Accents???

A good story plot, with a theme of comedy-irony 'old Earth' historical errors and a twist at the end of the tale. Enthusiatically read, but spoilt by a poor attempt at a Scots accent for Amy and an OTT 'Yorkshire' accent of another character, although it has occurred to me that the later 'might' be deliberate, to be in keeping with the the historical farce that runs on & off through-out.

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Somewhat of a disappointment

I'm afraid I struggled to get through this and only finished through a sense of duty. I bought it because I am a fan of both Dr Who and of Moorcock. I enjoyed the Elric and Eternal Champion novels but sadly this audiobook was a disappointment. I think it was a combination of problems. The story didn't really seem to have much to do with Dr Who. Both the Doctor and Amy characters seemed shoehorned into some totally separate story, not the main subjects of it. There were too many other characters none of whom were particularly interesting and quite a few of them were just plain annoying. It was too whimsical - as others have stated, perhaps akin to Douglas Adams crossed with PG Wodehouse, but totally unsuited to Doctor Who. The other problem is I think with the narration. There were too many OTT characterisations, some of the voices were almost unitelligible. They all had regional accents which didn't seem to make sense. Why would an alien taxi driver have a Scouse or Yorkshire accent? The worst was Amy - it is very difficult when the listener has a clear internal picture of what she should sound like from the TV series and then in the audiobook she is nothing like her screen counterpart. This is inevitible in a DW story but it was a constant irritation for me.

A shame, Moorcock & Dr Who seemed like a match made in heaven, but it was not to be.

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10 people found this helpful

hmm

With the exception of Captain Cornelius' Dutch accent Clive Mantle is woefully poor at accents. God alone knows why he chooses to do an impression of one of the Crankies for Amy's accent! And he is really a rather poor choice as narrator, Peter Kenny would have done it far better justice.
I have been a fan of Moorcock for years, other fans will recognise the recurrent themes (The Rose, Colour, the Balance etc...), and there are some nice subtle little touches in this, but to be frank they are likely to be lost on many listeners.
If you are only here for Dr. Who then this probably isn't for you, but if you like Moorcock then a listen won't hurt - but be warned; Pyat or Elric it ain't!

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2 people found this helpful

Overacted in the extreme

This book is Michael Moorcock let loose with the keys to the TARDIS and we are left with an uneven and intreging adventure which seems to take place in a P.G Woodhouse parody world reminiscent of the Douglas Adams years of the original series.

If you like Moorcock and you like the more absurdist Doctor Who stories you will probably enjoy this.

What you will not enjoy is Clive Mantle's woefull over acting. I can only assume he thought he was in some over the top 1930's farce and needed to ham up every single line. His Amy is unrecognisable and Doctor lifeless the less said about his supporting characters the better. I was so distracted by them it completely disrupted the story for me.

As someone who loves audiobooks and think they bring a wonderful life to a story for this one I suggest you go buy the paper book and hear the Doctor in your own mind.

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1 person found this helpful

Poor, poor Clive Mantle.😣

Pretty awful. I felt sorry for Clive Mantle. Doctor Who just isn't a good fit for Moorcocks multiverse.

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Cosmic Comedy

Brilliant book that wears its PG Wodehouse heart on its sleave. Comedic and poetic.

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