Product Description

Edgar Allen Poe lies dying in a gutter in Baltimore...The Doctor and Ace cannot help him - his death has already happened. Poe will be taken to a hospital, and will die in three days time without ever coming out of his coma. But even as the Doctor explains this, the man in the gutter groans and expires. Bewildered, the Doctor hurries Ace back to the TARDIS. At the door, they look back and see that the gutter is empty. In a moment, Poe staggers around the corner, drops to his knees in the gutter, then gets up and stumbles into another bar...Can the Doctor discover what is causing the time anomaly? Will he be able to prevent the universe itself from unravelling when everyone seems to have turned against him - even the TARDIS? Will he be able to escape the cold hell of absolute order? The answer, it seems, lies in the algebra of ice...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #595556 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

Another Great Read!
As with her last two Dr. Who books, Lloyd Rose proves, again, that she sure can write a great yarn with lots of surprises. Algebra of Ice is another fabulous read. The story line is fairly linear (which I like), but that doesn't stop her from giving us twist and turns in her usual roller coaster approach. There is much more character development in this one than in her previous two (which were also wonderful). In her usual style, she makes the Doctor seem more, well, "human" than in many adventures, without taking away any of his magic.

Once again, there is a wavering of time. In this case, events repeat themselves, but not quite in the same way, potentially changing history. The Doctor knows that this has to be stopped, and he has to find the weak point that is allowing the time to waiver. With help from the TARDUS, he locates the point and finds that it is a human mathematician. That is about all that I will relate of the plot because I don't want to give anything away. You will want to get to the next page to see what happens.

In this adventure, Ace is the Doctor's only companion. Rose's development of Ace is terrific. Ace is not left on the sidelines in this one. She becomes a central figure, and the Doctor is lucky to have her around. Rose explores the Doctor-Ace relationship with all of the complexities that one would expect.

Rose clearly must have done a lot of research into mathematical trivia for this one. However, her mathematical references are presented in the context of the story, so don't think that you have to know any mathematical concepts to understand it. I was also struck by her knowledge of philosophical concepts that have, unfortunately, also become trivia these days. Her references show that either she is very well read or she has found a great source for finding just the right philosophical reference. But all this is texture to the main story, which is a fabulous one.

So, great plot, great character development, great twists and turns, great texture, fun read. We couldn't ask for more.

is that you kate?
Oddly, lloyd rose manages a complete change of style for her third novel. Which is probably good seeing as this is a past doctor one rather than one of the eighth doctor range. Featuring the seventh doctor and ace, this is a homage the new adventures range, and frankly it reads like one of those written by kate orman.

And that's a compliment.

This gives us a spot on characterisation of the doctor and companion, and some very original aliens. Which is something the range has often lacked. The only flaw is the presence of the brigadier, as he has so little to do there's really no reason for him to be in it in the first place. But apart from that this is still an excellent story, and well worth five out of five

A strange story, hard to pin down...
A bit of an oddball story this, that manages to be engaging and intruiging without anything much actually happening. Almost the whole novel seems to be a big build up to something, but this is never really delivered and is therefore something of a disappointment. Worth reading, but don't expect to be blown away by it...