Human Nature by Paul Cornell
In Brief: The Doctor decides he wants to learn what it means to be human and becomes School-Teacher John Smith in 1913 England. Challenges faced include unruly school-boys, an alien family who want his DNA and falling in love.
If this seems familiar it's because the book was turned into a 2-part TV-story in 2007.
It's almost impossible to judge Human Nature now on its own terms since we now have a version shown on TV with the 10th-Doctor and Martha (remember her?) replacing the 7th and Bernice.
However there are more than a few differences between the 1995 book and 2007 TV-episodes, some drastic and some subtle. Let me show you them:
-The Doctor here becomes human not to hide from The Family but instead of his own volition in order to learn and understand Bernice’s grief at losing Guy at the end of Sanctuary.
-The Doctor uses a red pod bought from an alien market to become human rather than a Tardis stop-watch.
-Benny pretends to be “John Smith’s” niece rather than maid.
-The Family are given the name of Aubertides and don’t take over people’s bodies but instead arrive as is through a time tunnel. They are chasing The Doctor after learning of his buying the pod.
-Joan has a cat named Wolsey that she gives to The Doctor at the end of the book.
-There are several additional characters not seen in the TV version, Alexander the museum-curator, Constance the Sufferagette, etc.
-No stupid scarecrow-soldiers.
-The school blows up.
-I didn’t have to look at that weird-faced kid who was in “love, actually…”
Overall though, I don’t think I can actually say that either the book or novel trumps the other. Both are real highlights of the Doctor Who lexicon, and it’s obvious why the decision was made to take this story from the page to (small) screen. Although I did find that I preferred the novel's approach to why The Doctor became human here, as it allowed for a more character-based basis for the book and also helped to make The Doctor feel more alien when he eventually “returned”. Of course having the 7th-Doctor suddenly being romantic was a bigger shift for the character in 1995 than what we got in 2007 considering the 10th’s “unrequited love” aspect of his relationship with Rose. The Doctor pre-2005 was an almost entirely asexual being, so the change in Human Nature is much more pronounced.
However I will give kudos to the TV-version for its version of Joan, Smith/The Doctor’s love interest. Partly through being a more strongly written version of the character but mainly thanks to Jessica Hynes’ performance TV-Joan was one of the more memorable characters to come out of Doctor Who ever. The book version unfortunately pales a bit in comparison and feels a bit bland. Also the novel’s final scene between The Doctor and Joan lacks the force of the televised version.
Joan’s on-screen accusatory “on a whim” has an impact greater than a combined army of Daleks and Weeping Angels ever could.
But I guess I should try to extract myself from media comparison and talk about just the book. As usual Paul Cornell’s writing style is fantastic and things move along at a great pace. After this drudge of Sanctuary this was a welcome experience. Benny is never better than when being written by her “creator” and here again takes centre-stage. I do hope that at some point the poor woman will be allowed to actually appear on TV rather than remain The Greatest Companion Who Never Was.
Of course considering that her main competition is a talking penguin there’s not a lot of competition for that title.
However, one aspect of the book which came as quite a surprise was the violence involved. The book has a much higher body count than the TV-version, with several of the students at the boys’ school being gunned down or killed in a giant explosion (that also blows up the school). Also, rather than the more “fairy tale” end that The Family meets in “The Family of Blood” here the Aubergines are almost completely killed off in various nasty ways by the end.
Human Nature is definitely one of the best books in the series so far, although it’s not envelope-pushing enough to be called great (unlike Cornell’s earlier Timewyrm: Revelation). While in some ways it’s been out-classed by the TV version (which still IMHO is probably the best post-2005 story we’ve had) the fact that it was good enough to actually be filmed speaks volumes. If anyone out there does want to sample one of the New Adventures this is the place to do it.
Sanctuary by David A. McIntee
In Brief: Forced to flee the Tardis, The Doctor and Bernice find themselves in 13th-century France. There they find a beseiged fortress, religious zealots, an amorous mercenary and no aliens or monsters.
Going into Sanctuary I expected the worst. Considering the pain I felt while reading McIntee's earlier First Frontier (Nevada Desert. The Master.) I was expecting another 250 pages of poor characterisation, languid plotting and giant impenetrable blocks of descriptive text. I'd *like* to be able to say that I was pleasantly surprised and that suddenly McIntee has become a good and enjoyable author. Unfortunately the best I can say is that he's gotten better, he's at least seeming competent but needs a much better editor.
While I still have the problem with his books (going back to White Darkness) of not being able to tell some of the characters apart at least here he's decided to work with a smaller group so it's a bit easier to tell who is who. I also find that I tend to not be able to keep track of the various motivations at play so always feel at a disadvantage with some of the parts of the book, particularly if The Doctor or Bernice aren't involved.
However McIntee has managed at least one decent character in Guy DeCarnac, a mercenary who gets a warm tingly feeling for Bernice by the end of the book. While at times not much more than a medieval cliche at least he's memorable enough to remember from chapter to chapter. But otherwise no one character other than The Doctor or Bernice manages to feel like more than if they were part of a not very good medieval Knights & Castles film.
Probably starring Nicholas Cage.
Thankfully the setting is a good one, with the Catholic Inquisitions offering a fairly dramatic threat in the book. And McIntee has done his research, although sometimes it can slow things down a bit as we get a bit of a descriptive history-lesson rather than an important part of the narrative.
The last section of the novel, as the refugees sanctuary of The Roc is pillaged is definitely a stand-out as McIntee doesn't pull his punches in describing what are some very horrific, and historically accurate, atrocities. Unfortunately (there's that word again) the build-up lets the book down, as there's really not much of a story, as a lot of the characters meander around and occasionally get into sword-fights. The tone seems to be set by The Doctor and Bernice, who never really feel like active participants in the narrative as they're really just waiting around until the Tardis repairs itself and returns for them.
I'd say the best aspect of Sanctuary is that it holds a unique place in the New Adventures series in having no extra-terrestrial element other than the regular characters. No Timewyrm, no Pyrovilles, no Tereleptils, just the Tardis and the locals. While I have some problems with the book I still think that "pure" historical stories have a place in Doctor Who, and yet we've not seen it in the show itself since 1967's "The Highlanders".
I realise I'm missing 1982's "Black Orchid" but I'm not counting that story since it's crap. and dancing.
So I won't say that Sanctuary was a bad book, it was just that all of the problems I've mentioned meant that it was uninvolving (which explains why it took me so long to finish the thing). I can put up with a lame story if the characters are interesting and vice versa, but I can't live on setting alone.
Which probably explains why I'll never get through the Lord of the Rings books.
Infinite Requiem By Daniel Blythe
In Brief: In order to ensure the safety of the entire universe, The Doctor and Bernice must combat an all-powerful enemy split across three different points in time & space.
A milk-run really.
Infinite Requiem is a good (but not great) entry into the range of New Adventures. However coming after what has been an excellent yet somewhat heavy run of books lately having something a little bit light-weight isn't a bad change of pace.
However when I say "light-weight" I mainly mean that we've got a mainly straight-forward action story rather than the more psychological terrors of the past few books. In a similar method to his earlier The Dimension Riders Blythe reuses a plot-point from the never-shown serial "Shada" (an enemy who wants to create and control a "universal mind") with some rather neat plotting across multiple times and places. In Infinite Requiem we get the God-like Shanstra, who emerges from the time vortex on a war-torn planet in the 25th-century with one thing (total-control BWAHHAHAH, or something) on her mind. However her influence is felt in 1997 London (where The Doctor and Benny get involved) as well as a Dream-Therapy Centre millennia in the future due to reasons explained in the book.
The book is best in its first half as it draws together what at first seems to be unrelated events as the Doctor and Bernice (both still missing the recently departed Ace. A bit.) investigate. Unfortunately the novel has a slightly poor second half, as the more interesting setting in the modern day is altered to a more futuristic yet blander location. But this isn't to say that any part of the book is bad, it's just mean that the threat of Shanstra's plan feels somewhat lessened as we lose the more "real-life" feeling setting.
This minor problem is made up for though by Blythe being a decent writer with a good grasp of keeping the non-regular characters interesting, even including the alien Phractons (aka Blobs in Floating Balls). The only real disappointment is that the main baddie Shanstra doesn't really develop into more than a cackling "I will rule/destroy you all!" type of villain. However it actually turns out by the end this is somewhat on purpose and actually fits in with how *spoiler* the Doctor eventually defeats her.
But these are all minor complaints in what overall was an enjoyable entry in the book series. It didn't blow my socks off but it did keep me entertained and interested throughout its 200+ pages. There are worse sins than being a bit unmemorable.
Set Piece by Kate Orman
In Brief: The Doctor, Bernice and Ace are scattered throughout history due to a rift in time after a plan goes disastrously wrong. Each thinks the others are dead and try to carry on despite the threat of a living ship filled with giant mechanical ants.
At the end one of them leaves the Tardis for good.
(hint: it's Ace.)
Set Piece would be notable just for the fact that it (finally many would say) sees the permanent departure of the character of Ace from "current" Doctor Who after 8 years (since the character first appeared in "Dragonfire" back in 1987). However it it also turns out to be one of the highlights of the New Adventures. Kate Orman, in her first return to the series since the equally fantastic The Left-Handed Hummingbird, puts together a fantastic story of multiple time-zones and a threat to all of time and space. Set Piece is what the recently televised "A Good Man Goes to Way" *should* have been, with the narrative use of time really having an impact on the characters rather than just being in aid of empty spectacle.
And the return of time-travelling Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart from the earlier novel Transit feels like the character of River Song done right.
What made the book really enjoyable for me is how Orman uses what could be a generic sci-fi situation (characters separated through time) but uses it to really dig into how it impacts the series regulars. Orman manages, in the character's last appearance as a regular in the series, to make the fist really successful use of the New version of Ace that we've had through the majority of these books. Gone is the cartoonish "Space Bitch" of earlier novels and instead we get a fully-rounded character that brings the character we first met in 1987 full circle and ready to live on her own.
Although with a portable time-machine to help protect the earth from the rift created by events of the book (and also to allow for occasional guest appearances).
Reading Set Piece I was reminded of how Ace was such an important character for Doctor Who once upon a time. Easily the best "companion" of the 1980s (although does she really have competition?) Ace was a huge step forward in terms of quality of character for the show. Although compared to what we get today her stories may seem light on back-story and somewhat clunky (her "seduction" scene in "The Curse of Fenric" defies description) at the time it was a *huge* improvement compared to some of the rather cardboard "shriekers" that had come beforehand. And in some ways Ace is more of a strongly defined character than the likes of Rose, Martha or Amy. I couldn't imagine any of them attacking a Dalek with a baseball bat.
And as a side note one of the things that has irked me about the 2011 series so far is how poorly the characters of Amy and Rory have been realised. They're on the verge of outdoing Mel, Dodo or Peri in terms of being "Generic Companions #1 and #2". While Amy was a bit light on personality last year at least it could be explained away as being due to Steven Moffat's crack. This year it's just feeling lazy.
But despite the importance of the character in the canon of Who having her permanently leave the series was definitely over-due. By 1995 the New Adventures needed to move more away from the TV-show more and stretch the potential for Doctor Who. Set Piece feels like the culmination of the run so far, looking somewhat to the past but getting us ready to enter a fresh phase for the series.
Although still with Dr#7, it's been said that Virgin *wanted* to regenerate The Doctor at the time but weren't allowed by the BBC.
So if you couldn't tell I liked Set Piece a lot, Orman again manages to combine a terrific story with
great writing style and a fantastic grasp of character. Who'd (hah!) have ever thought that a time would come that I'd get more enjoyment out of literary Doctor Who than what was being shown on TV? I say someone needs to head over to Australia and get her writing for the show proper!
But really, sorry to keep harping on about it but this season on TV is feeling rushed and a bit lacking, as if the strain of writing half of the episodes and running the show is proving to be a bit too much for Steven Moffat. TBH I wouldn't mind a bit less of his input.
Warlock by Andrew Cartmel
In Brief: One-Time Doctor Who Script-Editor Andrew Cartmel is back with a tale of the near-future (again), potent hallcinogenic drugs, crime, violence, prostitution and Animal Experimentation.
Things get messy.
Andrew Cartmel has some very strong political opinions.
He really really *really* wants you to know about his political opinions.
And agree with him.
While his earlier Cat's Cradle: Warhead definitely had a certain agenda lurking (not too deeply) under the surface (the horrors of a polluted future, the increasing place of technology in our lives, etc.), he'd managed to keep it for the most part in the sub-text of a very engaging story. Warlock unfortunately puts THE MESSAGE (Animal Experimentation=BAD, Drug Enforcement=BAD, etc.) before givng the reader an interesting and cohesive story.
However I still ended up enjoying the read, despite the sections of the book that get a little nasty in dealing with events involving lab animals (think PETA-pamphlet stuff). Cartmel is good at keeping events moving along, none of it is boring and his prose-style is very accomplished. Unfortunately where he (IMHO) fails is in offering a balanced argument, in particular how every person who works in the Drug Enforcement Agency or animal testing lab are almost cartoonish in their "evil" ethics. There's very little room for moral ambiguity in Cartmeland.
And let's not talk about what happens to Ace's pet cat.
So what is the book about? The main plot is *really* just that there's a drug called Warlock which has the effect of increasing the user's psychic powers and The Doctor wants to know more about it (the whole Lab Experiments thing pops up due to Ace's side-story and actually ends up having no real point in the narrative). There's not much more in terms of plot than that. However that's not really a problem since the author, as with Warhead, keeps the setting and characters (other than the "Bad Guys") interesting. We're back in the Doctor's House on Allen Road, which is a fantastic setting I'd love to see in the show itself (you know, if they ever get back to making stories based about interesting people and places again). The book opens with the regulars having been in the house for a significant amount of time (possibly at least a year, probably recovering from the events in Parasite.) so there's an interesting sense that they really have some "normal" days in between adventures.
Also, Cartmel is really a good author for Ace, probably since he was so involved in the character's creation back in the late 80s. Rather than the OTT Space-Bitch we've gotten on occasion the reader gets the sense that this could well be an older version of the TV-character. Also, the main non-regular characters are given depth which sometimes can be lacking in some lesser New Adventures. It may seem a silly thing to point out, but a few authors have seemed to forget that in a novel it's important to have interesting characters, not just continuous action and continuity references.
So, while not as good as Warhead (which I still think as one of the best of the series, despite the now very dated early-90s view of the future), I found Warlock to be another good book in the series, although the issue of the heavy-handed politics and lack of strong narrative do get in the way. And it's not that I really disagree with all of his political opinions, it's just that I don't like having them screamed at me.
Parasite by Jim Mortimore
In Brief: A few hundred years in the future the Doctor, Ace and Benny arrive within The Artifact, a world inside-out. Within are spectacular wonders and terrifying creatures that are going through some severe changes.
Nihilism ensues.
I enjoyed Parasite, although it's possibly the darkest and most defeatist slice of Doctor Who ever. Rather than the normal narrative of Doctor & Co Vs. Alien-Threat/Monster this book is a massive example Man Vs. Nature as the main antagonist ends up being the environment itself (well there *is* a minor bad character, but he doesn't do much). With the regulars separated from the Tardis almost immediately after landing and the Doctor essentially in a coma for most of the book, Bernice and Ace are left to suffer in a major way.
By the end of the book Ace will have been blinded, had small creatures burrow under her skin and later break out, almost die from radiation poisoning and end up almost feral snacking on raw meat. Meanwhile Bernice suffers from various infections, a skull fracture, a crushed leg and having her stomach sliced open to remove a large parasite. The minor characters (an expedition into The Artifact comprised mainly of students) fare even worse (there are no happy endings...). While it sounds like the Jim Mortimore is just being sadistic towards his character it very much fits with the sense that he wants the reader to really understand how dangerous nature can really be, an alien nature especially so.
Also it gives both Ace and Bernice a chance to really shine a bit as they are forced to deal with the various dangers within the Artifact (the Killer Microwave-Monkeys being the worst). "New" Ace is finally starting to again feel like an extension of the original character rather than some horrible Linda Hamilton in T2 impersonation which is welcome after being so irritating for so very long.
So when I say I enjoyed this book it wasn't out of some perverse pleasure at the suffering but due to the quality of the writing and as a stark contrast to the relatively "safe" environments we normally see (or read about). On-Screen we don't really ever feel that the likes of Jo, Rose or Amy are ever really in serious peril or have to deal with real issues of survival. I can't think of another example of the series where the only real accomplishment for any of the characters is simply to survive. It helps is that Mortimore is one of the better writers of the "New Adventures" so far, with his earlier (co-written) Lucifer Rising and Blood Heat having equally evocative and imaginative settings. The Artifact itself, a zero-gravity environment filled with luminous oceans and impossible (and seriously unfilmable) flora and fauna is expertly realised.
I'm glad to see that the series over the past few books has started to push the possibilities of Doctor Who in written form again after a slump. It's a reminder that it's worth putting up with some sub-par stories since there's normally some quality right around the corner.
Although that's a mantra I have to remind myself of more and more as we slowly work through the 2011 series on TV...
Falls the Shadow by Daniel O'Mahony
In brief: The Tardis is forced to land in a spooky old house. Mix in time-experiments, demented Gods, an intelligent insect from a world which never happened and carnivorous orchids.
Oh, and talking stone heads.
Falls the Shadow is one of the better books in the series so far. It has a depth of character and quality of writing and dialogue which puts it well above many of the New Adventures (particularly the recent run). The book really grabbed hold of the possibilities of a Doctor Who novel and gives the reader an experience they would never get on TV such as an impossibly large house, a view of "interstitial time" and an artificial universe ruled over by a collection of flying stone heads (try to pretend that bit doesn't sound like "Zardoz").
Although there is the minor issue that the book doesn't really have a plot.
Of course when has that stopped a Doctor Who story in the past?
The plot of book can be summed up as: Due to time-experiments being carried out by Professor Winterdawn (based on The Master's work in "The Time Monster", one of the few nods to continuity in the book) a tear in the cosmos has been created which results in the creation of the malicious "Gods" Gabriel and Tanith. However a force from a parallel universe (The Grey Man) brings the Doctor & Co. into the situation in order to assist with their destruction. Now obviously this is a gross simplification of what happens over 300 pages as The Doctor, Ace and Benny roam the interior of the dimensionally unstable mansion and get involved with Winterdawn's team (some of whom don't actually exist, long story) or are randomly tortured by Gabriel and Tanith (in scenes which *definitely* put this in the adult section of the book store). I enjoyed Falls the Shadow for its imagination and scope even if by the end I realised that it really didn't do much other than meander.
Although like much of life meandering can be fun if there are interesting things to see.
The last act of the book does fall apart a bit as the house is completely absorbed by the universe of Cathedral and we end up in yet another "impossible" waste-land (memories of the tedium of Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible come rushing back, but not too much.) It meant that the final portion of the book lost some of the impetus that had been gathered. Since a good portion of the non-regular characters had been killed off it made the final climax feel a bit hollow; it was hard to really know what the stakes were since everything was happening away from Earth. I suspect it's probably another case of an author writing themselves into a corner and fluffing the ending through being a bit vague (although at least that band-aid for all story-gaps of "timey-wimey" hadn't been invented yet).
With the psychological leaning of the book it's good that the regulars are on fine form. "New" Ace is less annoying than usual and Benny is more pro-active than in recent books (even if she spends a good portion of the book dead). The Doctor, while somewhat in the background, is back to being the more mysterious version of the character. Seeing Matt Smith's more active interpretation of #11 on TV at the moment makes quite a contrast to go back to the days when #7 was very much the background manipulator.
Of course that would be the difference between a 45-minute episode on TV and a 300-page book, you don't have to have everything wrapped up so quickly.
Although that's not to be confused with the HYPER-active #10.
Overall though I liked reading Falls the Shadow. I think I prefer my Doctor Who to have more fantasy/horror aspects rather than the more sci-fi/futuristic stories. It's definitely a step in the right direction for the New Adventures (as in back towards "being good") and is an excellent example of Doctor Who actually managing to be "adult" in the right ways (as opposed to junk like Series 1 & 2 of Torchwood). It's probably best described as a "roller-coaster of a novel"; it's exciting and thrilling and you enjoy the experience even if at the end it turns out you're back where you began.
