The way this was written is exactly as he talks. And he talks great. If you love Doctor Who you should definitly read these books. Now if you could excuse me, I'm off to buy the other Doctor Who bo Oeeeeeeeeeeh. Now if you could excuse me, I'm off to buy the other Doctor Who books. View all 5 comments. Feb 01, Trin rated it it was ok Shelves: I think the basic premise of this book, in which the Doctor and Martha visit the Museum of the Last Ones, is quite cool; the book in general, however, is rather blah.
Those moments are one of the major reasons I enjoy serialized entertainment as much as I do. That and the pretty pretty boys. Back to this particular tie-in: I liked all the stuff about the extinct animals, mostly because I like weird facts about things like extinct animals. Way to lower my standards, Rusty. Dec 22, Angela rated it it was ok Shelves: The first book of my book log note the shift in icons to designate these posts! The Last Dodo , by Jacqueline Rayner. I'd previously read and enjoyed her The Stone Rose , so I wanted to give her another shot. This one's a Ten-Martha--but I have to halfway wonder whether Rayner just has a preference for Ten-Rose, or perhaps just a better grasp of Rose, because she didn't seem to get Martha quite right at all for me.
Which is a shame, because there's a big chunk of The first book of my book log note the shift in icons to designate these posts! Which is a shame, because there's a big chunk of this book that's from Martha's point of view, so there was plenty of opportunity to delve into her as a character. Thing is, much of Martha's sections were actually in first person--and Rayner gives her a voice that comes across as a bit too ditzy and teenager-y for the young woman we see on the show, especially given that Martha's supposed to be a medical student after all.
And this is related to the book's other major issue: The Martha sections alternated between first and third person for no apparent reason, and to have a first person Martha section immediately followed by a third person was quite jarring. So was the one occurrence I found where two short paragraphs were repeated one right after the other on a page.
This is not to say it wasn't a fun read, though. This time around, the collector in question trying to corner the last Time Lord certainly has some potential for interest--though this wasn't explored nearly as deeply as I'd hoped. Still, the Doctor reacting to and sympathizing with all the trapped creatures rings true for him as a character, and even if Rayner's grasp on Martha is kind of shaky, she's good and solid on the Doctor. Two and a half stars. This book really brought out the Doctor for me. It had his personality pretty spot-on and made me smile while reading it.
It also reeeeeally makes me want a Dodo; it was adorable. It had a lot of cute moments and I can never turn down dinosaurs being brought back to life! Feb 24, Helen rated it liked it. I didn't like that it switched from Martha's first person narrative to third person. Also, I didn't feel Martha's 'voice' was quite right. Jan 07, Christopher Buchanan rated it it was ok Shelves: I had pretty much given up on the new series books. Aside from the fact they are generally written for younger readers, they're also generally pretty bad.
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Hence, I just quit bothering. I can thank Drunk Chris for this one. Sober Chris will come home from work and there will be a package containing a book or two. Usually it's a book Sober Chris wouldn't mind having but none-the-less he goes running I had pretty much given up on the new series books. Usually it's a book Sober Chris wouldn't mind having but none-the-less he goes running to the computer to figure out how much the idiot paid for it.
It's almost always a good, or at least acceptable, price. Thankfully The down shot is, sometimes you get a "Wtf was he thinking? This was one of those. It's in great shape and hardback. Not a bad score. However, as I said above, I am not a fan of the new series books and if you've read some of my other reviews, you know I am definitely not a big fan of Jacqueline Rayner.
As best I can figure, since this one didn't have an actual picture of the book on the listing it was purchased from, Drunk Chris probably mistook it for an 8th Doctor novel or something along those lines. But, as I have the damn thing anyway and it takes all of about 3 hours to read one of these, I figure, what the hell, I'll give it a try. Well, sadly, this has not made me change my mind about the new series books or Rayner. I will admit though, it is not as terrible as I thought it would be. It actually had a very interesting and fairly well constructed, if extremely implausible, story.
It also had a very nice though somewhat simplistic message about conservation to it. As it's a young adult book, I can overlook the simplistic nature of it. Not bad on those counts. However, on the characters, it really blows it. Martha, despite being a trained doctor, apparently gabbles like a sugared up ten year old and can't handle anything more complicated than a DVD player or a toaster. Rayner also has a tendency to amplify the more annoying habits of the 10th Doctor.
Specifically the hyper-activity and the high speed technobabble. In small doses it can be endearing but in Rayner's novels they seem to be the bulk of his character excepting the momentary flashes of maudlin when someone reminds him he's 'The Last of the Time Lords' for the th time. There was also a quaint little line very early on when the author refers to the Earther's weapons as their "space guns".
It's not good, but it's not terrible either. Especially if you don't want to engage your brain.
Sep 16, Katie Bookworm rated it it was amazing. It is told partly through the eyes of Martha and partly from third - person and captures the true essence of doctor who. The book is about No Spoilers here! But things are going haywire - Creatures are being stolen! But what if someone finds out about The Doctor?? Oct 19, Danni rated it it was amazing. Nov 19, Thetravelingpanda rated it it was amazing. A must read for any Doctor Who fan.
I read other Doctor Who books but this one is the best! I took it for a 12 hours plane and I could not put it down the entire trip! Oct 11, Kimberley doruyter rated it really liked it. Sep 02, Chris rated it it was amazing.
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Listened to the book on tape and I really enjoyed it. Freema Agyeman narrates the book and does a fantastic job. The story is rather interesting, and the Doctor and Martha are fantastic. Feb 08, Diana Montes rated it it was amazing. Jul 30, Heather rated it it was amazing. A very quick read - I read it in about two hours or so - but was enjoyable.
I loved the idea that there would be a museum of 'last ones' of every species in the future. Feb 24, Jessica Boyd rated it it was amazing Shelves: Rayner understands Martha so completely! She even seems to preemptively telegraph what fanboys now complain about online about not being the center of stories with the character of Frank. So many quotable moments caused me to stop and make animated gifs. Great thoughts on not hating whole groups but individual actions, thought Rayner understands Martha so completely! Plus, about halfway through the book helped me figure out my own complicated feelings about zoos and society.
I immediately wanted my daughter to read this book. I just want everyone who loves the Tenth Doctor or Martha to read this book. In Teilen ist der Roman etwas langatmig. Hinzu kommt eine teilweise recht extreme moralische Haltung, die von einigen Tierfreunden heute ja auch schon propagiert wird: Dass es besser ist, eine Tierart in Freiheit aussterben zu lassen, als sie in Gefangenschaft zu halten, egal wie artgerecht die Gehege gestaltet werden. Dennoch s In Teilen ist der Roman etwas langatmig. The Doctor and Martha want to see a Dodo and the TARDIS takes them to an alien zoo that was set up to preserve the last living member of any species that's going extinct.
They find out that someone has been stealing some of the animals and hijinx and such ensue as Martha and the Doctor investigate. She did a really go 4 stars This was a very good Doctor Who story. She did a really good job and her familiar voice helped to make the book's story seem very like the TV show. I didn't really understand or like the "abridged" business. I assume that was why they kept switching between 3rd and 1st person at random moments?? Anyway it was all rather odd and I feel a bit like I've cheated reading the book but ah well. I liked the plot quite a lot.
Good concept but I felt it went a bit wild and big scale towards the end. Una aventura muy divertida para pasar un buen rato. En definitiva, ha sido una lectura muy ligera y entretenida, recomendable sobretodo para los fans de la serie. I'm not sure if my version was abridged or not, but it's a pretty nice Doctor Who adventure - the Doctor and Martha seemed IC and there was a dodo: I just expected it to be OTT and funny and it actually had a lot of sad bits! Aug 27, Hannah rated it it was ok.
Dragged on a bit but had some heart warming highs and funny parts. Sep 01, Andrew Hunt rated it liked it.
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Damning with faint praise, but this was better than I expected it to be! May 11, Daiana rated it really liked it. The way the POV kept changing from first person to third person was annoying and distracting, even though the story was interesting. Mar 06, Jean rated it liked it Shelves: Nice throw back by naming the Dodo Dorothea. I could've done without the Martha narrative.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'd been looking forward to reading this book for quite a while because I thought it sounded like an interesting plot. It was a little bit preachy with regards to animal conservation and protection of endangered species, and also with a discussion on the morality of zoos as well. Educational aspects like this a This is a Doctor Who novel featuring the Doctor in his Tenth incarnation with Martha Jones as his companion.
Educational aspects like this are part of Doctor Who's history but more tricky subjects such as this need to be handled carefully otherwise they can come across as sanctimonious as happens here. The Doctor's character was very well captured. I think Rayner is one of the few authors that can write Ten and really do him justice. In comparison, her own characters were rather flat and lacking any distinguishing personalities.
The character of Martha was told both in first person and in third person and the switch between the two was seriously annoying. It made no sense to have the story split this way, there was no reason given for it either; it wasn't presented as a letter or diary entry or even a conversation, even though it was written as if she was speaking to someone.
It would have been better to have the entire story told in either the first or the third person, not both. It just didn't work. In addition to that, Martha's voice in the first person didn't fit her at all. It sounded far too young and kind of patronising, as if she was talking to a small child who didn't understand. Salvation Her grandfather was French. Having just visited France in the era of the St Bartholomew's Day massacre , on hearing Dodo's surname and her French ancestry, Steven speculated that Dodo was a descendant of the apparently doomed Anne Chaplet.
This would mean that Anne had survived the massacre of the Huguenots , the St Bartholomew's Day massacre, on 24 August The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve. For a school project, Dodo researched her family tree and found evidence that she was descended from Huguenots who left France to escape persecution, suggesting that Steven's theory may have been correct. Dodo went to live with her great-aunt Margaret before joining the First Doctor on his travels.
Their relationship was likely strained. Dodo said that she would not be missed. The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve She expressed delight that she was not going back home any time soon. She was not a good student and likely never made it to sixth form, much less university. Salvation She neither spoke nor understood French , largely because she skipped her French lessons in school to learn how to kiss behind the school gymnasium.
The Man in the Velvet Mask. Beyond these statements, accounts of her youth widely differed on details. According to one account, she grew up in one of the poorest parts of London. When her parents died, she moved in with an aunt possibly not her great-aunt Margaret who was wealthier than her parents and was a social climber. This afforded Dodo exposure to a wide variety of social experiences in her young life. She had difficulty believing that the squalid existence into which she had been born and the world to which her aunt aspired were part of the same reality.
To cope, she continually reinvented herself according to her immediate situation, claiming to have "acted all [her] life". Thus, her accent was situational. An alternative account of her youth claimed that Dodo's parents did not both die when she was young. Rather, her mother died in an accident. Her father suffered a mental breakdown and had to be hospitalised, but was still alive at the time of Dodo's first encounter with the Doctor.
Neither were they poor. This account of her life maintained that her parents were wealthy enough to take her to the Florida Everglades. This trip gave her a deep appreciation of the variety of life on Earth and a wish to see more of the world. Nevertheless, after the death of her mother, Dodo went to live with her great-aunt, Margaret. Amongst other things, she forced Dodo into elocution lessons. Dodo developed a "natural" and a "posh" accent.
Life with her formal great-aunt also caused her to see herself in two ways: Her father was a football fan. How she got the nickname "Dodo" was no clearer than anything else in her youth — other than it clearly being a diminutive of her given name "Dorothea". According to one view, it was given to her by her classmates. At some time after she went to live with her great-aunt, she switched schools mid-term. Her new classmates ridiculed her northern accent, thinking her ill-educated.
Dodo Chaplet - Wikipedia
They nicknamed her after the dodo , an extinct, stupid bird. Instead of rejecting the name, she tried to change people's perception of the name by becoming "cool". Salvation As an adult, she intimated to James Stevens that she didn't know where it came from — though her memory was notably unreliable. As a young adult in the s , Dodo saw a small boy knocked down by a car. Seeking help, she saw a police box on Wimbledon Common and entered it. Instead of a policeman, she found the Doctor. Another account speculated that Dodo's great-aunt also made her spend time helping an elderly neighbour do his shopping and other menial tasks.
One night, an alien ship crashed nearby. Its pilot killed the neighbour and assumed his physical form.
When Dodo learned what had happened to him, the alien kept her prisoner. According to this view, then, Dodo met the Doctor because she was fleeing from an alien, with her story about witnessing an accident an attempt to cover up the truth in case she had run into the alien's ship by accident.
This time, however, the cause was different; two approaching policemen would have forced their way into the TARDIS had the Doctor not taken off. Steven protested, but wasn't able to counter the Doctor's logic. They went to New York City in , where they met and defeated the compatriots of Joseph , the alien who had briefly kidnapped her back in London. At first, Dodo thought they were at Whipsnade Zoo. She told the others that she had been there as a child, and displayed some knowledge of nature. Unfortunately, she had a cold , the virus of which was inadvertently passed on to the humans and Monoids in the Ark.
As they had no resistance to it, it became a plague.
The Last Dodo
Dodo, a caring person, was distraught that she had caused this terrible event. The Doctor, Steven and Dodo met Questor in the living jungle of Tropicalus , whom the Doctor defeated in a battle of wits. Death to the Doctor! Dodo's caring nature was probably what made her dislike cheating and other unfair behaviour. Whilst this annoyance could be seen many times, it was most visible when the travellers met the Celestial Toymaker. It was his games, attitude, and Cyril 's cheating which frustrated Dodo.
Dodo is held hostage by Johnny Ringo in Tombstone , Arizona. Whilst travelling with the Doctor, Dodo had one of her lifelong wishes granted. She was keenly interested in the Wild West and said she had always wanted to meet Wyatt Earp. The Gunfighters After the Doctor, Steven and she landed in Russia where they spent a time relaxing after their adventures. One of the local gentry asked her to be a companion to his daughter, provided she taught her the piano.