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Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #49
Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll
The huge, octopus-like Kroll lived deep in the swamps of the humid, steamy planet. To the native swamp-warriors, Kroll was an angry, mythical god. To the money-grabbing alien technicians, Kroll was a threat to a profit-making scheme.
In their search for another segment of the Key to Time, the Fourth Doctor and Romana have to face the suspicion of the Lagoon dwellers, the stupidity of the technicians and, finally the power of Kroll …
THE POWER OF KROLL is a novel in the Key to Time Sequence. Also available THE RIBOS OPERATION, |THE STONES OF BLOOD and THE ANDROIDS OF TARA.
Coming soon:
THE ARMAGEDDON FACTOR
In their search for another segment of the Key to Time, the Fourth Doctor and Romana have to face the suspicion of the Lagoon dwellers, the stupidity of the technicians and, finally the power of Kroll …
THE POWER OF KROLL is a novel in the Key to Time Sequence. Also available THE RIBOS OPERATION, |THE STONES OF BLOOD and THE ANDROIDS OF TARA.
Coming soon:
THE ARMAGEDDON FACTOR
128 pages, Paperback
First published May 26, 1980
2 people are currently reading
236 people want to read
About the author
Terrance Dicks
327 books220 followersTerrance Dicks was an English author, screenwriter, script editor, and producer best known for his extensive contributions to Doctor Who. Serving as the show's script editor from 1968 to 1974, he helped shape many core elements of the series, including the concept of regeneration, the development of the Time Lords, and the naming of the Doctor’s home planet, Gallifrey. His tenure coincided with major thematic expansions, and he worked closely with producer Barry Letts to bring a socially aware tone to the show. Dicks later wrote several Doctor Who serials, including Robot, Horror of Fang Rock, and The Five Doctors, the 20th-anniversary special.
In parallel with his television work, Dicks became one of the most prolific writers of Doctor Who novelisations for Target Books, authoring over 60 titles and serving as the de facto editor of the range. These adaptations introduced a generation of young readers to the franchise. Beyond Doctor Who, he also wrote original novels, including children’s horror and adventure series such as The Baker Street Irregulars, Star Quest, and The Adventures of Goliath.
Dicks also worked on other television programmes including The Avengers, Moonbase 3, and various BBC literary adaptations. His later work included audio dramas and novels tied to Doctor Who. Widely respected for his clarity, imagination, and dedication to storytelling, he remained a central figure in Doctor Who fandom until his death in 2019, leaving behind a vast legacy in television and children's literature.
In parallel with his television work, Dicks became one of the most prolific writers of Doctor Who novelisations for Target Books, authoring over 60 titles and serving as the de facto editor of the range. These adaptations introduced a generation of young readers to the franchise. Beyond Doctor Who, he also wrote original novels, including children’s horror and adventure series such as The Baker Street Irregulars, Star Quest, and The Adventures of Goliath.
Dicks also worked on other television programmes including The Avengers, Moonbase 3, and various BBC literary adaptations. His later work included audio dramas and novels tied to Doctor Who. Widely respected for his clarity, imagination, and dedication to storytelling, he remained a central figure in Doctor Who fandom until his death in 2019, leaving behind a vast legacy in television and children's literature.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 23, 2021
This is a novelization of the fifth serial in the sixteenth season of Doctor Who, and is also part of the Key to Time sequence, though it's quite easy to understand this one without having read any of the others. Terrance Dicks wrote the novel, based on the teleplay by Robert Holmes; both were among the best writers of the character. The Doctor, in his fourth, most popular incarnation, is joined by his companion Romana, also a Time Lord. (Or Lady; it was the 1970's, after all.) K-9 has to stay inside most of the time, not being equipped to dog-paddle through the swamp. The episode was never among the most popular, primarily due in my estimation to the low special effects budget; rather than seeing fierce alien swamp warriors worshiping a huge Cthulhu-like deity, it looked like a bunch of half-naked somewhat overweight self-conscious men painted green with mops glued to their heads shouting "Kroll" halfheartedly. And Kroll wasn't very imposing, either. In the novel, however, Dicks didn't have to worry about such things, and did a very good job of describing the imposing characters and the action. The story doesn't have as much humor as many of the adventures of the time, but Dicks succeeds in portraying The Doctor as filled with an amusing, dry wit and Romana (or Romanadvoratrelundar if you want to get precise) with a competent cleverness. The story itself is told concisely, Dicks being able to compress a couple of tedious scenes in the narrative, but he does add a bit of detail and background. It's another fun read, one of the most under-appreciated.
January 5, 2021
This is hardly one of the best Doctor Who stories out there, especially given how this is essentially one part of a larger fetch quest that the Doctor and Romana are on. They are brought to this planet with its protein refinery whose employees are in opposition to the native Swampies, but their real focus is finding their McGuffin. But of course, they get pulled into the middle of this little conflict and discover that the myth of the might Kroll, who is some giant squid monster figure, is very true and very dangerous.
The resolution was a little cheesy but at least the Doctor was quite cheeky and witty, as is the nature of the Fourth Doctor. But in the end this is but one stop in a larger journey and the main story isn't taking place here.
The resolution was a little cheesy but at least the Doctor was quite cheeky and witty, as is the nature of the Fourth Doctor. But in the end this is but one stop in a larger journey and the main story isn't taking place here.
August 9, 2023
Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll (1980) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the fifth serial of the sixteenth season of Doctor Who.
The Doctor, Romana and K9 travel to a moon of Delta Magna which is covered in swamp in search of another segment of the Key to Time. This moisture means K9 has to stay in the TARDIS. There tribes people who have been exiled from Delta Magna worship a giant octopus like being that lives under a lake. Meanwhile human colonists have established a protein refinery on the lake that seems to have found an almost inexhaustible supply of protein. There are also rumours of weapons being shipped to the tribes folk.
Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll is not a great Doctor Who serial. It does the job though.
The Doctor, Romana and K9 travel to a moon of Delta Magna which is covered in swamp in search of another segment of the Key to Time. This moisture means K9 has to stay in the TARDIS. There tribes people who have been exiled from Delta Magna worship a giant octopus like being that lives under a lake. Meanwhile human colonists have established a protein refinery on the lake that seems to have found an almost inexhaustible supply of protein. There are also rumours of weapons being shipped to the tribes folk.
Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll is not a great Doctor Who serial. It does the job though.
January 6, 2026
I’ve always liked this story for its themes of colonialism and disenfranchising of locals. The only comparison mentioned in the book is with Native Americans, but it’s a theme that has been carried out around the globe.
I think Terrance has gone above and beyond with this novelisation. He keeps the story closely matched to the TV version as he usually does, but also added some small introspection from some of the main characters giving them greater depth. Thawn and Varlik were the two which really stood out as having additional depth.
Interestingly the cult honouring MOTHER Earth is the SONS of Earth. That sort of gender inequality wouldn’t be allowed now-a-days.
I think Terrance has gone above and beyond with this novelisation. He keeps the story closely matched to the TV version as he usually does, but also added some small introspection from some of the main characters giving them greater depth. Thawn and Varlik were the two which really stood out as having additional depth.
Interestingly the cult honouring MOTHER Earth is the SONS of Earth. That sort of gender inequality wouldn’t be allowed now-a-days.
December 16, 2024
The Power of Kroll. The penultimate serial in Classic Who’s Key to Time season and the last Robert Holmes Doctor Who script of the 1970s. A four-parter that, it must be said, is not fondly remembered by Doctor Who fandom at large. Having recently re-watched it, that’s understandable given everything from the cheap sets to a disengaged supporting cast and some of the worst model work in Classic Who’s 26 year run. All of which might be blamed, at least in part, on that Holmes script. Or it does until you read the novelization from Terrance Dicks published eighteen months later by Target.
Dicks, as was the custom of the time, based his novelization largely off of the camera scripts for the serial and not what was broadcast starting in late December 1978. Thus going back to what by and large Holmes had written originally. A chance, after a fashion, to present the original vision of what the serial might have been.
Truth be told, it’s an interesting experience. A lot of the broadcast serial is still here, to be fair, so the basics haven’t changed. You still have the refinery with Thawn eager to see his project succeed, the Swampies with their leader’s blind devotion to his squid god, and the gunrunner Rohm-Dutt trying to supply arms. Caught in the middle, of course, is the Doctor and Romana in search of the fifth segment of the Key to Time. Not much changes there.
What does change? The humor, for one thing, something that Holmes had been asked to tone down to begin with but which Tom Baker added a number of ad libs. A few humorous lines are still present (though whether scripted by Holmes or merely inserted into the camera script is unclear), but the result is that this version feels like what has sometimes rightly been termed “the Tom Baker comedy half-hour.” Even going so far, at one point, as to explain who Nellie Melba was for readers such as their reviewer who were uniformed to make that gag work better. It’s subtle, but surprisingly effective.
With that change of emphasis, the focus returns to what inspired Holmes to begin with. Namely, that the serial offered his allegory for the treatment of Native Americans, forced onto reservations, now facing the possibility of being away by the same government interests. It’s something that Dicks makes clear, highlighting it explicitly with a reference to the "Red Indians of Earth,” which is about as dated a reference as how he referred to Jamaica in his novelization of The Smugglers at the other end of the decade. Something which is largely lost in its screen counterpart in a case where, like much of the more recent Chibnall era, the focus has been on execution rather content.
Which brings us to Kroll himself. One of the joys of Doctor Who in prose, as well as on audio, is that it will always have a greater visual effects budget than on-screen. Kroll, that giant squid worshiped as a god by the Swampies, realized (alongside the refinery) in model work that was out of date even with the Gerry Anderson series of the early 1960s. In prose, starting with the evocative prologue Dicks adds before the television serial kicks off, Kroll can be the towering and terrifying figure that he was clearly meant to be before the model work spoiled it. A towering kaiju-like figure that solicits worship from the likes of Ranquin and fear turned homicidal intent from Thawn. The final confrontation as the Doctor tangles with Kroll is presented as a genuine struggle, rather than the limply filmed contest broadcast and seen by fans for decades. The same is true for a number of deaths at Kroll’s tentacles that Dicks, coming from a pulp background, clearly relished writing. Here on the page, at least, the ambition behind Graham Williams request to Holmes for Doctor Who’s largest ever monster is fulfilled in one of the prime examples of the value of the Target novelizations even in the age of DVD and streaming: the chance to experience these stories in a different light.
Though there is only so much Dicks can improve upon. The characterizations, usually one of the greatest gifts Holmes brought to Doctor Who, are still fairly bare. There are no double acts that play off one another and characters like Thawn and Ranquin remain as single-minded as they were on-screen. Dugeen gets expanded upon slightly, but Dicks wish to remain close as possible to what was broadcast leaves parts of the narrative as undercooked as they were at Holmes’ typewriter. Perhaps it’s true then that, writing his second script for the Key to Time season and his fourteenth in a decade for Doctor Who, needed to recharge his batteries as so many of his trademarks are clearly lacking here.
It’s clear that The Power of Kroll was never going to be the strongest script that Robert Holmes produced for Doctor Who. Yet here in prose, adapted by his colleague Terrance Dicks, it’s far easier to see what Holmes intended the serial to be. For all of its remaining flaws, the novelization of The Power of Kroll shows that there was a decent Doctor Who serial lurking behind the cheap sets, less than stellar casting, and bad model work. No wonder then that Holmes would return to many of the ideas here from gun runners to greed and the playing of both sides again for The Caves of Androzani. It’s reason enough to consider giving it a read and discover the intentions behind a serial less than well regarded and wonder what it might have been at the hands of a different director and designer.
Dicks, as was the custom of the time, based his novelization largely off of the camera scripts for the serial and not what was broadcast starting in late December 1978. Thus going back to what by and large Holmes had written originally. A chance, after a fashion, to present the original vision of what the serial might have been.
Truth be told, it’s an interesting experience. A lot of the broadcast serial is still here, to be fair, so the basics haven’t changed. You still have the refinery with Thawn eager to see his project succeed, the Swampies with their leader’s blind devotion to his squid god, and the gunrunner Rohm-Dutt trying to supply arms. Caught in the middle, of course, is the Doctor and Romana in search of the fifth segment of the Key to Time. Not much changes there.
What does change? The humor, for one thing, something that Holmes had been asked to tone down to begin with but which Tom Baker added a number of ad libs. A few humorous lines are still present (though whether scripted by Holmes or merely inserted into the camera script is unclear), but the result is that this version feels like what has sometimes rightly been termed “the Tom Baker comedy half-hour.” Even going so far, at one point, as to explain who Nellie Melba was for readers such as their reviewer who were uniformed to make that gag work better. It’s subtle, but surprisingly effective.
With that change of emphasis, the focus returns to what inspired Holmes to begin with. Namely, that the serial offered his allegory for the treatment of Native Americans, forced onto reservations, now facing the possibility of being away by the same government interests. It’s something that Dicks makes clear, highlighting it explicitly with a reference to the "Red Indians of Earth,” which is about as dated a reference as how he referred to Jamaica in his novelization of The Smugglers at the other end of the decade. Something which is largely lost in its screen counterpart in a case where, like much of the more recent Chibnall era, the focus has been on execution rather content.
Which brings us to Kroll himself. One of the joys of Doctor Who in prose, as well as on audio, is that it will always have a greater visual effects budget than on-screen. Kroll, that giant squid worshiped as a god by the Swampies, realized (alongside the refinery) in model work that was out of date even with the Gerry Anderson series of the early 1960s. In prose, starting with the evocative prologue Dicks adds before the television serial kicks off, Kroll can be the towering and terrifying figure that he was clearly meant to be before the model work spoiled it. A towering kaiju-like figure that solicits worship from the likes of Ranquin and fear turned homicidal intent from Thawn. The final confrontation as the Doctor tangles with Kroll is presented as a genuine struggle, rather than the limply filmed contest broadcast and seen by fans for decades. The same is true for a number of deaths at Kroll’s tentacles that Dicks, coming from a pulp background, clearly relished writing. Here on the page, at least, the ambition behind Graham Williams request to Holmes for Doctor Who’s largest ever monster is fulfilled in one of the prime examples of the value of the Target novelizations even in the age of DVD and streaming: the chance to experience these stories in a different light.
Though there is only so much Dicks can improve upon. The characterizations, usually one of the greatest gifts Holmes brought to Doctor Who, are still fairly bare. There are no double acts that play off one another and characters like Thawn and Ranquin remain as single-minded as they were on-screen. Dugeen gets expanded upon slightly, but Dicks wish to remain close as possible to what was broadcast leaves parts of the narrative as undercooked as they were at Holmes’ typewriter. Perhaps it’s true then that, writing his second script for the Key to Time season and his fourteenth in a decade for Doctor Who, needed to recharge his batteries as so many of his trademarks are clearly lacking here.
It’s clear that The Power of Kroll was never going to be the strongest script that Robert Holmes produced for Doctor Who. Yet here in prose, adapted by his colleague Terrance Dicks, it’s far easier to see what Holmes intended the serial to be. For all of its remaining flaws, the novelization of The Power of Kroll shows that there was a decent Doctor Who serial lurking behind the cheap sets, less than stellar casting, and bad model work. No wonder then that Holmes would return to many of the ideas here from gun runners to greed and the playing of both sides again for The Caves of Androzani. It’s reason enough to consider giving it a read and discover the intentions behind a serial less than well regarded and wonder what it might have been at the hands of a different director and designer.
May 12, 2017
I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this book. Out of the six stories in the Key to Time series, I have always felt that this was the weakest link. However I really enjoyed it. There's something about the way Terrance Dicks writes. He really gets you into the narrative of the story.
December 17, 2018
A standard 'classic' Doctor Who story nicely adapted by Terrance Dicks. Having not seen the original story and not being overly aware of it in general, I came into this novelisation with an open mind and rather enjoyed it.
April 27, 2019
A throw-away effort on TV by the otherwise great Robert Holmes gets a lackluster, churned-out-quickly prose adaptation by Terrance Dicks. There's little to love here, no matter what version of "Kroll" one cares to digest.
December 30, 2021
when 70s production quality and generic plots hurt an episode, it's always lovely to have a revitalised love for an episode. this is one of those cases. there's not much to say about why this is better than the episode other than it doesn't have to deal with the issues of 1970s doctor who
December 30, 2021
A straight forward indictment of the US treatment of Native Americans. The story has an interesting "villain" creature, but the real villains are humans. Kind of opposite of newer Who human sacred ideology.
Enjoyed the giant squid. The story was pretty obvious from the start.
Enjoyed the giant squid. The story was pretty obvious from the start.
October 24, 2023
Doctor who always coming through with important issues about humanity. This one especially hit home when thinking about what’s going on in the world today (part of the plot is continually uprooting and enslaving a species from their homeland). I love how doctor who always has a happy ending
January 2, 2025
Dicks serves up a lively retelling of a weaker story from the Key To Time. Holmes’s original script isn’t bad (after all, a lot of it shows up in Caves Of Androzani), it just suffered from being produced in the back end of a season that was struggling. This restores a bit of grandeur to it.
January 17, 2026
1.5/5
The weakest Key to Time story gets a pretty weak novelisation too. Given how stereotypical the 'Swampies' are with their cult sacrifices, I honestly think Dicks overtly comparing their exploitation to that of Native Americans makes the story worse.
The weakest Key to Time story gets a pretty weak novelisation too. Given how stereotypical the 'Swampies' are with their cult sacrifices, I honestly think Dicks overtly comparing their exploitation to that of Native Americans makes the story worse.
July 16, 2025
Clips along nicely and the passages from Kroll's perspective are interesting. Not the most brilliant story, but Dicks has done another fine job adapting it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 24, 2021
I always have a soft spot for this story, possibly leading me to rate it higher than I would otherwise, but I always liked the idea of the Kraken, and also gigantic monsters in general, so really enjoy that side to this story.
On that front, there is good tension as the threat from Kroll slowly increases, leading to a strong climax, that comes across really good in the novel, which can't be let down by special effects like a TV story can.
The Doctor and Romana get a lot of good scenes, and compared to prior stories there seems a reasonable balance, with both of them getting into and out of Damsel in Distress situations, and though does favour the Doctor a bit in these at least makes it feel more balanced again. Thanks to the setting, K9 doesn't feature in this story outside of a brief cameo or two.
The other characters in the story are a bit of a mixed bag, there is a bit of a moral story coming across, but let down somewhat by some somewhat one dimensional characters within the story, with few of the one off characters feeling fleshed out, making the other main plot thread of the story just not come across as strongly as the Kroll part.
Overall though, I will always enjoy this story thanks to Kroll :)
On that front, there is good tension as the threat from Kroll slowly increases, leading to a strong climax, that comes across really good in the novel, which can't be let down by special effects like a TV story can.
The Doctor and Romana get a lot of good scenes, and compared to prior stories there seems a reasonable balance, with both of them getting into and out of Damsel in Distress situations, and though does favour the Doctor a bit in these at least makes it feel more balanced again. Thanks to the setting, K9 doesn't feature in this story outside of a brief cameo or two.
The other characters in the story are a bit of a mixed bag, there is a bit of a moral story coming across, but let down somewhat by some somewhat one dimensional characters within the story, with few of the one off characters feeling fleshed out, making the other main plot thread of the story just not come across as strongly as the Kroll part.
Overall though, I will always enjoy this story thanks to Kroll :)
August 23, 2022
Back in my early days of Doctor Who fandom, some friends caught a few moments of "The Power of Kroll" and incredulously mocked me because the Doctor somehow defeated a giant squid creature using a tiny stick. Of course, I tried to explain to them exactly what was happening in the scene and how it wasn't really a tiny stick, but my pleas fell upon deaf ears and taunts about the budgetary limitations of my favorite show.
Years later, removed of the mocking jabs of my youth, I've come to see that "The Power of Kroll" is a rough draft for Robert Holmes' triumphant "Caves of Androzani." And while most fans will be quick to cry that its the scripts that make classic Wh0 so special, the comparisons between "Androzani" and "Kroll" show sometimes there are other elements involved as well.
Pursuing the fifth segment of the Key to Time, the Doctor and Romana arrive on a moon of Delta Manga. A revolutionary station is processing protein from the swamp and sending it home to feed the greater population. One obstacle is a group of natives, who were displaced from Delta Magna originally and now stand in the way of full development of the small moon's resources. Lurking in the swamp is a large creature, worshiped by the natives and known as Kroll. After some time being dormant, Kroll is on the move again -- and is hungry.
So, we have a smaller moon that provides a vital resource to a larger population, a character with a vested interest in sustaining the profit margins and a willingness to do anything he can to ensure them, and a guy running guns under the nose of governmental authorities. Sounds an awful lot like "Androzani," doesn't it?
And yet, it's nowhere nearly as nuanced or entertaining as "Androzani" would be six years later. Part of that comes down to the simple matter of Doctor Who trying to realize a giant squid monster on the Doctor Who budget. This late in the season, it was going to be next to impossible to do -- and wisely, Kroll is kept off-screen and seen only as a tentacle for much of the first couple of episodes.
With location shooting in swamps, natives who are a metaphor for many native populations on Earth, and Tom Baker so completely immeshed in the role of the Doctor, this one could have been an absolute classic. And yet, it falls short.
The adaptation by Terrance Dicks is another example of a competent enough effort to adapt the script to the printed page, but not offering anything more to the story in terms of character development or background. The image of Dicks chained to his desk and turning out a Target novel every few days during this era is one I can't quite shake. There is a little prologue that serves as an origin for Kroll, but it gives away some of the Doctor's discoveries later in the story, so I'm not sure it's necessarily a huge asset here.
The audio version of this novel features another solid performance by Geoffrey Beavers, who (as I've said before, could read a take-out menu and do a great job with it. Beavers is doing his best with the material provided. As usual, the audio effects and music serve the story well enough, creating a nice soundscape.
While it's not necessarily a classic, I still think I've not been as kind to "Kroll" as I could or should be. After listening to this again, it may be time to reevaluate the televised version.
Years later, removed of the mocking jabs of my youth, I've come to see that "The Power of Kroll" is a rough draft for Robert Holmes' triumphant "Caves of Androzani." And while most fans will be quick to cry that its the scripts that make classic Wh0 so special, the comparisons between "Androzani" and "Kroll" show sometimes there are other elements involved as well.
Pursuing the fifth segment of the Key to Time, the Doctor and Romana arrive on a moon of Delta Manga. A revolutionary station is processing protein from the swamp and sending it home to feed the greater population. One obstacle is a group of natives, who were displaced from Delta Magna originally and now stand in the way of full development of the small moon's resources. Lurking in the swamp is a large creature, worshiped by the natives and known as Kroll. After some time being dormant, Kroll is on the move again -- and is hungry.
So, we have a smaller moon that provides a vital resource to a larger population, a character with a vested interest in sustaining the profit margins and a willingness to do anything he can to ensure them, and a guy running guns under the nose of governmental authorities. Sounds an awful lot like "Androzani," doesn't it?
And yet, it's nowhere nearly as nuanced or entertaining as "Androzani" would be six years later. Part of that comes down to the simple matter of Doctor Who trying to realize a giant squid monster on the Doctor Who budget. This late in the season, it was going to be next to impossible to do -- and wisely, Kroll is kept off-screen and seen only as a tentacle for much of the first couple of episodes.
With location shooting in swamps, natives who are a metaphor for many native populations on Earth, and Tom Baker so completely immeshed in the role of the Doctor, this one could have been an absolute classic. And yet, it falls short.
The adaptation by Terrance Dicks is another example of a competent enough effort to adapt the script to the printed page, but not offering anything more to the story in terms of character development or background. The image of Dicks chained to his desk and turning out a Target novel every few days during this era is one I can't quite shake. There is a little prologue that serves as an origin for Kroll, but it gives away some of the Doctor's discoveries later in the story, so I'm not sure it's necessarily a huge asset here.
The audio version of this novel features another solid performance by Geoffrey Beavers, who (as I've said before, could read a take-out menu and do a great job with it. Beavers is doing his best with the material provided. As usual, the audio effects and music serve the story well enough, creating a nice soundscape.
While it's not necessarily a classic, I still think I've not been as kind to "Kroll" as I could or should be. After listening to this again, it may be time to reevaluate the televised version.
December 20, 2021
I have always loved the key to time season of Doctor Who so I was excited when a lot of Target books came my way and had one of the novelizations… It was the Power of Krull.
While initially disappointed, this novel made me fall in love with the story. Terrance Dicks once again delivers an engaging book and creates a sense of atmosphere that was not seen on screen. The themes and parallels this story has to American history (with regard to the treatment of Indigenous peoples) is brought to the forefront and is deliver in a way the target audience would understand.
Overall this is a very enjoyable book that surpassed all expectations. A good read.
While initially disappointed, this novel made me fall in love with the story. Terrance Dicks once again delivers an engaging book and creates a sense of atmosphere that was not seen on screen. The themes and parallels this story has to American history (with regard to the treatment of Indigenous peoples) is brought to the forefront and is deliver in a way the target audience would understand.
Overall this is a very enjoyable book that surpassed all expectations. A good read.
Read
April 8, 2009http://nhw.livejournal.com/1047630.html#cutid4[return][return]The Dicks/Holmes combination is a rather uneven predictor of quality, so it is worth noting that while this is generally considered the weakest of this season's televised stories, it is possibly the best of the Key to Time books, with the background to the Swampies, Rohm-Dutt and the refinery staff filled out a bit. Basically the only one of the Season 16 books that I would recommend to the casual collector as opposed to the completist.
June 25, 2013
Although I'm not overly fond of the Key to Time sequence, this is a rollicking good adventure tale complete with tree hugging activists, primitives, commentary on religious belief, and a megalomaniacal plant manager.
Read
August 23, 2008isbn,original
May 16, 2009
A fun adventure with a sci-fi take on English colonialism and a giant monster thrown in for good measure.
December 19, 2010
One of the Key to Time series. Nothing more needs to be said about why to read it
December 1, 2021
Again another book that's better than the TV version.
Fairly well paced and easy to read.
Fairly well paced and easy to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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