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.