An Autist Reviews: Colony Of Strangers (The Diary Of River Song 7.1)

*This is an older review, it is not as detailed as my more modern reviews*

*All Reviews Are Spoiler-Free Aside From Any Spoiler Sections*

River just wants to have a nice relaxing vacation… but featureless bodies keep washing up on her shore. The prime suspect in the murders, River works alongside the local sheriff to clear her name and figure out what is going on. Along the way she butts heads with the mayor and two farmers, has her house burnt down, and gets shot at multiple times. The story starts off slow, it jumps from place to place and idea to idea, but it goes through all of these ideas slowly before hopping to another suddenly. The creatures are marvelously creepy, and the twists and turns of this story are simply out of this world. Honestly, with all the confusing plot points, a second listen is necessary to truly understand most parts and to truly enjoy the story.

The acting is relatively good, the monsters are acted superbly, and while Alex does have some less than perfect moments, Alex comes through with a stunning performance. As for the side characters… well, the farmers are good and you can pick up on the hints in their voices that River does, which is always a plus, and the mayor is perfectly conspiratorial and controlling. The main side character, the sheriff, is honestly my least favorite part, as he speaks in one tone, slowly, and rarely feels as though his vocals match the writing or scene. He feels out of place.

The Effects are also a less than perfect note, with the music being lacking and subtle, yet still good enough, and the effects, while they have good moments, seem to find themselves often not being enough. Gunshots are too low, water splashes don’t tell you what is actually happening, and you can never tell what terrain you are on or where you are. That being said, the voices done are wonderful and the effects do show certain scenes utterly spectacularly.

This is a story that needs to be listened to twice. It has so many twists and turns, subtleties, and other pieces that simply can’t all be understood or caught on the first listen. The acting is good with standout performances, but also comes off a little single-toned. The effects are good enough, but rarely give you a sense of what is happening when they REALLY need to and the music is lacking. So while this is a good story with really good parts, I find it oddly easy to focus on the negatives. Don’t get me wrong, objectively it’s good, I just can’t help but largely focus on the negatives when thinking about it. Of course, my review is honest, it tells the objective truth, and that is that this story is far above average. Have a listen, enjoy the story, it is a wonderful beginning to the boxset.

Total - 8

Plot - 8
---
Story - 8
Writing - 8
Enjoyment - 7

Acting - 8
---
MCs - 7
SCs - 7
BGs - 10

Effects - 7
---
Music - 6
Voices - 10
Actions - 7

Replay - 9
---
Re-Enjoyment - 10
Details - 8
Twists - 8

-=- If you want to see more of my reviews, some of my craziness, my thoughts on stories I've experienced but not reviewed, and the important libtard things I share around because I'm a filthy liberal snowflake, check out my Instagram page @deadmainmanmax -=-