A pile of gubbins. It takes care and skill to do the timey wimey wibbley wobs well, and they are not done so here. There aren't even any good character moments. ( )

I loved the fact that this time it wasn’t a different species that puts the humans in danger it’s something us humans created.

I mean who would have thought Android undercover spies in the 1980s! Fantastic story line and loved how the doctor and his companions are separate and it like having 2 different stories in one!

( )

Not charmed, I'm afraid. The limitations of the regular New Series range are, once again, made frustratingly clear: this is an action book for older kids, and I'm not sure what they're supposed to get out of it. The regulars are characterized well enough, but never in a particularly vivid manner, and the story revolves around the sort of time hijinks that have come to represent the Matt Smith era. Personally, I found it frustrating to follow, more a gimmick than a plot - and I dislike the way real-world, adult situations are played down and simplified in a kids' book way, but without any wit or style to account for that. There are quite a few ridiculous phrases for Americans - no American says "Cheers!" unless they're a pretty far-gone Anglophile, sorry - but that's just a slight stylistic annoyance. The real problem, I think, is the totally fantastical situation of the novel, which is then played totally straight. The result is a complex plot gimmick wrapped in a very simple outer shell. It's like reading a tricksy mystery novel without entertaining characters or even a unique writing style. It just isn't much fun. ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1867991.html

Some interesting concepts, particularly the moving of the Doctor both backwards and forwards in the same timeline, and the intersection of the Whoniverse with the US politics of the Cold War era, but Smith's style is irritatingly unpolished in places. ( )