Winner Takes All

Review: Things get prickly for the Doctor and Rose.

The Doctor takes Rose home to see her Mum while porcupines start to kidnap the neighbours.

It must be a bit bizarre being Rose's Mum, desperately hoping that your daughter will make a trip home to see the family and yet also aware that death, destruction and alien invasion will almost certainly follow in her wake.

Jacqueline Rayner has produced an efficient, solid novel that reads like a novelisation of a missing two-parter from the new series.

The recurring cast members are all drawn convincingly and the plot has the right level of social satire to fit in. Unfortunately the weaknesses can also be blamed on its adherence to the tone of Doctor Who 2005. The plot is a little linear and the intended audience probably a little younger than that of the previous Who books.

To Rayner's credit though, this doesn't stop the book having some emotional weight, with Rose being particularly affected by what is happening to people she's grown up with. The Doctor gets to save the day and the second half of the novel contains tense sequences and tests of friendship for them both.

The Quevvils, with their unnecessarily complicated dastardly plan, perform the part of alien heavies with all the required stomping and sneering. And the prose fairly bounces along managing to be quite charming and simple but never simplistic.

If there is one major criticism to make it lies in the lack of back story for the alien conflict. We know these two alien races are fighting each other (mind you, I think we have a Doctor Who standard massed army of about six on each side) and human's are getting hurt in the middle but we don't know why so its difficult to know how to feel for the non-humans involved. For such an intelligent, emotional story for the humans it seems like a glaring omission.

So an entertaining, simple tale told in a straightforward way. Although, if I were Rose's Mum, I'd ask for a bit of notice before the next visit.

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Petererererere
Cool Read

d who 1 fan
this book was brilliant, i couldn't put it down

Jack bool (9)
FANTASTIC! I liked it when the pineapple pointed the gun at the doctor. Cool book my sixth out of ninth 10 out of 10 cool.

squidkid
This is the first ive read and it was amazing, i would love to see this made into a episode

tamara
i love this book!! i hav also read the new doctor who books!! the doctor who books are the best!DOCTOR WHO RULES!

Iza
Amazing book. the 1st ive read. I read it in one day,I got so stuck into it I had to keep on reading.I couldnt put it down

kath
i hav read lots of the doctor who books and this one is by far my favorite!! my favorite parts in the novels n the the TV programme is the relationship between the Doctor and Rose. i really enjoy this book as it is very entertaining and funny and has a good sense of friendship between the Doctor and Rose especially when the Doctor has to control Rose through the maze thing. I LOVE IT!!

TARDIS 42/17
What's with the porcupines? thats the only thing i don't get ,slightly random, but random is ace!this book I think is one of the best of the Ninth doctor series, it takes someting everyday and gives it a sinister tweak in typical Doctor Who style! Brilliant!

DoctorWho'sNo1Fan
absoult brillient loved every chapter and very exciting to know whats gonna happen to the doctor and rose.

Caitlin Blair
I loved Doctor Who Winner Takes all because you sort of get the feeling that the doctor dosnt always have a plan and that Rose can be in danger. I've read loads of times because you can still be shocked or scared even if you know whats coming next.It must be hard being Roses mum because evn if its just a few days to Rose its mabey a few months or years since she last saw her.I think having evil porcupines was really funny and cute. From Caitlin.

Nicky
The first Doctor Who book I ever read and loved every page.

JA
Its about time a book like this has came out. Move out Harry Potter's JK Rowling, there's a new great author coming to town!

Matt Balne
What a great book! I have finished it completely and loved it right to the end. This novel definitely deserves a 10/10!

christophe.ecclestone.luver
i read this book in one day and i couldn't put it down for one second. if I was in the postition of rose being in that game and then you suddenly find the doctor with you I would snog him to the ground. rose and the doctor should become more that best friends it would make the series more exciting.

Joseph Nichols
This book is fantastic! The best book I've ever read in my entire life

Sean
Fantastic. Read two doctor who books in one day

dannii rose
i read this one about three weeks ago and have read it twice more after that and can never grab myself away from it.i really enjoyed this book but only give it 4/5 for thrill and excitement

Matthew Bennetta
I love watching the episodes on the tv and when i heard about the books i got them. This one is the best though. It has all that saving the world before tea goodness

Thomas
I thought this book had more comedy than the other two books and also contained Mickey, which was great!!

Charlotte {almost 13}
I have only one critisism for these books, and that is that they are a bit too short. Out of all three, the only one that required more than about an hour and a half was the Monsters Inside. Apart from that, they were brilliant. But where did the reference to 'Bad Wolf' go in the Monsters Inside? The other two had references.

Ace
This was the last of the three new novels I read and I have to say by no means the least. As excellent as Clockwise Man and Monsters Inside. A very intriguing book, handling well the duboius history of Anastasia, making it seem alomst plausible that she managed to escape with the next Tsar.

Luke Hector
This book has so far been a delight to read just like Monsters Inside and I've only read half of it!! Great plot, great dialogue, and its nice to see a setting on Earth again......oh by the way, how many of you lot noticed the "Bad Wolf" reference in one of the earlier chapters? Yet again those 2 words are heard, gearing me up for Saturdays great episode lineup!!

Dave Lynch
Sorry, but this is disappointing. I only bought it because it was part of a 3 for 2 offer. The whole plot has been done before in the eighties in both a movie and a story by another sci-fi writer. I would name them if I could remember but it's hard to remember back that far! Great presentation on new books though.

Matthew Laskey
I've already read the three books, and I congratulate the author. If any more come out I'm buying them straight away. People are saying it should be made into an episode. Pity it can't. Maybe the tenth doctor will star in it instead. MANTODEANS RULE!!!!!!!!!!! The quevvils are annoying, but other than that, the book's brilliant. Great plot, excellent characters, and even a realistic storyline. Imagine if that happened in real life, it would be a hard game!

Matthew Laskey
"Winner takes all" rules, especially when the doctor rewires rose! The doctor KICKS ASS on that game

Doctor.Whos number 1 fan
I think these would make great films especially Winner Takes All. it was my favourite out of all three. i read them all in one day. i hope some more are written.

lucien barnes
I loved this book - it's the most successful of the three...

Jac Rayner captures the Doctor and Rose much better than the other authors - Rose's world seems more real, and the Doctor seems less one note.

Despite it's simplicity, I really adored this book - warming like a cup of cocoa.

William
I only got the book on sunday but I've already started reading it. It's brill and I'm only up to chapter 6!

Benjamin Morris
The Winner Takes All is what sci-fi is all about bringing a new concept to a trusted series that has held its audience captivated

Nick Oborski
The first of the three new books I have read. The Doctor and Rose are spot on and the story feels like it could be made for TV. The style is a little young for adult fans but it's got my 15 year old reading so if that's the market you've hit the right spot. Let's have more books before Chris and Billie go there own way

charlie
I read this book in one sitting last night, and i have to say it kept me entertained for an hour and a half. nonetheless, the doctor and rose have to seriously visit somewhere other than earth, because its starting to drag.

David Lowbridge
I read the book in just two days... I found the story had elements of both the new and old series and the book had the great touches of all the characters. Though there was a time which I thought that Rose's mum was a little off touch but it didn't affect the whole story. I think anyone who likes doctor who should read this book and enjoy...

Richard Walter
The new Doctor Who television series has managed to balance some fun episodes with some sinister and scary stories. The beauty of this book is that not only does it tell a fairly simple and credible story, but it does great justice to the distinctive TV rapore between the Doctor, Rose, Jackie and Mickey. You can actually imagine the actors firing off the lines and the expressions on their faces. This book admirably fills the demand for new Dr Who but, unlike some of the original novels, is far more in keeping with the era of the TV show it represents. Well done to Jacqueline Rayner!

Dom
I've allready read the book'winner takes all' and i totally dissergree. it is better than the clockwiseman on all fronts, and would make a truely exellent episode. i reccomend you should read this first, becuse it is a ton better the clockwise man, wich was often lacking adventure and plot.

Andy Smith
This is a lot of fun. Yes, it's fairly simplistic and linear, and regular readers of the Virgin and BBC books will find that it's aimed at a younger and more general readership. But this is how it should be. Doctor Who is back with the kids and the teenagers, where it always really belonged. The characterisation is good, although there's too many scenes with the Doctor being unsympathetic to Rose's feelings. The aliens are suitably silly but also very nasty indeed, and there is some emotional weight with the plight of the humans. This really does feel like a true Missing Adventure (unlike most of the Virgin and BBC Past Doctor novels - much as I love them). It's also nice to have a Doctor Who novel you can read in one sitting. And 10/10 for making them hardbacks - very nicely presented.

james harris
a fantastic book.the best part is.. well i would'nt want to spoil it would i.

callum patton
when i found out a new doctor who book comming out i was dancing for joy. i have allready read doctor who monsters inside it was brilliant but when i read this one it was even better. from callum patton

Andy Marchant
Have started reading this novel first and i find it really easy to read, unlike the other previous Dr Who novels. you can sense that it can easily be one of the 45min shows. its a really fun book to read and cool to use a different concept in the book

Rob Brown
The problem with these new novels is that the new tv series seems to have been designed with an overall arc of tone & balance in mind. It seems less than ideal that these stories should somehow 'slot in' somewhere, and the notion of YET ANOTHER alien attack etc. that Rose's family have to put up with is just getting a little on the ridiculous side. I can't help wondering if this isn't going to become rather a credibility problem for the tv series as well.

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