NA #58 Eternity Weeps

Eternity Weeps by Jim Mortimore

In Brief: The end of Bernice and Jason's brief marriage set against a backdrop of global apocalypse.


Eternity Weeps is grim. It's dark. It ends with the death of millions and the near destruction of the Earth. It's also brilliant, rather funny but somehow unsatisfying. Normally mixing a tale of death and destruction with overt humour shouldn't work, or would come across in bad taste. Of course this being set in the universe of Doctor Who having horror and humour sit side by side is really business-as-usual. But still what could have been great just ended up feeling a bit limp.

Perhaps it's the mixing of the apocalyptic with the mundane as the Earth being almost destroyed due to an ancient alien terraforming device being pushed into the background of the end of Bernice and Jason's marriage. As Agent Yellow turns the world into acid the two lovers find that the feelings that once kept them together has started to create an unfixable rift. The blame and mutual hurt become too much for either to handle and just as the solution to Agent Yellow results in a damaged world so do their actions damage their marriage.

In order to have this story be *about* Jason and Benny despite the potential end of the world and death of millions of people is that Mortimore has written the book from Benny and Jason's point-of-view. Each chapter alternates between being written from one of their perspective. So by the end we really understand why they just can't go on together.

The Doctor and Chris are involved in events once Benny calls the Tardis in using her and Jason's Doctor-provided Time Rings when their expedition in 2003 Turkey to find Noah's Ark starts going wrong. However they're seen very much from a distance, filtered through Jason/Benny's POV. Chris remains the rather light and useless character he's always been, other than being a somewhat generic man-of-action (and still mourning the death of Roz) he doesn't really have any presence. I still don't quite *get* why he was every introduced or why the range kept him around for so long since he's always been rather one-note. He's the eternal innocent who just happens to be a tall blond hunk of muscle, as just as boring as you'd expect.

I've often felt that the character of The Doctor works better the less we know about him and his thoughts. This is the opposite end of the (somewhat annoying) portrayal of the character in Bad Therapy where is was at the centre of things. However here he's pushed almost completely to the sidelines, almost becoming an incidental character as Bernice and Jason carry most of the novel.

If it seems as if I'm somewhat keeping from really getting into the plot of the book it's mainly due to the realisation by the end that Eternity Weeps is Jim Mortimore's greatest example of completely messing with his readers. He's taken his beloved large, uncontrollable and dangerous universe of Lucifer Rising and Parasite and brought it down to Earth with horrible consequences. It starts grim, it stays grim but then at the end we discover that it's actually all just been a bit of a joke. Albeit a very very dark joke.

Eternity Weeps is a clever and well-written novel but ultimately somewhat frivolous. With the plot being pushed into the background and the non-regular characters being killed normally within a few pages of their introduction (including a returning Liz Shaw) nothing really has much of an impact. But then I suppose it's just the sort of thing a deranged yet talented author would do: take the apocalypse and make it mundane.

So the book ends up is a well-made exercise in futility. Of course that was probably the point.

NA #57 Bad Therapy

Bad Therapy by Matthew Jones

In Brief: The Doctor and Chris, in 1958 London and still mourning the death of Roz, become involved in the plight of The Toys, a race of beings specially made to be the perfect companion.

I had very clear memories of Bad Therapy from reading it originally in 1997. It had stuck out as being a particularly strong story based around themes of loss, longing and what it means to be an independent person. 15 years later I struggled to see why the book made such a big impression, although it does have some very effective parts and a very strong core story.

The biggest distraction, and the most fundamental, is that Jones' prose isn't very developed. We're not down to Terrance Dicks levels in terms of simplicity of style, but definitely in the same ball-park. While having clear and effective writing isn't necessarily a bad thing (especially when compared to the muddle of some of the lesser New Adventures), in a book that desperately wants to have a huge emotional heft it leaves things feeling a bit too light. The Toys are truly tragic figures, only able to live through the desires of others, but the impact is missing. Giving this story to Kate Orman or Paul Cornell would have done wonders.

Considering Matthew Jones would later go on to write the 2006 episodes "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit" with certain success shows that he's probably a better action-writer.

Another minor annoyance in the book was the character of Jack. Originally Jack stuck out for being a positive and prominent gay character, forced to deal with the problems of living as he is in 1958 London. However, in this post-Capt. Jack world the "novelty" of having A Ggay in Doctor Who is gone, and we're left with a rather dull result. It's often a fault of many writers (and movie-makers) that they assume that a gay character will be interesting due to their sexuality alone, which is never the case. While it's possible to complain about Russell T. Davies mildly negative use of gay characters in the earlier Damaged Good at least they were interesting and developed. In contrast Jack's *only* notable trait is that he's gay, otherwise he might as well be Chris or any other generic companion.

His dull character is really highlighted when he pales in comparison to a returning Peri, a companion never known for her well-rounded personality.


But *very* well known for her well-rounded...

This is a Peri who's been trapped on a distant planet for 25 years, forced into marriage after The Doctor's abandonment of her during "The Trial of a Time Lord". Needless to say she's not happy with the reunion (much like when Mel came back in Head Games). Although it may seem a bit random, having Peri come back and forcing The Doctor face the consequences of his actions is one of the better parts of the book, as he has to face the damage that he inflicts on those around him (mirrored by the grieving Chris). This stripping down of The Doctor's strength and confidence is part of the wrapping up of the series, as we head into the change to Doctor #8.

But what should have been a highlight of the series still just ends up being a bit ho-hum.

Chris, now coming to grips to the loss of Roz, has a decent if brief sub-plot where he falls for a Toy due to her taking on some of his projected personality traits of Roz. Although somewhat brief these parts of the book do make good use of his character, and finally give him some needed depth. It was frustrating the Jones could be so good with the regulars, but really miss the mark with his own characters. Even the characters who aren't Toys (or Jack) are somewhat bland.

Another aspect of Bad Therapy which is a bit of a miss is the story itself. Once the villain is met (the insane Moriel from the same planet as Peri ended up on, hence the time/space tunnel) not much is really done with him except to explain that he was behind the creation of the Toys as an attempt to recreate his long-dead wife. There have been New Adventures in the past that have been purposefully light on plot, but there's not really enough here to fully fill the gap. Bad Therapy also has the problem of having poor structure, so that what feels like the climax happens about 50 pages too soon. So the final section of the novel feels somewhat like an exercise in dragging events out through a 2nd-ending in order to increase the page-count, even though everything could have been better wrapped up earlier.

However, despite my complaints this isn't a bad book. It has some good ideas and effective parts. It's just frustrating since it could have been so much better. Possibly Bad Therapy would work better as a TV-story rather than as a novel, where visuals and actors could fill in the emotional punch. As is, the book has ambition but ends up merely mediocre.

NA #56 So Vile A Sin

So Vile A Sin by Ben Aaronovitch and Kate Orman

In Brief: The Doctor returns with Roz and Chris to their native 30th-century Earth in order to discover the reason behind recent events involving various psychic entities. Unfortunately the cost of victory ends up being the life of one of the Tardis crew.

So Vile A Sin is a huge and important entry for the entire run of the New Adventures. It's the culmination of the entire series as almost all of the dangling plot-strands from books ranging as far back a Transit are wrapped up. There's also the end of the loose "psy-powers" arc (what with various psychic Brotherhoods and N-Forms and such) that's run over the past 5-6 books as well as the resolution of events from Original Sin which resulted in Roz and Chris joining the Tardis-crew in the first place.

And in the end (given away on the first page) we have the death of Roz.

This is one of the few New Adventures where knowing a bit of history helps. So Vile A Sin wasn't actually published directly after Damaged Goods due to Ben Aaronovitch having a hard-drive crash and enlisting Kate Orman to help finish the thing. So instead the book came out 6-7 months later than scheduled and readers were left with a huge gap since the following (all published on time) books dealt with The Doctor and Chris' reaction to Roz's death. So reading the books in story order means that suddenly having it revealed that Roz dies on Page 1 of the book seems audacious but would have been known already to anyone reading the book back in the day.

However, despite this book being so important to the series, I left it mildly disappointed. Re-reading it the big problem may be that the book spends a large amount of time meandering through various sub-plots prior to getting to Roz's family and the reveals about her past. I think perhaps Aaronovitch's intention was to start things very low-key, to lull the reader into a sense that this was just another "typical" space-opera run-around and that all would be well at the end. This indicates that perhaps the early reveal of her death was an addition of Orman's. So while having the Big Reveal so early in the two-author version makes sense, it does mean that the fist half or so of the book suffers a bit.

Another issue is that the unplanned mix between Aaronovitch and his BIG IDEAS and Orman and her more personal writing-style results in a bit of poor pacing, as the plot lurches around a bit. There's also a bit of the problem of unmemorable minor characters, which I've found has plagued the last couple of Orman-penned novels. However, these problems aside this is still a very good book, really letting the regulars shine and really rounding out Roz prior to her untimely demise as up to now she's been rather an aloof character. While a change from regulars past it did sometimes result in her characterisation being a bit poor as lesser authors would use her as an all-action Ace-clone.

So Vile A Sin ends up being a large-scale tragedy, with all of the characters swept up in events. It is Roz's decision to stop being aloof and be pro-active which ultimately dooms her as she fronts the fight to claim the Empire away from The Brotherhood and their plans to disrupt human history. The book does work very well in setting up her background (comes from a rich family and has wanted to avoid the responsibilities therein) so that her decision to fight at the end is understandable rather than feeling tacked on. Looking back I wonder if this was always the intended end for the character, that her foul mood and lack of openness being due to an innate knowledge that she would some day have to face her past with tragic consequences.

The Doctor is forced to face the overdue repercussions for his plans and machinations as they finally result in a severe loss. Dotted throughout many of the books in the series have been scenes of The Doctor conversing with a seldom seen force who taunts him with the pain yet to come. So Vile A Sin has a unique power in this regard in that it was written after the 8th-Doctor had debuted on TV, so foreshadowing that the 7th version of the character would die "afraid and alone" were known to be accurate. The 7th-Doctor, now heading towards the end of his time is shown to be an increasingly broken character, desperately holding on to his persona as "Time's Champion" but having to face the fact that his finale is coming. This is still fairly unique to the series, since really only the 4th-Doctor (and later the 10th, a bit) would end up facing knowledge of their eventual demise.

With only another 4 books to go prior to his regeneration, The Doctor ends the book completely shattered. Having faced the death of Roz and suffered a heart-attack as a result the book ends with some excellent passages as written from Bernice's POV, as he and Chris visit to try to recuperate after their loss. These parts, and as said the run-up to Roz's death (which is not actually shown and all the better for it) are the best parts of the book, and in fact some of the best of the entire New Adventures.

So overall So Vile A Sin is a strange beast. As stated, the marriage of necessity between Orman & Aaranovitch creates a book which is just shy of being satisfying. Huge vistas of ancient planet-sized Time Lord weapons and battles across the stars sits uneasily with the very personal and emotional scenes of tragedy and loss. It's not that the large and small-scales shouldn't be mixed, it's just that it here has led to a book which never quite settles down enough to establish the needed consistency. I struggled more than I should have to keep interest in parts, which is not a problem I've had wither either author in the past.

Still, the book is important for showing The Doctor having to suffer for his actions, and the cost they have. In that regard it's very post-2005, with its theme of the lead character's lack of responsibility having an impact on those around him (especially noticeable since I just finished a rewatch of "Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways"). However, while the book is definitely great and huge and sweeping and important it still felt a bit unpolished and less than it should have been. Perhaps the main problem is that, while longer than normal for The New Adventures events should have been split over a couple of books. While it works far better that it should considering the trials of publication it ends up feeling a little too rushed.