This is the first Doctor Who book I couldn't even finish. It was pretty awful. I couldn't tell who was who at all. None of the characters were distinct, even the Doctor. It didn't sound like the 10th Doctor in the least, and many times I found myself reading his dialogue thinking he was one of the African scientists only to learn my mistake after he finished speaking. Totally confusing, not engaging. ( )

This Doctor Who adventure was just ok for me. I listened to the audiobook... The story seemed a bit off....none of the Tenth Doctor's usual wit and charm,and Rose Tyler didn't seem her usual self either. The story was interesting enough, but it just missed the mark a bit for me. ( )

The book was slow and boring, I had getting into it and it never really took off for me. I didn't like the golden blob know as the Gardian. Too much time was spent establishing things in the story line.

Not keen on Cole as a writer for Dr Who. ( )

I'd gone to the library purposely to pick up two other books but I happened to see this on the shelf, and as it's a Doctor Who novel I've not read, I immediately picked it up. It wasn't until I got it home that I realised it was by Stephen Cole. I was a bit torn because it's Ten and Rose who I love but Stephen Cole is not my favourite author by a long shot. I've had serious reservations about his other Doctor Who works so I was apprehensive about this one. The plot here is that the Doctor and Rose land in 22nd century Africa, Chad to be precise where the Earth is suffering from lack of food resources so scientists are trying to create ways to resolve that. However, it all goes a bit pear-shaped when some little golden blobs from a nearby volcano start taking over some of the wildlife and staff.

The storyline itself was reasonable, there were several twists and turns to keep me engrossed. It was rather gruesome towards the end though. The Wurms were just plain icky and the descriptions of how their mud guns ate up the golems and occasional human were downright revolting. It seemed to have strayed into more adult reading than children's fare.

One of the things Stephen Cole seems to struggle with is attention to detail. He seems to focus on the wrong things. There was no real sense or indication that this story was set in Africa at all, apart from a few mentions of the temperature. It could have been absolutely anywhere which is quite a shame as it really good have been used to greater effect. However, a great deal was made initially about the outfits worn by the Doctor and Rose, especially her mini skirt. I think he later forgets that he's kitted her out that way, especially with what she gets up to later on. I don't know how she managed to not reveal more of herself. Actually Rose didn't seem to be in it all that much, she's rather superseded by the secondary characters.

There were an awful lot of secondary characters which is something else that Stephen Cole seems to have an problem with. There's just too many to keep track of, and in this book, a whole other group get introduced halfway through for no real reason! Then again, they're destroyed fairly rapidly too so they obviously weren't that important. I do think that a lot of the characters were rather stereotyped, although maybe it's easier that way when writing so many of them? The Doctor and Rose were both rather flat which I've noticed in other books by this author. The Doctor is a very emotional person, especially in this incarnation, and yet there was a very noticeable lack of emotion from him when Rose is turned into a golem which is completely out of character for him.

All in all, it's a bit of a mixed bag. The plot isn't bad but it's really let down by the characterisation and attention to detail. ( )

love the series, am doctor who mad...dnt like the books though ( )