EDA #19 The Taint

The Taint by Michael Collier

In Brief: It's 1963, The Doctor and Sam encounter a research facility helping people who seem to be tainted by mysterious dark forces.

They also meet Fitz Kreiner, a somewhat aimless shop-assistant who joins the Tardis crew.

Yes, I'm still working through these books, although at a somewhat slower pace. The combination of busier lifestyle and lessened quality of the BBC output has meant that my verve in getting through the books (which previously had been around 3-4 per month) has now been reduced to 2 a month at best. Extrapolating from that rate means it could well be another 3 years before I finally get to the end of the range. That is very long time to get through a series where each book is somewhere between 200-250 pages.

Ok, but what about The Taint? It was ok. I enjoyed the "London in the recent past" setting as a Earth-based adventures have been somewhat rare in the BBC novels. For some reason authors in the late 1990s seemed to think that Doctor Who worked better in far off space rather than in a more recognizable setting.

Also good is the introduction of Fitz, who adds his self-depreciating tone to the Tardis lineup. He's instantly more relatable than walking-cliche Sam, and hopefully future authors will use him in a positive fashion.

Collier has definitely improved his writing ability since his earlier (deadly dull) Longest Day. However he still needs some improvement in his plotting, as the story tends to badly meander.

So really I'm praising the first third of the book or so, when it feels like the book is heading somewhere. While the initial "what is up with these people and their powers?" mystery is good it takes too long for anything to really start to happen. And as it turns out that the cause is due to a malfunctioning android it's a major anti-climax.

Other than the regulars and Fitz the rest of the characters in The Taint are rather unmemorable and dull. However that seems to be part and parcel for the BBC Books range.

Ok, if you couldn't tell I'm having difficulty saying much more. Finding something to say about this severe low-point in the history of Doctor Who is extremely difficult. Most of the novels just want to maintain a status-quo that isn't working. I'm now almost 2 years into the publication history of these books and there's still been no real improvement or signs of consistency. It just feels like as long as any author can hit the page-count they'd end up being published.

I want to think that I can make it to the end of the series, but I'm starting to think there are better things I should be doing with my time.

EDA #18 The Face-Eater

The Face-Eater by Simon Messingham

In Brief: Humanity's first colony outside of the Solar System is built on top of an Ancient Evil Terror of Horrible Deadly Doom(tm).

There's absolutely nothing memorable about The Face-Eater. Again I'm struggling to find anything to discuss about an Eighth Doctor book. A positive is that unlike some of the other entries in the series at least the novel is competently written. Of course at this point I'm starting to define competent as "at least my eyes don't feel like they want to escape from my skull as I read the text in front of me".

The big problem is that the experience of reading many of the books, and the The Face-Eater is a *very* typical example, is that there's absolutely no ambition to them. 18 books into the series and it's obvious that this is not really a continuation of Doctor Who in the same way that The New Adventures were. Instead this is for the most part a collection of tie-in books to the TV-show, except that there is no show to tie into. As such the range by this point (early 1999) is desperately floundering and in need of some form of direction.

But as to the book itself, it's an ok horror-novel with sci-fi trappings entry where The Doctor and Sam land on a planet with a small colony of humans on it. People are being killed by a shadowy "face-eater" (aka Space Vampire) who it turns out is collecting their souls or energy or something so that a large entity under the ground can emerge and KILL ALL THE HUMANS! There's also a half-crazed colony leader (with attached doomsday device she pulls out of her arse at the climax to increase page-count) and some local ape-like creatures who are they key to the planet's "terrible secret".

At the end The Doctor saves the day by sort of maybe doing something (it's not quite an "I'll explain later" but damn close) while Sam gets shot at, beat up and generally abused. The Sam-torture prevalent in the last few novels makes me suspect that the various authors involved desperately dislike the character (with good reason) and want to abuse her as much as possible. While I don't find her as irritating as many readers at the time the character is just a mistake for the range at this point. Doctor Who in 1999 didn't need a throw-back to the 1970s, it needed a way forward.

The character of The Doctor is also too lightly written. With only about an hour of TV footage of Paul McGann in the role to go on many of the authors write him in a very "loose" fashion, with other than a few mannerisms setting this version of the character apart from the rest. The result is possibly one of the least interesting versions of the character, basically the action-man of the 3rd mixed with the bland "sensitivity" of the 5th.

All of these factors are symptoms that series just doesn't seem to have any steam to it. Other than the occasional glimmer of quality when certain authors are involved (Kate Orman, Paul Magrs) working through the series is a decidedly underwhelming experience. I'm beginning to suspect that if I'd actually started these books back in the day I'd have probably started to struggle with continuing by this point. 

EDA #17 Beltempest

Beltempest by Jim Mortimore

In Brief: The Doctor and Sam have a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. 

The Tardis hurls The Doctor and Sam into the potential collapse of an entire solar-system. Billions of people are set to be killed, millions have already died. The Doctor tries to get to the bottom of the situation while Sam becomes involved with an undying messiah.

Then it turns out to be caused by powerful super-beings going through berthing pains and we are reminded of our place in a large and uncaring universe.

Ok, so there's more to it than that but Beltempest felt like Jim Mortimore in an iPod shuffle. What's here is good, but we've seen (or read it rather) all before (in the likes of New Adventures's Parasite and Eternity Weeps). It's his normal mix of the apocalypse writ large mixed with a dollop of dark humour.

But this minor complaint makes it sound like the book was dull, which it wasn't. It's possibly the most intense entry in the series so far, especially as Sam faces the weight of choices she must make. Actually this is possibly the best use of the character so far, as her being driven to the verge of madness by events in the book gives an edge that's so far been missing. Too often she's come across as a somewhat empty and under-written character (The Amy
Pond of the 90s?).

What I also appreciated though is that a story like this could *only* be done as a novel, there's no way a television production could capture the sheer *size* of what happens. However it can be heavy going, and the book felt very rushed towards the end. Still, it's a well-written and challenging entry in the Eighth Doctor Adventures, which is very welcome.

I can't quite say that the book was great, but it was a very good and memorable experience. Albeit one I probably don't need to go through again.

EDA #16 The Janus Conjunction

The Janus Conjunction by Trevor Baxendale

In Brief: Colonists. Soldiers. Giant Spiders. Radiation. An Ancient Super-weapon.

Another day in the office really.

The Janus Conjunction is another entry in the "solid but unremarkable" entries in the range. The Doctor and Sam arrive on radioactive wasteland of a world which has a mysterious special link to another planet in the same system. Included in the mix are a couple of warring factions (colonists and a breakaway group of soldiers). By the end of the book there has been the defeat of evil, the saving of worlds, and much technobabble (oh for the days of "I'll explain later.").

So overall I can't complain too much about the book, since it met the goal of being a standard run-around. While there's a sense of disappointment that there wasn't great ambition sometimes a run-around is just fine.

However, what I *did* find interesting is how different what was typical in 1998 is so completely different to what we find in Doctor Who today. The biggest shift is that The Janus Conjunction is very big on gun/knife-fights and dwelling on hardware and soldiering and other such butch endeavours. This is Who trying to be all pro-military like Stargate. There's little of the humour or whimsy that one would find today, even the most action-based stories have a lightness of touch that's missing here.

Also the use and function of Sam in The Janus Conjunction is markedly different from the likes of Rose/Donna/Amy. Her character is essentially a throw-back to the companions of old, a distillation of Jo Grant and Sarah Jane Smith but with some late-90s "Go Girl!" added. But there's no attempt to modernize the character in any way, she's still around mainly to get into situations that The Doctor needs to fix or when someone needs to be around to have the plot explained to them.

Of course, since these books were being written for an audience of older Doctor Who fans (and in the late-90s it's not like there were new ones) it makes sense that many of the authors would be working with the old tropes. For that reason I can at least tolerate the character, as I have the benefit of distance to know that her time as part of Who-dom was limited.

Otherwise there were really no memorable characters (we're definitely not in The Scarlet Empress anymore) and none of the places visited were particularly interesting (ruins and a farming colony). Still, at least the range is keeping away from constantly bringing back old characters/monsters and the characterization of the 8th Doctor is becoming more comfortable (even if he does at times come across like a hyperactive version of the 3rd who says a lot of words 3 times).

So is there much else to day? Not really. The Janus Conjunction is a slight entry in the series which wasn't great but at least didn't offend. I'll just say it was all amusingly old-fashioned and move on.

EDA #15 The Scarlet Empress

The Scarlet Empress by Paul Magrs

In Brief:  A quest through a land of wizards, hairless guard-bears, giant spiders and an evil empress alongside a lizard-man, bearded-lady and a half-crazed Time Lady in her double-decker bus shaped Tardis.

It's becoming somewhat apparent that I've been slowing down in getting through these books. From an average of 3 or so earlier in the year I now seem to be getting through around one a month. However considering the number of times I've ended up writing "this book was disappointing" it's hardly surprising that I'm not tearing through the novels with the voraciousness that was once there. Also moving countries and other life upheavals has meant that fitting in the time for a 15-year-old series of books has lowered in the ranks somewhat.

However, I don't intend to give up on them since it gives me the chance to experience some "new" Who (well to me since the Eighth Doctor books were completely ignored at the time). The best thing about Doctor Who (for me) is is that "where will we go *this* week?" that so imbues the show at its best (IMHO). I've never understood the criticism of some that they can't stand the show since there's no regular cast each week, as if that's somehow a bad thing. However it *is* a bit annoying when you get a particularly good setting or situation.

Such is the case with The Scarlet Empress as The Doctor & Sam gate-crash a world of magic and wonders. The book itself is some of the best Doctor Who fiction I've read, well written and filled to the brim with great characters, charm and wit. We also get the introduction of Iris Wildthyme, an escapee from Gallifrey who travels all of space & time in a bus that's slightly smaller on the inside than the outside.

Also, The Eighth Doctor has really come into his own in the series, still based on Paul McGann and his youthful energizing of the character but with more of a connection to the past. If anything we seem to have a future echo of what will be on screen once David Tennant and Matt Smith appear.

While the plot of The Scarlet Empress is mainly a series of set-pieces it hardly matters as Magrs has created such a vibrant world, one which is very different from most seen previously. Here the planet Hyspero is a land of magical beasts and little explained wonders, akin to something out of Arabian Tales. One of the things I do after finishing each novel is go to The Doctor Who Ratings Guide to get a contemporary sense of what fandom though of it (and to see if I agree or not). Interestingly in the late-90s a lot of fans took issue with the overt use of "magic" in Doctor Who, since it just wasn't the norm.

However, coming to the book in 2012 such qualms are greatly lessened after televised adventures against witches, giant doll-houses and however the hell The Master came back to life during "The End of Time". Doctor Who has generally been Science Fantasy rather than Science Fiction, despite the opinion of many. It's about the fun of experience, even if you don't get all of the explanations (unlike much of say Star Trek, which is all about the explanations, even if you don't get the fun).

However this being a book written in the late-1990s its very post-modern and filled deconstructionism, as the prose flits about the place and characters have conversations around story-telling and narrative.  Iris, with her tendency to claim The Doctor's adventures as her own (and mention of previously unheard of adventures between the two) is a very new style of character, acting as both part of as well as comment on the story.  Such a complexity of story-telling is the usual in the series today ("Love & Monsters" on TV being the most overt example), but this was very new to Who in 1998.

But most importantly this is a glimmer that even in the Doctor Who dead-zone of 1997-2002 (post-move, pre-announcement of comeback) there were those ready to take the series into new directions. The Eighth Doctor Adventures up until now have been too much about rehashing the past and living off the fumes of nostalgia. Now it remains to be seen if much else in this series keeps up to the promise of The Scarlet Empress, but at least I'm living in hope again.

EDA #14 Vanderdeken's Children

Vanderdeken's Children by Christopher Bulis

In Brief: The Doctor and Sam get caught up in escalating tensions between two warring planets both laying claim to a mysterious derelict ship floating in space. Ghosts are involved.

The author of what I ranked as one of the worst of the New Adventures (Shadowmind) now contributing to the so far sub-par Eighth Doctor Adventures range. Need less to say I approached Vanderdeken'd Children with some trepidation. However much to my surprise I found that the novel managed to reach and maintain a level of "not bad (with caveats)".

One of the caveats is that the characterisation is somewhat light, these aren't the most memorable group of characters in the history of Who. But then that's nothing new to the series, we don't need in-depth character drama all of the time. The other issue is that things don't really wrap up well at the end, with a horrible timey-wimey time-loop explanation and is completely unsatisfying.

But, up until the end the book manages to keep a good sense of mystery going as The Doctor and Sam (impersonating government moderators) help to investigate the abandoned ship. Although it's essentially a spooky old house in space there are a few decent surprises along the way. I didn't have a feeling of tedium while working through this entry in the range as I have some others. Well except for anything not set on the ship, there's a bit of MILITARY EXPOSITION! going on throughout.

But other than declaring Vanderdeken's Children to be a decent book that unfortunately doesn't *quite* hang together there's really not much more to say.

Um, it's free of references to the past, which is nice after the continuity-fest of Placebo Effect. The Doctor is also decently proactive and involved in the story for once, there's been a bit of a tendency to keep him out of events a bit too much in these books. I realise it's most likely to raise the tension a bit it does make the character come across as somewhat ineffectual.

And Sam...is there. Despite the good work of some authors (most notably Kate Orman) to try to make her character work in the series the "right-on girl of the late-90s" remains an obvious struggle for many of them. Here she's just acting as Generic Companion who is a bit perky and gets into trouble every so often but otherwise has no notable personality (*cough* Amy Pond *cough*). While disappointing by this point I've just had to accept her presence and get on with it.

So, to sum up, book is ok. That's about it.

EDA #13 Placebo Effect

Placebo Effect by Gary Russell

In Brief: The novel that asks the question "What would happen if the Foamasi were to meet the Wirrrn?" and DARES TO GIVE THE ANSWER!

And again it looks like I've been given false hope regarding the Eighth Doctor books. After the exemplary Seeing I we're back to the norm of mediocrity. There's just such a lack of ambition to many of the books it's extremely frustrating, as if the publishers have decided that they'd rather coast on the fumes of nostalgia of Doctor Who rather than attempt anything new. Placebo Effect is a dumb, cliched mess of a novel which manages to sour the memory of the stories from which it draws inspiration.

The book involves The Doctor falling into a scheme involving The Foamasi (from 1980's "The Leisure Hive") which is actually a red herring as the *real* threat is a plot by The Wirrrn (from 1975's "The Ark in Space") using the cover of the Olympic Games of 3999 (set a year before the events of 1965/66's "The Daleks Masterplan") to spread their genetic code across the universe and therefore amalgamate all other species into the Wirrrn hive-mind. There's also something about some religious zealots and bad comedy involving the aristocracy.

While the plot doesn't sound any sillier than other entries in the series the problem is that Russell seems to actually think he's writing a rather serious sci-fi novel that probes "the big questions". This probing mainly comes down to interminable passages as Sam tries to debate evolution and other themes with the religious order or when we get into in-depth explorations of the Foamasi social structure. This must have all seemed fascinating to the author, but the reader is faced with pages and pages of nothing happening while characters have discussions about matters that have nothing to do with the rest of the story.

When events finally do start moving (around 3/4ths of the way into the book) it all just becomes a gun battle as various factions of police run around firing at emerging Wirrrn grubs. And then at the end everything blows up through The Doctor ramming a cord into an electrical outlet.

However Placebo Effect at least wasn't painful, just dumb and very poorly paced. Gary Russell does seem to have some sort of strange ability to at least keep interest by throwing random items into the plot. However nothing really coalesces, so there's no sense of a story happening here, just a lot of different characters running around talking to each other before the big skirmish at the end.

Also, all of the good work in Seeing I is undone as The Doctor and Sam revert to being the underwritten pod-people the characters have been through too many of these novels. In making Doc 8 noticeably different from the controlling #7 they've gone too far and made him too light-weight. This version of The Doctor has no commanding presence or real impact on events, at times almost seeming buffoonish. And Sam, despite being a few years older, is still the "RIGHT ON!" 90s-chick that had grated so very much.

So, I have to report that Placebo Effect is another hum-drum entry in the series. Considering the poor hit-rate with these books I'm beginning to become very surprised that they were actually published on a monthly basis for almost 8 years.