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Rating: 
Summary: A highly enjoyable book
Review: An intriguing plot - assorted groups of humans and Chelonians get transported, seemingly at random to an alien planet (Sakkrat?), in a future time. The Doctor, and his (relatively new) companion Bernice Summerfield arrive on the same planet, attempting to discover the source of time disturbances (Fortean Flickers). At the same time, another group of humans arrive in a space ship, searching for the fabled 'Highest Science'.The Chelonians are probably Virgin's greatest creation (apart from Benny of course). They work extremely well as an alien race. The author gives us an excellent insight into their culture, their thoughts. 'Flower Arranging' or 'War'? - Gareth Roberts actually manages to bring such a career choice off with his portrayal of the Chelonians. "Chelonians don't kill Chelonians!" Yeah, sure, and Minbari never lie and Klingons are honourable! The Doctor is portrayed as a clownish character, reminescent of Sylvester's first season. As he is being crushed to death, he states, 'This is ridiculous, I'm the only one wearing a tie', and after being dropped from a height, and landing on his feet he claims 'I had to land on my feet as I wasn't wearing a crash helmet'. Bernice seems more a cross between the Bernice to come and the Ace of old. Ace's violent tendencies were sometimes prevalent. Generally a good portrayal though, laying a solid foundation for the more rounded character to come. Has the loose end ever been tied up? The 8-12s and Chelonians were left stuck in a time bubble. OK, maybe the Doctor doesn't always have the answers, but it did diminish the impact of the book somewhat to leave them stuck like that. A highly enjoyable book.
Rating:
Summary: Introducing the Chelonians
Review: Investigating a Fortean Flicker, a rare space-time hazard with potentially disastrous side effects, the Doctor and Benny find themselves on the planet Sakkrat, a planet long thought vanished, which had produced the Highest Science, the exact nature of which is shrouded in legend. But they are not alone on the planet: some temporally displaced commuters, a troop of Chelonians, and the galaxy's most renowned criminal and his gang have arrived through one method or another, and conflict is looming... 'The Highest Science' is a fun adventure story, with humorous trappings wrapped around a serious core. The displaced groups have very different cultures, and their interactions with the Doctor and Benny are interesting to watch. And then there are the plot twists... For readers of Doctor Who books published by Virgin, this one does a very important thing: it introduces the Chelonians, a race of cybernetically enhanced giant hermaphroditic turtle (no, I'm not joking). Hugely threatening and bizarrely humorous by turns, this race are a masterful creation who turn up in several more novels. Quite frankly, they're worth the price of admission alone. This is Gareth Roberts first novel, and a very accomplished one it is too. He is a writer with a fine touch, and if you enjoy this book, be sure to look for his others.
Rating: 
Summary: The Highest Snooze
Review: THE HIGHEST SCIENCE certainly begins with a lot of potential. Interesting clues about the plot are dropped early on, and were effective enough at piquing my interest to make me curious about what was going to happen next. Unfortunately, the book failed to deliver and a promising start led to a complete misfire. The fact that this story began with such an interesting premise makes the incoherent mess that follows seem that much more unfair. THE HIGHEST SCIENCE attempts to do quite a number of things at once, and manages to fail at just about all of them. Parts of the story seem light-hearted and camp, but it's campiness without being fun, which just makes the whole thing just look silly. The villains are over the top, stopping just short of twirling their mustaches and tying Benny to a railway line. As has been stated many times before, there's a fine line between parodying bad action-adventure clichés, and merely rewriting those same clichés over again. Unfortunately, this book fell into the latter and not the former of those categories. The plot had a certain amount of potential when the book started, but the amount of padding severely hurts the overall effect. Characters get lost, wander around, become distracted by random events, etc., etc. Entire stretches occur in which not a single thing advances the story. In some books, this isn't necessarily a problem, as padding can reveal interesting character moments, or amusing conversations, but there is none of that to be found here. One can almost see the author getting bored with the story as one continues along. Plot threads are dropped and then never recovered. The prose becomes rushed, and hurried. Story-telling is replaced by padding. It's corridor-running, but in book form and without much in the way of entertaining dialog. In other parts of the book, the author goes for a militaristic style and isn't entirely successful here either. The introduction of a new race of military-driven aliens would have been much more interesting had the creatures actually displayed any original characteristics at all other their physical appearance. They're the same boring, conquer-the-universe-at-all-costs monsters that we've seen over and over again. They have a few good moments, but for the most part I was utterly bored every time they took the stage. None of the characters manage to rise above the status of one-dimensional, and this sadly includes the regulars. The Doctor exists purely as some sort of generic collection of mannerisms, and Benny spends so much time in a drug-induced stupor that we never really get much in the way of development. Most annoying of all, near the end of the book, even Benny remarks on how out of character she is behaving because of the strange drugs she was accidentally taking. It's an excuse, and a lame one at that. All in all, I can't say that I enjoyed much of anything in THE HIGHEST SCIENCE. One or two occasions of humour actually work, but not enough to out-weight the plodding nature of the story. The ending of the book is one of the biggest cop-outs ever observed in a Doctor Who tale, and it's a wonder that it ever got past the editor. Ripping off the climax to TIMELASH is not the way to go in Doctor Who story-telling. From the hideous cover that features a claymation Seventh Doctor (who seems to be contemplating flipping the bird to the audience) to the awkward nature of much of the prose, this is not one of the NAs that I will be rereading in a hurry.
Rating:
Summary: The Highest Snooze
Review: THE HIGHEST SCIENCE certainly begins with a lot of potential. Interesting clues about the plot are dropped early on, and were effective enough at piquing my interest to make me curious about what was going to happen next. Unfortunately, the book failed to deliver and a promising start led to a complete misfire. The fact that this story began with such an interesting premise makes the incoherent mess that follows seem that much more unfair. THE HIGHEST SCIENCE attempts to do quite a number of things at once, and manages to fail at just about all of them. Parts of the story seem light-hearted and camp, but it's campiness without being fun, which just makes the whole thing just look silly. The villains are over the top, stopping just short of twirling their mustaches and tying Benny to a railway line. As has been stated many times before, there's a fine line between parodying bad action-adventure clichés, and merely rewriting those same clichés over again. Unfortunately, this book fell into the latter and not the former of those categories. The plot had a certain amount of potential when the book started, but the amount of padding severely hurts the overall effect. Characters get lost, wander around, become distracted by random events, etc., etc. Entire stretches occur in which not a single thing advances the story. In some books, this isn't necessarily a problem, as padding can reveal interesting character moments, or amusing conversations, but there is none of that to be found here. One can almost see the author getting bored with the story as one continues along. Plot threads are dropped and then never recovered. The prose becomes rushed, and hurried. Story-telling is replaced by padding. It's corridor-running, but in book form and without much in the way of entertaining dialog. In other parts of the book, the author goes for a militaristic style and isn't entirely successful here either. The introduction of a new race of military-driven aliens would have been much more interesting had the creatures actually displayed any original characteristics at all other their physical appearance. They're the same boring, conquer-the-universe-at-all-costs monsters that we've seen over and over again. They have a few good moments, but for the most part I was utterly bored every time they took the stage. None of the characters manage to rise above the status of one-dimensional, and this sadly includes the regulars. The Doctor exists purely as some sort of generic collection of mannerisms, and Benny spends so much time in a drug-induced stupor that we never really get much in the way of development. Most annoying of all, near the end of the book, even Benny remarks on how out of character she is behaving because of the strange drugs she was accidentally taking. It's an excuse, and a lame one at that. All in all, I can't say that I enjoyed much of anything in THE HIGHEST SCIENCE. One or two occasions of humour actually work, but not enough to out-weight the plodding nature of the story. The ending of the book is one of the biggest cop-outs ever observed in a Doctor Who tale, and it's a wonder that it ever got past the editor. Ripping off the climax to TIMELASH is not the way to go in Doctor Who story-telling. From the hideous cover that features a claymation Seventh Doctor (who seems to be contemplating flipping the bird to the audience) to the awkward nature of much of the prose, this is not one of the NAs that I will be rereading in a hurry.
Rating:
Summary: One of the better NA's
Review: This was, for me, probably the most enjoyable New Adventure to come out. Easily the book most faithful to McCoy's Doctor, it maintains a perfect balance between humor and pathos and was the only book I read that made me wish it could have been made as an episode
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