True rating: 1.5 stars.

As the Doctor travels through Galaxy Seven, he finds himself on a distant planet. He arrives at the abandoned city of Acropolis. Approximately fifteen years ago, a mysterious fortress wiped out the entire population. As a result, only ghosts remain.

The plot starts with intriguing settings, great world building, interesting characters, a mystery, a problem, and a mission. As a result, the author has to cut out the exploration, so the Doctor can attack the bad guys... before bringing it to a close with the big finale.

‘The Eyeless’ occurs in a destroyed world, where the few survivors are trying to re-establish a society far from the once-high-tech cities. As they are constantly having babies, the older kids left on their own, and sometimes they get killed by ghosts in the ruins of their old city.

I find it weird that the Doctor is okay with women being forced into procreation. Honestly, I could have done without them in this one.

Then there’s character motivation. Teenagers are unstable maniacs, which is already a boring (and insulting) trope. What kind of plot device is that, with no explanation? I found that to be lazy storytelling.

This is not a novel I would recommend to anyone.

You can also find this review on my blog ( )

I’m a big David Tennant fan and I don’t think he was written as the 10th doctor I love. The 10th doctor I love is quirky, spontaneous and funny. In this story he was dark and brooding. Remembering all the loses in his long like and written as having a twinkle in his eye just before he kills the eyeless.

I didn’t like the character Alsa either she confused me. One moment she is nice the next she is teaming up with the baddies.

I did like the ending though I thought that was nice for the doctor and Alsa ( )

This Tenth Doctor adventure features the Doctor on a planet where the vast majority of the inhabitants were killed by a mysterious weapon inside the equally mysterious Fortress, which materialized in the middle of the city one day. Ten is concerned about this weapon and its powers, and is even more concerned about keeping it out of the hands of a species that calls itself the Eyeless.

This is a reasonably quick read overall; it can easily be knocked out in an afternoon should you wish to do so (and I did). Ten is his usual bouncy, quick-with-a-joke self, and the action sequences were certainly breathless. I was slightly misled by the title and/or the name of the antagonists, though; I thought their main thing would be going around stealing people’s eyeballs for fun and profit. Only one of them actually does steal any eyeballs. I guess on the plus side, if you’re squeamish about eye things, there’s only that one to worry about…? ( )

Lance Parkin knocks it out of the ballpark with this novel, showing what the 10th Doctor is really capable of. Parkin has a gift for unusual sci-fi ideas and the the aliens known as the Eyeless fit that bill perfectly. Its refreshing that the Doctor never really completely understands where the Eyeless come from or what they are. The descriptions of the crumbling alien city, especially in the opening of the novel really brings the reader into the story with a sense of isolation. I found it ironic that the Doctor keeps lamenting that he does not have a companion with him, but I found the novel to work so well without one. Featuring such an unstable and dangerous young character in the person of Alsa was quite daring and lends the book an interesting edge. Its such a shame that the best Doctor Who these days is in print and not on screen. ( )

I enjoyed this book. While this is an unusual story as it does not include any companions it was well written and entertaining. The idea of an ultimate weapon was interesting to contemplate. The insight into a group of people who survived when their world was destroyed was intriguing. ( )