Rating: 
Summary: First Person Narative that Works
Review: Eye of Heaven is setup by the Doctor thinking that Leela needs to know more about her past. So he takes her to Victorian England and quickly finds an expadition he would like to fund. So the Doctor buys a ship (one of the rare examples of the Doctor using his wealth) and hires a crew to take him and Leela to Easter Island. The most interesting thing (and admittedly the thing which scared me the most at first) is the use of a first person anrrative throughout the book. My experience with first person narrative, for the most part, has been negative. Aside from Robinson Carusso (damnit, I KNOW I'm spelling that wrong), it's been tough to find a book that does it right. Suprisingly Eye of Heaven does just that. It pulls off a brilliant switching of narrative between Leela (giving us an excellent outlook into her life, past and amusing religious background), the Doctor (suitable vague) and the supporting charecters. Up until the very end this works well. There is a short chapter or two where this falls completly flat, but for the most part this is executed suprisingly well. The story itself is quite gripping. There is a genuine mystery about the origins of the Moai (the Easter Island monoliths) and the fate of the islanders. It only falls flat towards the end. The origin itself falls quite flat (why would an alien race use huge rocks to spread a virus) and the sense of wonder about them is obviously pulled directly from Contact (at least the author is honest about his infuences). One of the most refreshing things about Eye of Heaven is that there are no visits from "guest stars". The BBC line was beginning to feel like the DWM strips in that a return villian had to show up in each story. Overall a great read which expands the boundaries for Past Doctor Adventures, but also another victim to the rushed resolution syndrome.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting style that helps move the story
Review: EYE OF HEAVEN is, by no means, an ordinary Doctor Who novel. Instead of moving from beginning to end, Jim Mortimore chose to tell the story out of order, flashing backwards and forwards using multiple first person narratives. Does it work? Surprisingly so. EYE OF HEAVEN would have been a rather straight-forward story otherwise, involving a long sea voyage and Easter Island's statues. Instead, by shifting back and forth through the story, Mortimore is able to raise the suspsense level in an almost lyrical fashion. EYE OF HEAVEN was Leela's first major outing in the Who novels, and it worked surprisingly well. I wouldn't recommend this style for all books, or for even most stories. For this, though, it worked admirably. The resolution of the plot is a bit flimsy, but the rest is enjoyable enough that it's not as big a deal as it would have been. Lots of fun for the reader who's ready to be challenged.
Rating: 
Summary: Eye of Heaven: Interesting, yet confusing.
Review: I must admit that I felt a little disapointed after reading this book. The sea journey promised to be quite a rousing sea adventure, but I kept being sidetracked with ill-placed chapters of previous events. If Mr. Mortimore had decided to tell this tale in chronological order (no pun intended for you Dr. Who fans!) the book would have been so much better. Saving graces: I liked how he kept switching the narrators; giving the reader a chance to see how other major characters felt and thought. We even get to learn how the Doctor thinks. Using him as a narrator is an unusual plot device, one I'd like to see again. I also enjoyed Leela's importance in this novel. She was always one of my favorite Dr. companions, and I'd like to learn more about her in future novels!
Rating:
Summary: Eye of Heaven: Interesting, yet confusing.
Review: I must admit that I felt a little disapointed after reading this book. The sea journey promised to be quite a rousing sea adventure, but I kept being sidetracked with ill-placed chapters of previous events. If Mr. Mortimore had decided to tell this tale in chronological order (no pun intended for you Dr. Who fans!) the book would have been so much better. Saving graces: I liked how he kept switching the narrators; giving the reader a chance to see how other major characters felt and thought. We even get to learn how the Doctor thinks. Using him as a narrator is an unusual plot device, one I'd like to see again. I also enjoyed Leela's importance in this novel. She was always one of my favorite Dr. companions, and I'd like to learn more about her in future novels!
Rating: 
Summary: Read Carefully
Review: I think a lot of people have focused on the manner in which the book is written - with the story events told out of order. Some have seen this as an innovation, others have found it confusing. It would have been innovative if it wasn't for the fact that, with careful reading, the holes became apparent. It strikes me that the author probably jotted down a few ideas and then rather than try to work out the story that tied them all together, tied together what he could and then left the disparate sections as they were in the hope that no-one would notice the gaps. While the book does try to surprise the reader familiar with Leela by focusing on her as the central character it fails to explore fully her sense of wonder and curiosity about the world around her. It fails to balance her background with the new vistas each journey with the Doctor exposes her to. Quiet often there are contradictions in the character both within the book and set against the original TV series. If you want a book that ignores the TV series and tells part of a story in an interesting way then you might like this. If you want a book that uses the characters from the original series, takes what we know of them and tells a good story (regardless of whether the timeline is linear, in reverse or in disparate pockets) - then look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Leela almost steals the show!!
Review: Overall the novel was a pleasure to read. Jim Mortimore is masterful at portraying Leela. The way Mortimore described the 4th Doctor's companion forced me to completely re-think of what I thought of her -- this aspect I found to be the most pleasant experience while reading the novel. There are many memorable moments in the book especially during the trip back to Easter Island. I did find, however, that some of the sequences were somewhat difficult to understand but near the end of the book it made sense. The novel had a well-balanced plot and the pace was consistent throughout.
Rating:
Summary: Leela almost steals the show!!
Review: Overall the novel was a pleasure to read. Jim Mortimore is masterful at portraying Leela. The way Mortimore described the 4th Doctor's companion forced me to completely re-think of what I thought of her -- this aspect I found to be the most pleasant experience while reading the novel. There are many memorable moments in the book especially during the trip back to Easter Island. I did find, however, that some of the sequences were somewhat difficult to understand but near the end of the book it made sense. The novel had a well-balanced plot and the pace was consistent throughout.
Rating:
Summary: A great Easter (Island) gift
Review: The Doctor decides to respond to a call for sponsors for an expedition to Easter Island by Horace Stockwood, whose previous expedition thirty years previously ended disastrously, including the death of his partner. The Doctor and Leela accompany Stockwood's expedition. The book falls into two parts: the journey and Easter Island. There are a number of incidents on the journey there, making the first half of the book something of a sea-road trip. And then Easter Island, including the mystery of the well-known giant head statues. Probably the best aspect of the book is the concentration on Leela's character. She was popular on TV, but this book truly concentrates on the noble savage in less-than-noble civilisation that makes Leela unique amongst the Doctor's many companions. Many little details of her life as part of the Sevateem are revealed, so if you are a Leela fan, make sure you get this one. On top of this, the story is good. Some parts did press very hard against my suspension of disbelief, but it never got to the stage where I couldn't accept the book. Worth a read.
Rating: 
Summary: Very hard to follow. Unusual style.
Review: The main detracting factor of this book is the fact that it is written "out of order." That is, it keeps going back and forth, telling events that happened later before events that happened earlier, and then back again. Also, it is written entirely in the first person, though the person from whose perspective each chapter is written changes from chapter to chapter, and one is left to figure out who the narrator is by the context. For those who enjoy experimental types of reading, you might like this book. I found it to be too confusing to be worth the resulting story.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Style over Lack of Substance
Review: The narrative is told in an extremely disjointed fashion for no discernible purpose, other than to indulge in rather tedious foreshadowing, or perhaps to disguise the fact that, told in a straightforward narrative style, the plot is tedious int he extreme. Additionally, for purists of the series, the character of Leela bears almost no resemblance to the series character and is portrayed more as if she is Superman's sister than a real human being. There is a sequence when she is in the ocean--fighting off sharks and giant squids, and hitching rides on whales and surviving tornadoes, etc., etc. that is simply too ludicrous for words. As with most of the Doctor Who novels put out by BBC Books (and, for that matter, the earlier novels from Virgin), it would also benefit from tighter editing and a reduced page count.
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