Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles by Michael Moorcock

Sep 26, 2012 Dan Schwent rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: moorcock, sf, 2012, great-if-it-didn-t-suck, doctor-who

In the far future, The Doctor and Amy fall in with a group of historical reenacters, the Terraphiles, and join them in their competition to win the Arrow of Law, an artifact that may be the key to saving the multiverse. But what does the Arrow of Law have to do with the notorious space pirate Captain Cornelius or the theft of Mrs. Banning-Cannon's hideous new gargantuan hat?

On the surface, this looks like slam dunk for me. Michael Moorcock, author of The Dancers at the End of Time - Good. Doctor...more In the far future, The Doctor and Amy fall in with a group of historical reenacters, the Terraphiles, and join them in their competition to win the Arrow of Law, an artifact that may be the key to saving the multiverse. But what does the Arrow of Law have to do with the notorious space pirate Captain Cornelius or the theft of Mrs. Banning-Cannon's hideous new gargantuan hat?

On the surface, this looks like slam dunk for me. Michael Moorcock, author of The Dancers at the End of Time - Good. Doctor Who - Good. A strong P.G. Wodehouse feel remniscent of The Code of the Woosters - Good. Too bad it wasn't.

The ingredients are all there. At the core, this feels like a P.G. Wodehouse book set in space. Bingo Lockesley is a lot like Bertie Wooster and Mr. Banning Cannon could easily be someone that puts Bertie up to a hare-brained scheme. Moorcock even writes this more like a Wodehouse book than his normal style. It's very remniscent of Dancers at the End of Time in that respect.

The Arrow of Law is a lot like the maguffin in many of Moorcock's Eternal Champion books and the Cosmic Balance winds up playing a big part. Captain Cornelius is likely an aspect of the Eternal Champion and one of the more interesting characters in the book. I like what Moorcock's done with the 500th century and its denizens. However...

My main reason for 2-ing the hell out of this is the lack of The Doctor and Amy Pond. The Doctor and Amy are barely in it and don't do a whole lot. It reads like Moorcock had a Wodehousian novel set in the future already written and just crossed out two of the character's names and changed them to The Doctor and Amy Pond. As a Michael Moorcock book, I'd give this a high three. As Doctor Who book, it's barely a two. When I read a Doctor Who book, I want to see the TARDIS in action and the Doctor using his sonic screwdriver in every chapter, not playing some nutcracker game and looking for a missing hat. The humorous parts were suitably humorous but not Who-ish.

To sum up, it's a case of the ingredients not coming together properly, like stirring the missing eggs and vanilla into the rest of the cake batter after it's already baked for ten minutes. I will think hard before I pick up another Doctor Who tie-in. Unless Neil Gaiman or John Scalzi should happen to write one.(less)

33 likes · like · see review

Jan 06, 2011 Ala rated it 1 of 5 stars

"What the hell is this?"

That was my first reaction to this book.

After coming off the holidays, with two BBC America marathons of Doctor Who, I was happy to dive into a Dr Who book. This just wasn't one.

The Doctor, as portrayed in the book, has almost no similarity to Matt Smith's Doctor whatsoever. Missing is his charming geek/nerd/dweebiness from the show. His rambling in this book(what there was of it) was no where near as quirky and fun as it is in the show. The character in the book is jus...more

4 likes · like · see review

Apr 23, 2013 Desmond rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, doctor-who

I have read most everything Michael Moorcock has written. I am deeply versed in the vagaries of the Eternal Champion and the struggle of the Cosmic Balance. I have been a Doctor Who fan since the age of twelve (I am now nearing my fourth extant decade) when I saw "Robot" the first Tom Baker Doctor Who serial on local public television and am equally as deeply versed in all things Whovian.

Admittedly there were fanboy palpitations on hearing that Moorcock had written a Doctor Who novel. This is pr...more

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 21, 2011 Jonathan rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no one, avoid like the plague

Shelves: science-fiction

I should have seen it coming. I really should have.

I've read other books based upon films, tv shows and even video games and found them to be enjoyable, if not academic, reading. I was expecting a briskly paced novel with enough action to make this quick, exciting and with the tone of the new tv show. However I was disappointed. It was nothing like many of the adult Star Wars companion novels and failed to capture the tone of its topic in the same way as other Doctor Who books.

In fact this nove...more I should have seen it coming. I really should have.

I've read other books based upon films, tv shows and even video games and found them to be enjoyable, if not academic, reading. I was expecting a briskly paced novel with enough action to make this quick, exciting and with the tone of the new tv show. However I was disappointed. It was nothing like many of the adult Star Wars companion novels and failed to capture the tone of its topic in the same way as other Doctor Who books.

In fact this novel was rather dry and lackluster. That's right it lacked lust...well it did (good thing too) but I'm sure that's not what the word is meant to mean (of course it's not what it's meant to mean at all). The plot was drawn out so that what started as a well penned introduction became an almost rambling nonsensical mess of improbable plot twists.

The narrative focussed on the Doctor and Amy Pond attempting to find some arrow of Artemis in order to repair the multiverse. As soon as I heard that word I thought is this Doctor Who or is it some mash up with another sci-fi novel. The multiverse. So therefore the Doctor had to win the arrow in a competition with a group of Terraphiles (aliens in the future who love the historic Earth and pretend to be characters from Earth's past). Oh and a couple of weird and random characters dropped in for no reason at all and a hat was stolen. Apart from that nothing happened really. Nothing. Zip.

I was actually bored by a novel that was supposed to be light, fun and happy. How sad is that? The main problem for me was that of course the plot dragged. It could have and should have been half the length but the writer attempted to fit as much as possible across 300 or so pages. The only positive out of this book is that I have another one star review...sad but true.

To say the least: disappointed. To say a little more: I was disappointed. Sorely disappointed. I felt let down by this author I didn't even know. Where was the fun, the adventure, the excitement, the clever and witty comments of the Doctor? They were non-existent that's where they were: in the vacuous and voided limbo of the forgotten.

I don't recommend this at all. Unless you want to be bored by some monster that claims to be Doctor Who, isn't and drags you along for a few chapters with promises of clever writing. Of course you'll then find out that it was all 'a trap!' And then of course you'll be stuck in the bog of the middle of the book with a very large hat being stolen left right and center. (less)

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 21, 2013 Jacob Chinchen rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Absolutely no-one at all, ever. Unless they wanted to use it for kindling.

Holy crap, this book is awful. It starts off like one of the episodes they used to make when they'd blown all the budget on special effects - the ones which feature very little Doctor, like Blink or that one that Peter Kay's in. And then, when the Doctor and Amy actually pop up, they're nothing like the Doctor and Amy that you know and love. It makes you wonder if this was actually supposed to be some other book and, when the offer to write a Doctor Who book came in, Moorcock just shoe-horned th...more

like · see review

Dec 16, 2011 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really funny and enjoyable to read. Michael Moorecock is a good storyteller but seems to miss the female presence completely.

Amy Pond's character fades into the background of the story. She seems to be missing so much so that it is more believable to pretend she is a different companion than the real Amy Pond. This is not the woman who would have survived on Apalapucia tooth an nail – she would have simply curled up and accepted death as the outcome.

Moffat and Davies have cultivated several str...more

like · see review

Aug 08, 2011 Gareth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf

A garbled distress call sends the Doctor and Amy to PeersTM a holiday planet based on the works of P.G. Wodehouse. The Doctor believes that the dangerous Frank/Freddie Force and his Antimatter Men have crossed into this universe, searching for the Roogalator, a device which controls the black hole at the centre of the multi-verse. This device is possibly disguised as the Silver Arrar, the trophy which three teams of Terraphiles (fans of Old Earth culture) are competing for. In order to prevent t...more A garbled distress call sends the Doctor and Amy to PeersTM a holiday planet based on the works of P.G. Wodehouse. The Doctor believes that the dangerous Frank/Freddie Force and his Antimatter Men have crossed into this universe, searching for the Roogalator, a device which controls the black hole at the centre of the multi-verse. This device is possibly disguised as the Silver Arrar, the trophy which three teams of Terraphiles (fans of Old Earth culture) are competing for. In order to prevent the end of everything, The Doctor and Amy must ensure that their team wins fair and square whilst encountering amongst others the fearsome Mrs B C, Peggy the Invisible Thief, Captain Aberbly and the Bubbly Boys, Bingo Locksley and several off-duty Judoon. Not to mention the mysterious pirate Captain Cornelius.

I can't think of another book I've read in the last twelve months or so that I've flip-flopped over as much as Michael Moorcock's contribution to Doctor Who. There are passages which are some of best I've read in any DW novel, but then there are sections which are deeply frustrating. Even now I've finished it I can't decide if it's a daring fresh look at the show or something that belongs with the mad stories of the infamous 1977 annual. This is definitely a Michael Moorcock novel in which the Doctor is a guest star and that's better than the author trying to write to a BBC template.

As you might guess from the above plot the whimsy-o-meter is set for maximum. Moorcock does love his eccentric names and I've not even gone into all the alien ones. The first third of the book is set in a pastiche of Wodehouse, a bit like one of those Star Trek episodes where they beam down to the planet of the Nazis. Sadly it only shows that P G had a genius for writing comedy in that world of silly asses and eccentric authority figures, that Moorcock comes nowhere near. Matters improve once the team set off across the galaxy in ship captained by a centaur-like alien, because the author is now in his own territory.

Fans of tautly written plots or mysteries with enough clues to enable a clever reader to solve the crime will be frustrated by a very random series of incidents. In fact a lot of major events happen off-page and the Doctor is just told about them later, even the final confrontation with Frank/Freddie Force. Most of the typical parts of a DW adventure, such as a traitor in the team, a robbery, obtaining a vital McGuffin, are set up and then seemingly forgotten about. Meanwhile we spend an awful lot of time reading the commentary for the made-up sports in the competition. It's like a Harry Potter novel that's fifty percent Quidditch. I wonder how much of this approach is Moorcock sending up the pulp adventure formula of the TV series?

There's plenty of psychedelia involved in this journey and its hear that Moorcock creates scenes which could only take place in a novel. Trips through dimensions where all the senses are recombined, vast multi-coloured skies, a hundred singing planets and villains dressed as Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band exuding a scary wrongness. The actual writing is as literate as you would expect from a multi-awarding winning author. Yet good language doesn't automatically make a good DW novel. Despite a few continuity references the Eleventh Doctor is pretty generic and could as easily be the Fourth or Seventh, whilst Amy is unrecognisable as the cynical Scots lass we know. She comes over more like a cheerful Romana.

There's no other DW novel quite like this one and it deserves some brownie points for that. Existing admirers of Moorcock, especially if you've read his Dancers at the End of Time trilogy, will enjoy this one a lot more I suspect than readers looking for a story that fits into Series 5. Who would have thought that the Doctor Who it most resembles would be a mish mash of Black Orchid and The Ultimate Adventure!
(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Jul 24, 2011 Christopher Stilson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, humor, pulp, sci-fi, romance, steampunk

This book has several issues.

Issue #1: Not the book's fault, but the Doctor Who Reference Guide places the story before 'The Time of Angels,' when it actually takes place after 'Cold Blood' (Amy has forgotten that she's engaged, and therefore the story must happen after Rory has been erased from time).

Issue #2: This is the book's fault - it makes very little narrative sense. The threat the TARDIS crew faces is very vague and indistinct, and the nominal villains are laughably inept. It's the kind...more This book has several issues.

Issue #1: Not the book's fault, but the Doctor Who Reference Guide places the story before 'The Time of Angels,' when it actually takes place after 'Cold Blood' (Amy has forgotten that she's engaged, and therefore the story must happen after Rory has been erased from time).

Issue #2: This is the book's fault - it makes very little narrative sense. The threat the TARDIS crew faces is very vague and indistinct, and the nominal villains are laughably inept. It's the kind of danger that the Doctor could defeat in his sleep, which makes it slightly irritating that the story is dragged out to full novel length. It belongs in a Short Trips anthology, where its plot holes are less likely to be noticed.

Issue #3: It has almost nothing to do with Doctor Who. The Doctor and Amy are relegated to minor character status through most of the book, the TARDIS is concealed for no readily apparent reason, the only other Whoniverse elements to make an appearance are the Judoon (also for no apparent reason), and the rest of the plot hinges on concepts originated in some of Moorcock's other works, without giving a novitiate reader any indication of what those works are.

Apart from those things, the book is entertaining enough, a sci-fi P.G. Wodehouse-style romp through a distorted future vision of Edwardian England. It reads more like a work by Pip and Jane Baker than by Michael Moorcock, with copious overuse of language that occasionally puts even 'the catharsis of spurious morality' to shame. This is part of what makes the book too long, especially when the Doctor settles down to lengthy expository speeches that don't actually do anything to further, or even explain, the plot. The most involving element is not so much discovering what the threat is or how the Doctor is going to stop it, but rather what the rules to the game of 'whackit' are supposed to be. It is, nevertheless, a charming and potentially fun read, as long as one does not expect something of too much substance. What it absolutely isn't is an 'event' book, which unfortunately the BBC seem to be marketing it as, what with Moorcock's name being significantly larger on the cover than the book's title.(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Aug 24, 2010 Marcus Gipps rated it 5 of 5 stars

Clearly, this book isn’t going to be for everybody. Not everybody is a Doctor Who fan, for a start. And even among the millions of people who watch the TV series, very few want or need to buy a book based on it. Equally, although Moorcock is a fairly big name – I hope I won’t cause offence by saying he’s massive by the standards of the regular authors of DW books – he isn’t the most mainstream writer in the world. That said, the announcement that Moorcock was going to write a full-length Doctor...more Clearly, this book isn’t going to be for everybody. Not everybody is a Doctor Who fan, for a start. And even among the millions of people who watch the TV series, very few want or need to buy a book based on it. Equally, although Moorcock is a fairly big name – I hope I won’t cause offence by saying he’s massive by the standards of the regular authors of DW books – he isn’t the most mainstream writer in the world. That said, the announcement that Moorcock was going to write a full-length Doctor Who novel provoked some serious excitement out in the small Venn-diagram intersection of people who like DW and also think he’s a brilliant writer. That includes me – I used to follow all of the DW novels, although I stopped some point just before the new series started, and I have read almost everything that Moorcock has written. And believe me, that’s quite a lot of books – his output is prolific, and they range from the throwaway fantasy books for which he is, perhaps, most famous to the astounding Mother London. I’ve got them all (well I don’t have some of his very early work and juvenilia, mostly published under pseudonyms), so there was never any doubt that I was going to be picking this book up. I managed to get hold of a proof just before I went away on holiday, and it jumped straight to the top of the ‘to read’ pile.

The first point to make, I think, is that this is a Moorcock book with some Doctor Who trappings, rather than a straight-forward Who story. That isn’t a problem for me, and Moorcock is such a skilful writer that anyone who started the book knowing nothing about his work would, I’m sure, know that they were in good hands. It was fun for me to spot the links to his other creations – some obvious, some more subtle – but they wouldn’t get in the way of the story. This does have the added bonus of meaning that the Who and Moorcock continuity obsessives will now have whole new worlds to explore – all of Moorcock’s work is linked, and therefore now part of the Who world, and vice versa.

That’s me a being a bit silly, really, but one of the things I’ve always loved about Moorcock’s work is the way in which everything tie together. Cameos, quotations, actual cross-overs, echoes and hints – there’s always a connection somewhere. That this book is business as normal, and that the editors have allowed their star author free reign, seems like a good sign. I would have hated a book that had been written under constraints, that had taken Moorcock’s talent and energy and dissipated it with rules and strictures. What would be the point? I’m sure some Who readers would have preferred a less idiosyncratic book, and I do understand that point of view – the characterisation of the Doctor and (especially) Amy Pond is simplistic at best – but somehow it all hangs together. It feels like a Doctor Who book, and it feels like a Moorcock book, which means that it works.

Plot-wise, I don’t want to give too much away. In the far future the Doctor and Amy hook up with the Terraphiles, a group of Old Earth re-enactment types who have a very dubious understanding of what they’re trying to re-create, leading to some very funny misunderstandings. For various reasons it turns out that the Doctor has to ensure that a certain team wins the upcoming grand tournament of Old Earth games – confused iterations of Cricket, Archery and other Olde-Englishe pastimes – and recover the trophy. How and why the book gets to this final game is, plot-wise, almost irrelevant although everyone, especially the reader, has fun on the way, and everything is deeply Moorcockian. Having said that, the first half of the book (at least) feels like an insane version of a Wodehouse novel, and this is clearly intentional on the author’s part. A hat stolen from a hotel room, angry matriarchs, old buffers who only want the quiet life, a blustering hero called Bingo who has to steal the aforementioned hat, falls in love with Amy and tends to give “his by now celebrated performance of a space-beacon on full traffic duty, blushing red and blanching white in a matter of seconds”, and so on. I didn’t realise that what I needed in my life was a science-fiction version of Wodehouse, with added Doctor-ness, but it turns out that I did. I can’t bang on for too long about how entertaining and fun this all is, because this review is too long already, but clearly I loved it.

As I said at the beginning, this book won’t be to everyone’s tastes. If you’re a Moorcock fan, you’ll love it, and I can say that with no hesitation whatsoever. Doctor Who fans might, I worry, be a bit split – it isn’t hugely Who-ey, although I think there’s enough here to keep most fans happy. People who just like really good, fun, energetic, well-written escapist literature will also approve, although I fear that it might be hard to convince them to buy it. You might even be able to convince a Wodehouse fan, as long as they were prepared to see things refracted through a Moorcock point of view. For what it’s worth, I loved it, and recommend it hugely. But then I sit in all four of the above camps, so I was always likely to be pleased. The sales sheet says that this is the first in a series of Doctor Who book specials, and if the calibre of the authors – and the writing – is as high in the future, I’ll be along for all of them.

I read a proof on holiday in Wales, from the fifteenth to the twentieth of August (well, I had other things to do). The book is out in October, ISBN: 9781846079832.
(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Dec 13, 2011 Sean Kennedy rated it 1 of 5 stars

I don't have high expectations for series or film tie-ins as they are usually not on par with their original source, but they can still be enjoyable reads.

This Doctor Who book has been touted as an event novel, which is why it is in a different format and more expensive than the usual range brought out by the BBC.

Sadly, if this is an event novel, I would rather stick to the 'run of the mill' releases. Michael Moorcock is a respected sci-fi author, but it seems here that instead of trying to work...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jun 27, 2012 James Wayne Proctor rated it 2 of 5 stars

One admires the prowess if not the prolificity of our own dear Mr Moorcock, said admiration bequeathed in the formally distant third person, so as to varnish oneself in British semblance false in its expression as a warthog in mink stole. Hark, for in the message is the median, suitable one would think to admonish this tale of The Doctor, without resorting to overt hostility, for its shall we say Trojan qualities; Trojan, that is, in reference to antiquity rather than prophylacticity, though one...more One admires the prowess if not the prolificity of our own dear Mr Moorcock, said admiration bequeathed in the formally distant third person, so as to varnish oneself in British semblance false in its expression as a warthog in mink stole. Hark, for in the message is the median, suitable one would think to admonish this tale of The Doctor, without resorting to overt hostility, for its shall we say Trojan qualities; Trojan, that is, in reference to antiquity rather than prophylacticity, though one supposes either would suffice.

Here we have, in short, a Dr Who adventure in title, a tale content-wise of the Eternal Champion (more of whom...) in wodehousian drag dappled by the Light Fantastic. Inhale. Exhale. One remembers to breathe in these moments of reflection, lest one perish by maloxygenation. Yes, and so on. The book is a mismash of, ahem, Moorcockian dimensions. Which is to say, rich in ideas. Wonderfully rich. An enjoyable occult exercise in channeling PG Wodehouse; one might argue the channeler is being channeled as well, for just as there is a Who on the book's jacket there is named an author who may or may not be entirely responsible for what it contains. One is suspicious of authorial veracity.

Having a more than passing familiarity with Mr Moorcock's, ahem, prodigious output, one has never encountered meager metaphors. Quite the opposite, in fact. How, then, does one attribute the following: "'We have plan B.' She added, changing the subject so violently it left skid marks in the air." Inhale. Exhale. Vomit. Sigh. "She added..." is the start of an infant's first sentence in their second language. We won't make further mention of the metaphor other than to say it reeks of editorial jiggery pokery and should be excised from any and all future editions.

While one does not adore every Moorcock novel, cherishing a handful but as previously stated admiring the lot, none has been marred by remedial expression. It seems likely the author is responsible for the book's primary concepts and some of its dialogue, draped over the rest like gold lame on a mannequin; the balance was very likely churned out by some punter. So it goes. Nothing is shocking. One remembers learning that William Shatner did not literally write the Tek War books bearing his name. Such a blow left us stronger in the end, thus depriving this latest of its strength.

Of note, even so, is the addition of The Doctor to Moorcock's Eternal Champion pantheon. Every book features a protagonist who is in fact The Protagonist, tying together the Moorcock ouevre, if you will, into a cohesive unit. Signaled in the prologue by a pirate named Cornelius, the savvy reader knows at once that herein shall lie another tale in similar vein to all that has gone before. Among Mr Moorcock's better realised champs, Cornelius is a smart choice to pair with The Doctor. ultimately, however, it is Who himself who plays the role usually reserved for Cornelius; that is, to provide levity to otherwise sober, high-flung, lengthily-explained derrings-do. a queer reversal, that, yet hardly a shock. Whomever he is meant to be, The Doctor is most certainly less himself in this tale than elsewhere. Too bad the same can be said of the author as well.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 17, 2010 Oliver rated it 4 of 5 stars

As a Doctor Who fan and someone who read a lot of Moorcock in the past, (admittedly a long time past) I've been looking forward to this since I heard it was coming out. Did it live up to my expectations? Sort of.

In terms of simple entertainment, it worked well, I enjoyed it. There is a point however, early on when there's some pretty turgid description.

As a Michael Moorcock novel, it's fine. Multiverse, Chaos and Law, all that good stuff.

As a Doctor Who novel, I have my doubts though. It doesn'...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 07, 2013 David Musto rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people that hate Doctor Who

Holy crap! This book stinks. I am relatively new to the Whoverse and this is the third (and worst) novel I have read (previously, "Shada" and "Wheel Of Ice"). This was my first Eleventh Doctor book. Matt Smith is my favorite Doctor, since the show's tone got a bit more serious following David Tennant's departure. So, you know what I would have liked in this book? The Doctor. Moorcock was obviously writing a book before he was offered a shot at Doctor Who. Rather than come up with something tailo...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 15, 2011 Emma rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book is not a full length novel. It's a small books idea milked out into three hundred some pages. The plot, which consists of Amy and the Doctor trying to win a competition to save the universe sounds interesting. You know the old saying about how the journey is more important than the destination? Well, this could have had a lot less journey and a lot more destination. Amy and the Doctor board several different transports with characters that are either flat or just plain annoying. There...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 29, 2011 John Sublette rated it 3 of 5 stars

Overall, it was pretty good. It was my first Doctor Who novel, and I'm only slightly familiar with Moorcock's other writings. A couple of comments on it though...

First, there was a lot of basically Doctor-mumbo-jumbo that you basically need to ignore if you can't get a feel for the spirit of what's being said. Many people will get bogged down in trying to understand what the Doctor and friends are explaining... when most of it is completely made up, and thus needs to purposefully be confusing. A...more

like · see review

Dec 17, 2010 Nicholas Whyte rated it 3 of 5 stars

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1569466.html

Two grand traditions of British sf meet in this book, where the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond try to save the universe while dealing with the piratical Captain Cornelius and also with the Terraphiles, re-enactors of Old Earth culture who have rather garbled views of the activities of Edwardian England (it should be noted that both Doctor Who and a Dalek appear in the original Jerry Cornelius series). It's some way from being a standard Who novel, and rath...more

like · see review

Aug 06, 2012 Brianna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fluffy-reading

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Apr 18, 2012 Alan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Having read a little Michael Moorcock previously I'm not expecting him to turn out a light hearted, quick reading Dr. Who novel (11th, or Matt Smith Doctor for some of you). This ARC fell into my hands a little while ago, and I remember the uproar over one of the founders of New Wave science fiction choosing to write a tie-in novel.

The result is an excellent piece of fun. Yes, fun from the man who created the angst ridden Elric. The Doctor receives a mysterious message that presages the end of t...more

like · see review

Mar 04, 2011 Charon rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

I quite like Doctor Who, I quite liked the Moorcock books I read ... so, a Doctor Who book written by Michael Moorcock, what could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a lot actually.

For quite a while, the Doctor and Amy are treated like secondary characters, while the story is all about the actual secondary characters. It wouldn't be so bad, if these were characters I actually liked, but I didn't.

However, my biggest problem is the generic Doctor and companion. If it wasn't for the physical descriptio...more

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 12, 2011 Robin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Doctor Who books are usually cheese. I expect that going in. But I had high hopes for a Doctor Who book written by the legendary Michael Moorcock.

To be fair, it's better-written cheese than any of the other DW books I've read, and I was likely expecting too much. After all, it's been quite a few years since I've read any of Moorcock's other writings and my tastes have undoubtedly changed since then. I kept wanting the story to be a Ten/Martha adventure, too, which detracted from my enjoyment of...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 14, 2012 Shannon rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book got way out of control. Michael had some very big ideas that my brain is just not equipped to handle (the multiverse, dark tides, antimatter turning into matter and vice versa etc etc) and then on the other extreme end of the stick you have way too much detail about insignificant things (eg, something along the lines of 'He poured them all Vortex water, and they sat discussing Frank Freddy Force. The Doctor sipped his Vortex water and made some profound comment. The Captain got up and...more

like · see review

Aug 14, 2012 Jo rated it 3 of 5 stars

The styles of Elric of Melnibone, Doctor Who, and Jeeves & Wooster make for an odd, shifting mix in this book -- one that sometimes works, but not always. Moorcock, the author of the Elric series, here writes a Doctor Who adventure set among the "Terraphiles" -- re-enactors fascinated with their concept of England between the wars. The Doctor enters an athletic tournament in an attempt to win the prize, which he then needs to save the universe. Hijinks ensue.

But oddly enough, the Doctor is...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 04, 2011 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, fiction

9 CDs and full length novel - not what we are used to in Doctor Who. It will be interesting to see how it goes down after some of the Big Finish productions we've been listening to in this genre.

...phew, we feel as though we've done a marathon. It was a departure generally from the format - a well-known scifi writer (not that I've read any of his) and a reader who has not as far as I know actually been *in* Doctor Who.

Anyway, I enjoyed it. Some wonderful character names and some (though not as m...more

like · see review

Jan 04, 2011 stormhawk rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to stormhawk by: Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club

Shelves: kindle, book-club

I've given one star ... half for being Doctor Who, half for being Michael Moorcock.

I shouldn't have awarded any for being either.

Tangential is the best thing I can say about The Coming of the Terraphiles. It's one big tangential wander about the galaxy. And I'm not sure, but possibly an acid flashback, as well.

There are attempts to be clever like Adams, or outright funny, like Pratchett, but neither ever really happens, just like nothing ever really happens in the story.

The Doctor might as w...more

5 likes · like · see review

Dec 20, 2010 Moonglum rated it 3 of 5 stars

Micheal Moorcock's weird psychedelic metaphysics, homages to P.G. Wodehouse, and wonderful language make this a decently cool read. The opening sequence with Cornelius the space pirate is especially cool.

1 like · like · see review

Jan 27, 2012 Bob Milne rated it 2 of 5 stars

How could something that (in concept) seemed so perfect fail so miserably in its execution?

On the one hand you've got Michael Moorcock, one of the greatest living British fantasists, and undisputed master of the multiverse. On the other hand you've got Doctor Who, one of the greatest British fantasies, and undisputed master of the timestreams. Really, when you think about it, the only surprising thing about this crossover is that it's taken 48 years (both debuted in 1963) for the Eternal Champio...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 06, 2013 Albert Benson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Quite some time since I've read either a Michael Moorcock novel or a Doctor Who one, and seeing as I was given this for Christmas, I was looking forward to reading it. However, three times I nearly gave up, because it just seemed to meander, but I persevered, but I would still only give it three stars mainly because it felt like there were three of four different authors all contributing, the continuity appeared like a performance graph gone wrong. Some references sound like something out a 1960...more

like · see review

Mar 01, 2013 Smcleish rated it 1 of 5 stars

I approached this book as a fan of Moorcock, who has also watched most Doctor Who episodes since the mid seventies, without being a real fan. It's a poorly put together crossover, basically, between Doctor Who, Moorcock's Eternal Champion stories, and PG Wodehouse (of all things). It's not really worthy of any of its components; Whovians are likely to be particularly cross at the completely different characterisation of Matt Smith-era Doctor Who and companion Amy Pond - the impression is that Mo...more

like · see review

May 20, 2013 Derek Kettlety rated it 2 of 5 stars

I’ve had this one on the book shelf for some time, and finally got round to reading it. I had been warned off by several people, so it struggled to find its place at the top of the ‘to read’ pile. But if I’m to maintain my goal of having read all Doctor Who novels it had to be done. Unfortunately the warnings were correct, and I found it nothing but a load of over indulgent twaddle. Very little happened in the story, the Doctor and Amy play some abysmal mashed up version of sorts and games whils...more

like · see review

Dec 23, 2011 Shedrick Pittman-Hassett rated it 1 of 5 stars

I bought this book thinking: "I love Doctor Who! I love Michael Moorcock! This'll be cool!"

Not so much.

The story, what there is of it, is bogged down in a failed attempt to create a very Wodehousian setting--with the requisite zany plot--that under-utilizes the Doctor, Amy, and Moorcock's own Captain Cornelius. Instead, I know far too much of the personal lives of various Terraphile twits that make up the main characters.

I think Moorcock may have been going for the zany Doctor Who that Douglas A...more

2 likes · like · see review

title link	preview: Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles
avg rating	preview: Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles Goodreads rating: 2.94 (405 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8454751-doctor-who?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327112317l/8454751.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8454751-doctor-who?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles by Michael Moorcock[/url]

Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (7)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Michael Moorcock

Books by Michael Moorcock

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Doctor Who: Comin...