Head Games by Steve Lyons
In Brief: An eruption of fictional-energy threatens the universe. The Doctor, with companions old and new, must deal with the results as his evil doppelganger Dr.Who causes havoc throughout time and space.
Head Games should have been a very good book. Steve Lyons is a decent writer and he is playing with some decidedly good ideas here. Unfortunately a high level of quality only emerges in spurts as overall the novel is decidedly mediocre. The big problem is that much of the story is set on the very bland alien world of Detrios, where the "Fictional Energy" (from Lyons' earlier Conundrum) has resulted in a giant crystal "Miracle" hanging in the sky. While things do improve when the plot moves to 2001 England it still lumbers the novel with some markedly dull passages.
All of the energy leaking out has found its was to Jason, the earlier Master of the Land of Fiction. He subconsciously uses it to create Dr.Who, a comic version of The Doctor who decides that his alter-ego is actually a force for evil and that he and all of his followers (companions) must be destroyed. So what we have is a big metaphor for how The Sevenths Doctor's methods go beyond the black & white plots of his earlier incarnations/stories. His actions are always a choice between consequences (although aren't everyone's?) rather than simply "fighting eveil". While this greying of The Doctor's motivations seems common-place now (what with modern episodes like "Midnight" and "Amy's Choice" showing the character is less than a positive light) for the 1995 this was still fairly new territory.
The other method Head Games uses to comment on how manipulative the 7th-Doctor has become is through having his current Tardis team (Benny, Roz and Chris along and a cameo from Ace) meet previous companion (to the 6th and 7th Doctors) Mel.
I know, I missed her too.
The good part of Mel returning is that through her disgust of the actions of the current Doctor (basically forcing Detrios to suffer to save the universe) we get a good sense of how much he has changed from earlier "simpler" times. Unfortunately I think Lyons missed an opportunity to do something interesting with her character, since for the most part she comes across as a shrill and irritating screamer (so exactly how she was portrayed on TV). This would have been a great chance to try give her a bit of depth.
As a side note the big problem with Mel (as well as Peri) is that she was always too much of a "throw-back" character on the show, as if the production team at the time were looking to the 60s & 70s (in particular regulars like Victoria and Jo Grant) for inspiration. Unfortunately in 1985/86 having such a character was *exactly* the wrong decision to make; they needed something new to reinvigorate the series. Thankfully that happened in 1987 when Ace joined (although by then it was probably too little, too late). Watching episodes with Mel is frustrating, since Bonnie Langford *is* actually a very good actress but was unfortunately lumbered with a terrible character to play.
Ok, back to Head Games itself. While a lot of the book doesn't quite work it's still a hugely important part of The New Adventures. It acts as a big marker for how much the novels and The Doctor have developed since the early days. The book is essentially a big thumb in the nose to fans at the time who complained (oh how they complained, particularly in Internet newsgroups...) that the books just "weren't Doctor Who". As with modern times, a lot of people had a set idea of what Doctor Who should be like, which was The Doctor thwarting alien invaders and toppling corrupt governments and nothing else. Dr.Who exists to show how unsatisfying such a character can be. Not even Superman would be so empty.
The book also gives the reader insight into the 7th-Doctor, in particular when confronted by the manifestation of his 6th persona. We get into some serious continuity references here as we learn that the 7th Doctor "forced" himself into being to keep the unhinged 6th from becoming the evil Valeyard (if this doesn't make sense go and watch the monumental mess that is The Trial of a Timelord, if you dare). But again I'm discussing plot-points of the novel rather than actually reviewing the thing.
And that's the big problem, while the book has some BIG THINGS happen that are worth discussing the parts just don't add up to a satisfying whole. The narrative is too much of a mess and the non-regulars aren't interesting at all. I can see what Steve Lyons was aiming for and it was a good idea, it's just that he doesn't manage to pull it off. Overall Head Games, while clever, is just too much of a mess to recommend.
Toy Soldiers by Paul Leonard
In Brief: It's 1919 and aliens are kidnapping children and forcing them to become soldiers in a meaningless war on a far-off world.
The Doctor is not amused.
Toy Soldiers, like Zamper immediately before, is a book for which I held absolutely no memory. Re-reading it now I can understand why, the characters and situations just never rise above being "a bit dull". There's not enough plot to sustain an entire novel and several parts of the book are taken up with descriptions of various air and ground battles on the alien planet that become a bit tedious. Also the author becomes rather heavy-handed in his anti-war message so things turn a little preachy. While I'm all for a nice pacifist message I've seen it done better elsewhere (such as in Human Nature).
Also the book is lacking a decent antagonist. While the reason behind the kidnappings (a big alien computer trying force technological upgrade through war) makes sense and fits in with the "pointlessness of war" theme it leave the reader feeling somewhat unsatisfied.
However there are some aspects of the book that work well and raises Toy Soldiers into the ranks of the "mediocre yet worthy". The novel makes good use of Chris and Roz for once, who in being separated from The Doctor and Benny for much of the book get a chance to develop as characters as they're forced to cope with 1919 attitudes. Roz gets some good moments as she slowly comes to realise the prejudice surrounding her darker than average skin.
Benny also gets a good chunk of the action, as she struggles to break her brain-washing when she is captured and sent to the alien war-zone. The Doctor is absent for long stretches of the book, which works well as it forces the other characters to figure out problems on their own.
While nothing in the book is actually bad the whole thing is just uninspired. There's nothing in the book that's really that much different from what has gone before in the New Adventures. With the subject matter and setting Toy Soldiers should have been one of the highlights of the series but as it is just remains a forgotten and forgettable entry in the lexicon of Who.
Zamper by Gareth Roberts
In Brief: The hidden warship-building planet of Zamper holds a Terrible Secret.
Don't they all?
Giant turtles are involved.
The quality of The New Adventures, over the (dear lord) 40+ books I've now read, have ranged from Excellent to Alright to Terrible to the depths of "My Eyes! My Precious Eyes!". I say this because while Zamper is not-a-very-good-book (a ranking just above Terrible) I say so more since it's a disappointment rather than it being the affront to my sanity that a few of these books have been.
The one with the psychic space-squirrels still gives me nightmares.
I should have expected that I wouldn't be impressed by the book considering that this is one of the few novels in the range for which I had absolutely no memory. Almost every other book in the New Adventures I recall some sort of snippet or event at least, however Zamper was a complete blank.
The plot: The Doctor & Co. crash on a planet that produces the galaxy's best warships through a lightly manned (4 people) underground base. Also present are a couple of The Chelonians (giant militaristic turtles last seen in Roberts' The Highest Science) who are buying a ship with which to reclaim past glories, or something. However the automated "Management" that runs the facility is breaking down, and the slug-like Zamps, who actually construct the ships are beginning to act very odd indeed.
The biggest problem with the book is that for the first 3/4rds or so nothing much really happens. Most of the characters just wander around the facility bitching at each other while The Doctor heads into some underground caves where he spends almost all of the book. With a less than interesting setting (a planet that looks like a quarry with purple skies. I thought these books were supposed to give us things *not* seen in the original series) and forgettable characters a decent plot would have at least livened things up. Unfortunately that decent plot is nowhere to be found here, as mentioned things sort of meander along until a "twist" (spoiler: The Zamps and The Management are actually EVIL (Bwahahahah!)) towards the end moves everything into silly-action territory.
Gareth Roberts has done his best, his writing style is still very good and up until the last act there's still a sense that there will be a decent pay-off. It's just that pay-off never happens and instead everything is concluded with everything and everyone (who isn't a regular) blowing up. As for the regulars, The Doctor is pretty much side-lined throughout although Benny does get some good bits when interacting with the Chelonians. Having Ace leave has been a definitely benefit to her character. However Chris & Roz have yet to show any real spark as part of the Tardis crew; Roz in particular suffering as she seems more and more like Ace-light in her stories so far.
So while I didn't find reading Zamper to be a chore (at least it's short), I did find it to be a completely sub-par entry in the series. While there have been worse Doctor Who stories (much, much worse) written that's hardly a defence of the book. No part of Roberts' effort here even seem to be trying to rise above mediocre, which is a shame for an author who normally manages to write something much better. I suspect that my new memories of this book will once again be quickly forgotten...
Sky Pirates! by Dave Stone
In Brief: The Doctor, Benny, Chris and Roz find themselves in a nihilistic version of The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
But with song-and-dance numbers.
Insane, bizarre, probably divisive and quite quite enjoyable, Sky Pirates! is definitely one of the most memorable of the books in the entire range of New Adventures. While I imagine the book wouldn't be to everyone's taste the huge imagination involved in Stone's world-building mixed with his OTT writing-style meant that I was totally with this book from Page 1.
That's not to say that the book is perfect, it could probably due with a bit more focus and a bit of an edit (at 300 pages it's the longest of the New Adventures), but at the same time I don't mind a bit of indulgence here and there when the result is so enjoyable.
So what is the book about anyways? The Tardis falls into a small pocket universe known as The System, which is filled with a variety of humanoid species on a collection of rather improbable planets. However The System has been invaded by the villainous shape-shifting blobby Sloathes, who are enslaving the local population and stealing all of their pretty things. Add to this a pirate crew, a "chosen one" and a quest for The Eyes That Will Save Everything. The book goes for a bit of a "quest" feel as the regulars (including new additions Chris and Roz, a little underused) end up in various parts of The System over a course of several weeks.
Sky Pirates! is a great book for Benny, as the sense of humour which follows the character is really allowed to come to the fore-front as she's faced with planets shaped like snowmen and a sun with a giant smiley-face on it. However it's her view of The Doctor that really stands out in the book, as she realises that her earlier hope of being an equal to him was a false hope, at best she might be a prized pet. That's not to say that the book makes The Doctor out to be uncaring, but this is easily the character at his most manipulative and alien, getting people to do what he needs through subtle hints and false comedy. The climax in particular, as The Doctor faces the reason The System has him at his most God-like and terrifying (although that's not visible to most).
So while much of Sky Pirates! at first seems to be extremely OTT by the end it's surprising at how serious, and actually horrific, much of what happens ends up being. Like the earlier Parasite this is a disaster of huge proportions, with only the survival of a few giving a sense of victory (well relatively few compared to the earlier book's survival-rate of none). Still, the book is hardly a downer. In fact it in many ways pushes the Doctor Who envelope farther than any other book so far (and definitely more than almost any TV-story). Although I guess that's the benefit of a novel not having to worry about the budget.
So an excellent, if diabolical, entry into the series. This book has reminded me about how enjoyable Who can be when it goes for something new and succeeds.
Original Sin by Andy Lane
In Brief: 30th-Century Earth. Empires are crumbling, the rich live in luxurious floating Over-Cities while the poor toil in the dark below and people are randomly becoming insane killers. Plus ça change...
Oh, and The Doctor picks up a couple of new companions, Adjudicators (Future-police) Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej. And while the whole thing ends up being the fault of an old enemy amazingly it *isn't* The Master.
Original Sin is a very good book. One of the best in the series so far in fact. It's got that combination of good story, good writing and good characters that reminded me why I was investing my time in revisiting The New Adventures. I'd say that it's actually a smidge better than Human Nature even though the previous story was the one that ended up being filmed. Of course with it's futuristic world-hoppping sci-fi trappings you'd need a budget in the tens of millions to bring Original Sin to life, not just a school-house in Wales.
Something that's very interesting to me, reading these books, as to how one author can manage to make their characters really stand out and be memorable where another fails dismally. Why is it that Andy Lane's writing means I can easily follow everything that is going on, but an author like David A. McIntee (Sanctuary, First Frontier) ends up with some vivid description of scenery but I can never tell anyone apart. I guess it must just be a skill that some have that others lack, like musical ability.
Anyways, decent characterisation is just one of the aspects of the book that made it enjoyable. Lane's version of the 30th-century is one very much like that of "The Fifth Element", with an earth covered in massive high-rises and filled with all types of alien visitor. Although in a lot of ways this goes further than anything in that movie in making the place a tangible domain where people (and aliens) live. Throw into this setting Bernice and The Doctor, following the dying words of a large slug (aka Hith Warrior), warned of a danger to Earth. The threat is that people are randomly going insane and killing anyone in their path.
It turns out eventually that the culprit is one Tobias Vaughn, last seen as a stooge for the Cybermen in 1968's "The Invasion".
Having a returning villain could have been awful, as it has been in the past (The Master, The War Lords. etc.) but in Original Sin it works surprisingly well. Lane has taken care to make sure that Vaughn's appearance doesn't feel shoe-horned in. The character's presence has been thought through, with a plausible reason for him to have survived his earlier story and to still be around 1000 year later. While not mandatory having seen the earlier story does help though.
But alongside a good setting, villain, etc., Original Sin is notable in that we get two new companions for The Doctor in the form of Adjudicators (Future-police) Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej. The two join the Tardis since after siding with The Doctor against their corrupt employer it becomes too dangerous to stay on Earth after the events of the book. Considering Bernice is still around this makes for the most crowded Tardis-crew since Adric landed in Mexico. Of the two of them Roz is the better defined at the moment, mainly as we get a bit more of her back-story than with Chris. Also the fact that Chris starts the book looking like a large Teddy-Bear (thanks to a trendy 30th-century "Body-Bepple") means that he's more the comic relief to begin.
It's good to see the book series taking another step away from its TV-roots. If the publishers had tried to keep the stories based around the original show I don't think the New Adventures would have been even close to being as interesting as they are. Of course with the show back in TV it means that these books are now rather forgotten I do think that their influence has not been completely ignored as so many authors have since written for the show proper. They really did fill the gap between the adventurous original run and the more character-led stories (for the most part) we've had since 2005.
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.
