and I loved that Russell took the opportunity to flesh out the latter in a way that felt consistent with his character in several sequences. Fans of Amy are likely to be disappointed though that her role in this story is pretty small, though Russell...more
Much better than I had expected from just glancing at the cover. Rory is given a significant part to play that builds on his character's strengths and makes perfect sense for him, and the Doctor gets to run around being Doctor-y. Amy doesn't get so much to do, but when she's around she's perfectly in character. The guest aliens are interestingly different, and the story mixes sadness with a bit of hope in a very compelling way. I'm not sure what the Glamour was ultimately, but didn't mind that t...more
Jan 02, 2012
Kayla
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Hard to say, maybe Doctor Who fans or Sci Fi fans in general.
Being a huge Doctor Who fan, I always followed the show and any Tv spinoffs, but I'd never really been one to bother reading the spinoff novels because I never got into them as much as the TV episodes. When my local Borders closed down, they had all the Sci Fi books 70% off, and this book happened to be among the few that were left. Of course I bought it because hey, it's DOCTOR WHO. This was the very first spinoff I have read for any Doctor Who series, and it wasn't a horrible first impression,...more
The Doctor, Amy, and Rory find themselves on England, 1936, where an archeological dig has unearthed a space ship that has rested dormant for thousands of years, with its inhabitants in stasis. The Doctor and his companions' memories seem to be affected by some strange force, with Amy thinking the Doctor is from Mars, for some reason.
Trouble is to be had when another alien race of people who were chasing this ship show up looking for them. They wreck havoc along the way, and a pretty much big ol...more
Trouble is to be had when another alien race of people who were chasing this ship show up looking for them. They wreck havoc along the way, and a pretty much big ol...more
I love Doctor Who. And while I wasn't too sure at first, I love Matt Smith's Doctor. He owns the role now and it works. I love the show and I enjoy reading the tie-in novels.
Rory features prominently here and it was so nice to see him get some credit for being bright. I'm afraid that he will end up being the tin dog of the series and I like him too much for that to happen. Seeing him take more of a strong role here was refreshing.
This one sounded interesting and, for the most part, it was. The...more
Rory features prominently here and it was so nice to see him get some credit for being bright. I'm afraid that he will end up being the tin dog of the series and I like him too much for that to happen. Seeing him take more of a strong role here was refreshing.
This one sounded interesting and, for the most part, it was. The...more
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This was a Doctor Who book I found sitting on the teen shelf at the library and grabbed because hey, I'd never read a Who book before. It featured Eleven and Amy and Rory and was pretty good, although it had several pages of PSA awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder which, while timely, felt strange. I'd gladly read another Who book or two, but I don't think I"m going to go hunting them down just now. Good, but not fantastic.
Jan 28, 2011
Mikki
added it
The sheep. I loved the sheep. Let's just get that out there right now. And I loved the Doctor's interactions with the sheep. And Rory - Rory is awesome. Everything that he's in is awesome. I pretty much loved this story right off the bat. The plot was nice too, and I just laughed at the end of Chapter 16, because of course that's what happened. Of course. I mean, British, 1930's. What else could have happened?
I'm not entirely sure why I keep picking up the Doctor Who novels as even for children's book they're not of the highest standards... Still, of all of the DW books I've read so far this was one of the better ones. The story doesn't just mimic some of the characteristics of the characters we know and love (which is the easy way out so many of the other DW novels seem to be taking) but the actual story itself had more of a DW feel to it as well.
Not a bad effort really. The story fits easily within the world Mr. Moffat has created this time around though a lot of the dialogue seems out of character. The story is strong enough and would make a good enough episode though it would probably be more of a filler. Nice idea though it's been done a thousand times before in the doctor who world.
As the first book based the show that I've read, I have to say I was a little dissapointed. I didn't feel that the authors portrayal of any of the characters was the same as the actors, but over all the plot was good and I would have enjoyed the book much more, had I not already seen the show, like, a million times! Love Doctor Who!!!
I haven't had the best impression of the Doctor Who or Torchwood novels so far, but I have to say I really enjoyed this one! It's a wonderful story, especially for Rory, and for Rory's relationship with the Doctor. The plot is great too, and the supporting characters are quite fascinating. Arthur Darvill is a great reader, too.
May 05, 2011
Emma-Louise
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of Doctor Who, fans of Gary Russell
Shelves:
sci-fi-fantasy
I love Gary Russell, he's one of my favourite Doctor Who writers, and this one is no exception. Despite this being his first book to feature both the Eleventh Doctor and Amy, he's got their voices down perfectly! Loved the banter between the Doctor and the sheep at the beginning! The Glamour Chase is definitely in my top 5 Doctor Who books.
This tie-in had an interesting plot, but it was the characterizations that made it better than average. Amy and Rory were more than just the two who happened to be his companions at the time this was set, but who they were mattered in this one beyond that.
![Amanda [Novel Addiction]](http://d.gr-assets.com/users/1296175918p2/4886503.jpg)
This book featured a classic awesome alien story - but what made me really love it was how character focused it was. We get a lot of Rory's point of view and thought process. And considering how amazing Rory is, that is never a bad thing.
An amazing novel, and once again Rory makes it shine! He plays the reluctant hero role perfectly and just makes a perfect foil to the Doctor and Amy. I think I like this one over the 'King's Dragon'. Definitely a must read.
It was just like reading a Doctor Who episode. Russell portrayed the Doctor, Rory and Amy perfectly and fit it seamlessly into season 5 continuity. I hope the other BBC books in this series are just as good.
Feb 04, 2012
Angela
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
doctor-who,
science-fiction
The Tardis crew land in 1936 where wool like aliens are trying to escape some other aliens. Rory shines in this book, and is given a lot to do. His compassionate side does come to the fore. The characters were more interesting than the plot in this one. A good read.
I've read a few of the Doctor Who tie-in novels, and this one is one of the best. It shows another side of Rory and has a really interesting plot. Definitely recommended to anyone who likes Doctor Who :)
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Gary Russell is one of the script editing team for Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, and the author of many novels and reference books in the Doctor Who range. A former editor of Doctor Who Magazine, he also was the producer of Doctor Who audio dramas for Big Finish Productions for eight years. He was also an actor and is best known for his role as Dick in the 1978 television se...more
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Feb 28, 2011 09:04pm