Customer Reviews:
 Forever Boredom June 9, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Mark Morris tries really hard to come up with an original Doctor Who story and for the most he succeeds. The problem I had was with the characters, particularly the Doctor and Martha Jones. He just doesn't quite get either right, especially Martha, and it throws the whole story off. I think the biggest part of the problem story-wise is that Mr. Morris never makes his New England town particularly American, it comes off as too British and thus never seems real. Conversely, Mr. Morris never has his American characters seriously question the Doctor or Martha because of their distinct accents given all of the odd goings on. Because of this chunks of the story do not work. I wanted to like this story and while it does have a few wildly fantastic moments, I really cannot recommend it.
 Good book. Light Reading April 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
You really should watch the series before reading the book (or at least some of the series) just to get the accents in your head.
The book is fairly true to the characters and the services. It is always interesting to se what different forms 'aliens' and their interactions with humanity can take. This book keeps the humor and 'wackiness' of the series.
And of course, Martha is a stone fox. I would get the book just cause her picture is on the cover!
Aliens, fog, the cat lady and Halloween. The DR saves the day (aided by Martha of course).Good concept.
Quick, creepy romp in the Whoniverse April 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the second Who book I've read and so far they're just right: Fairly quick reads paced much like an actual show, neat villians that fit right in and the main characters voices are captured terrifically, making it easy to hear their voices when they speak.
This was the first one that I felt I had to buy as it combines the Doctor and Halloween. This story would make a great creepy show.
Forever Autumn March 31, 2008
This was a light read for an adult, but I do have to say I liked it. It had the spooky elements that such episodes as "Family of Blood" are known for. It was set in a New England town. I do have to say the evil clown references were a bit cliche but the rest was very good.
Delightfully Surprised December 11, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Recently I bought the third season (or series if you're a Brit) of the New "Doctor Who" so I was ready to enjoy more adventures featuring the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones.
However, I will admit that I was a bit leery since lately I've been disappointed by several Science Fiction/Fantasy books that I've bought and have failed to finished some of them due to boredom. I also was leery because the "Doctor Who" books are tie-in books assigned to various authors who could be viewed as "hired guns" simply brought on board to meet a certain quota of books to earn BBC Books a good profit. The danger with this is that "hired gun" authors can be rushed due to insanely short deadlines so their work can read like "hack jobs" at times.
Fortunately though "Forever Autumn" neither reads nor feels like a rushed "hack job." Now granted it's no Shakespeare or Charles Dickens but Mark Morris does a good job of writing an entertaining "Doctor Who" book.
"Forever Autumn" has a good balance of atmosphere, pacing, plot, and character perspective that makes the story both engaging and fun to read.
I really liked how he gave just enough description from different characters' points-of-view to establish a good sense of mystery and creepiness. The secondary characters, who many times can be dull in tie-in stories, were not dull in this novel. They were mostly interesting and seeing how the creepy Green Mist affected each one of them in the small town was very interesting too. I also must emphasize that I really like how he paced this book. Within certain chapters, Morris intercutted between different characters' perspectives as they encountered strange things caused by the Green Mist. This technique (which reminded more of television writing in a way) helped to keep the suspense going.
Morris also did a good job of capturing the voices of David Tennant's Doctor and Freema Agyeman's Martha. I felt like I could actually hear these actors performing while I was reading the story. They both said and did things that I expected the Doctor and Martha to say and do. It's too bad that this storyline wasn't used in the television series because it would have been a good creepy episode.
Also, I must add that I like the cover design of this book as I do for basically all of the New "Doctor Who" books. Turning photographs of the current actors into creative illustrations is a brillant idea and it especially looks good on hard back covers.
Having now read "Forever Autumn," I'm willing to read another "Doctor Who" book. I really like Mark Morris' style of writing but until I can find another book written by him, I'm willing to give some of the other authors a try.
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