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 | Another entertaining read from Mr Lyons |
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| What: | The Murder Game (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | PJ Johnson, Hoddesdon, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 24 February 2005 |
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| Rating: |   8 |
Having read Steve Lyons' First Doctor masterpiece The Witch Hunters immediately before reading The Murder Game, my expectations for this book were naturally sky-high, and while it fails to match The Witch Hunters for sheer power and emotional involvement, it is nevertheless a highly entertaining book.
One pattern that emerges throughout all of Steve Lyons' PDAs and Missing Adventures, is his incredible ability to recreate flawlessly the characteristics of each Doctor, and this is evident in The Murder Game. In fact, all three of the main characters, the Second Doctor, Ben and Polly are superbly written, and Lyons explores the relationship between the two companions in far more depth than was ever reached on the show.
The other human characters are also very well written, especially the cold, emotionless Allison Hayes, the cowardly thespian Lord Henry Mace, and Ben's new love interest, the beautiful and courageous Terri Willis. The interaction between the contestants in the murder mystery weekend is genuine and believable, as are their obvious suspicions regarding the Doctor and his party.
The first half of the book is riveting - as events begin to unfold in the claustrophobic environment of the space station, the tension and suspense become unbearable. Then, when the first victim is discovered, and the contestants realise that there may be a real murderer in their midst, relationships begin to disintegrate and suspicion is rife - everyone is potentially a suspect, and the reader is left guessing for much of the book who the murderer is, which makes for a very enjoyable and thrilling read.
Unfortunately, this book suffers from the same problem as Lyons' first Missing Adventure, Time of Your Life (although thankfully not to the same extent) - the final part of the book, beginning with the introduction of Lyons' pet monsters, the Selachians, feels rather confused and messy after the gripping build-up provided in the first half of the book. Seemingly pointless and irrelevant plot strands start appearing, and when the action moves to the Selachian ship the story loses one of it’s best features - the claustrophobic setting of the space station, which is superbly realised throughout the first part of the story.
These gripes aside, however, the story remains highly entertaining throughout, and the ending provides a satisfying conclusion - my only complaint being that the explanation for the destruction of the Selachian ship seems rather rushed, as if Lyons just wanted to finish the story as quickly as possible and stuck with the simplest explanation he could think of.
This is another highly entertaining title from the superb Steve Lyons, and I recommend it to any Who fan, particularly fans of Troughton's Doctor, and anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery.
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| Circles within Circles - A tangled web |
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A very enjoyable book but very confusind. The writer weaves a very tangled web in the begining of circles within circles like a pebbles tossed into the surface of a lake. If you try and figure the story out right away it will only leave you with a headache. But if you sit back and let the story lead you the conclusion is very satisfying. I would have like to have K-9 more involved and had repulsion's character better developed. Repulsion would have made for an exceltent recuring enemy.
| What: | The Colony of Lies (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | The Admiral, Perth, Australia |
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| Date: | Wednesday 23 February 2005 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
To answer the main question: yes, it is a very good book and not a waste of your time.
Now to expand and give away some spoilers. The book is suppose a Dr. Who western but since the story doesn't take place in the wild west of the 1800's, rather a colony in the future that restricted technology, it doesn't succeed as a western. To me, that was a good thing because the science fiction aspects are thought provoking and delightful.
You might also put the book down as false advertising since the back of the book claims to have the 7th Doctor but you only meet him in the introduction. Give it time. He is in the book and does have a larger role than you realise. I particularly recommend the scene where he does meet the 2nd Doctor. Quite unexpected and enjoyable.
The book does feel rushed as you get to the last quarter. It's as if Colin Brake wanted to get all his ideas in and forced them. He could've used one more draft to pace the book better.
Overall, a very good book with some surprises and little items that add to the enjoyment (such as King William 10 Euro notes and
I really enjoyed this one. It had some good humor and a unpredictable endding. It was interesting seeing the bluring of the Doctors charactor and Fitz's charactor. Of experencing there discovering more about each other, sharing their fears and seeing how others preceive them. The character development was greater in this one book then in the last several Doctor who combined.
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| Better, but still not great... |
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| What: | Legacy of the Daleks (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | PJ Johnson, Hoddesdon, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 18 February 2005 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Legacy of the Daleks is certainly a marked improvement after War of the Daleks, but still suffers from John Peel's obsession with linking aspects of his stories with past Dalek stories, and trying to fill in any continuity gaps (Dalek related or otherwise) along the way. Thankfully, however, this book adds to established Who mythology, rather than shattering it. Another considerable point in favour of Legacy of the Daleks (in my opinion anyway) is that is the first Dalek story since Death to the Daleks way back in 1974 not to feature Davros!
The concept of a direct sequel to The Dalek Invasion of Earth is not inherently a bad one, and some aspects of it are very well-conceived. For example, it is fascinating to see how human civilisation developed following the Dalek invasion, and Peel's depiction of a pseudo-feudal society on the brink of civil war is highly engaging.
As in War of the Daleks, Peel's characterisation in this book is very inconsistent in quality. Again, the Doctor is fairly well written, and his growing concern both for his granddaughter Susan and his missing companion Sam is very believable. Susan herself however, is poorly written. While the problems faced by a Time Lord woman and her ageing human husband are addressed early on in the story, Susan's character seems almost unchanged from her days of travelling with the Doctor, and she shows very little of the maturity one would expect her to have found after living for thirty years in a shattered society amongst humans.
On a more positive note, Sam's 'replacement' in this story, Donna, is a fascinating character, and easily fills the role of temporary companion. There is some wonderful dialogue between her and the Doctor, and it seems a shame that she only features in this story. Donna also reminds me somewhat of Ayaka in War of the Daleks - the strong female character, constantly torn between morality and loyalty - in Ayaka's case, loyalty to the Thal war effort, in Donna's, loyalty to her father.
The inclusion of the Master provides an interesting twist to the proceedings, although even this is not an original idea, harking back to the 1973 TV story Frontier in Space. Peel portrays Roger Delgado's gentleman villain pretty well, although his use of a false identity is annoying to say the least - as in several TV stories from the 80s, the Master assumes a false identity when there is absolutely no need to so! And it seems even more pointless in the case of Legacy of the Daleks, considering that any reader with the slightest knowledge of 70s Doctor Who will guess the true identity of the mysterious Estro long before the 'shock' revelation halfway through the book.
The story’s ending provides a tidy, if rather uninspired account of the Master's degeneration from Delgado's final appearance in Frontier in Space to the mutilated husk we saw in The Deadly Assassin some four years later.
All in all, Legacy of the Daleks is another entertaining novel from John Peel, which unfortunately still relies too heavily on building on established mythology and past stories, which may alienate the casual reader. It is certainly worth reading though, as it provides a satisfying second chapter to the events of The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
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| Too clever for its own good? |
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| What: | War of the Daleks (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | PJ Johnson, Hoddesdon, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 18 February 2005 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
John Peel's War of the Daleks is undeniably a fascinating and entertaining read, but it is far from easy going, and the finer complexities of the plot will no doubt be lost on those not totally familiar with established Dalek history.
Peel's characterisation is, I feel, somewhat hit and miss - Ayaka is by far the strongest character, and remains engaging throughout, constantly torn between her strong morality and her unwavering sense of duty to the Thal cause. The other Thals are also fairly well written, as is Chayn. Perhaps the most interesting characterisation however is that of the Doctor, as we discover just how little he understands what has been happening in the Dalek empire over the last several centuries, and how he has been manipulated by the Dalek Prime. Also, his guilt concerning the actions of Delani and the Thals - it was, after all the Doctor who first convinced the Thals to abandon their pacifist ways and fight against the Daleks - is well-realised and believable. The character of Sam is also fairly well developed, as she realises just how much she cares for the Doctor, and how out of her depth she is when faced with the menace of the Daleks.
The Daleks themselves, however, while presented fairly well as a civilisation (perhaps not the appropriate term for the Daleks!), are often poorly written, and I found it difficult to imagine a Dalek saying much of the dialogue in the later chapters. Davros too, who seems to have been modelled on Terry Molloy's somewhat misguided portrayal of the character, is disappointing. While he is occasionally given some splendid dialogue, he is on the whole presented as a ranting, irritable old man, and a long way from the cold, understated, calculating genius of Michael Wisher's original (and definitive) performance in Genesis of the Daleks.
The actual plot is, as I mentioned, incredibly complex, and shatters everything that you thought you knew about the Daleks, casting new light on the events of every Dalek story from Destiny of the Daleks onwards. This may be too much for the casual reader to digest, but provided you grasp the details of the Dalek Prime's master plan and the events leading up to the war prophesised in the title, the rest of the book is entertaining, if lacking in pace at times.
By far the most disappointing aspect of the book for me was the ending, which after the epic events of the final few chapters, seemed like rather an anticlimax, as the Doctor realises that the Dalek Prime has manipulated him once again and the Thals (and indeed the entire galaxy) are in grave danger - all well and good, but following this realisation, the Doctor devises and executes an effective solution far too easily, and the whole final chapter seems rushed and unsatisfying.
Gripes aside, War of the Daleks is a highly entertaining read, and continues the process begun in Remembrance of the Daleks of re-establishing the Daleks as a dangerous, intelligent enemy in their own right, as opposed to simply being Davros's 'heavies', as they were often portrayed in the later TV stories. While casual readers would do better to investigate Peel's subsequent Dalek story Legacy of the Daleks, War of the Daleks is, on the whole, a satisfying read for any die-hard (and open-minded) Doctor Who fan.
| What: | The Witch Hunters (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | PJ Johnson, Hoddesdon, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 18 February 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
The Witch Hunters is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best piece of Dr Who fiction I have ever read. I have been a fan of Steve Lyons' work ever since Killing Ground, his second contribution to the Virgin 'Missing Adventures' series, and in The Witch Hunters, he achieved something quite incredible - he produced something even better.
Lyons does a superb job of recreating the setting, attitudes, characters and events of the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692. Each and every character is convincing and thoroughly engaging, as are their relationships with the Doctor and his companions, particularly the troubled friendship between Susan and Mary Warren. Susan's character is developed wonderfully throughout the book, as her concrete sense of right and wrong forces her to disobey her grandfather and put herself and her friends in great danger. The idea of Susan possessing telepathic powers, as introduced in the TV story The Sensorites, is also developed and plays a major part as the story unfolds.
In fact, while the character of the First Doctor is excellently portrayed and plays a vital role in the story's sledgehammer ending, the main characters in the story are undoubtedly Susan and Ian, both of whom are superbly written and developed throughout the book.
The Witch Hunters is a gripping read, and incredibly powerful through it's depiction of real historical events. I finished the book in three days, having found it impossible to put down, and after reading the incredibly powerful and emotional ending, I found myself tempted to turn back to page one and begin again. I resisted the temptation, however, and moved on to Lyons' earlier PDA, The Murder Game, which so far has not disappointed.
Quite simply, any Who fan must read this book, especially those who feel, as I do, that the historical stories of the Hartnell era were classics in their own right, and should never have been abandoned. Had The Witch Hunters been amongst those original television stories, I have no doubt that it would now be considered one of the greatest stories of them all.
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| The Dicksian proves his class |
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The plots a bit thin and some of characters not up to much but Dicks still pulls off a decent read. He's always been good with Pertwee so I never doubted this one - worth a go!
A good story if your a Leela fan, she shines through the dross. The 4th Doctor is very much out of character here and the story goes nowhere.
Not a bad read but the story just isn't a Dr Who story for me - bit of a traditionalist - sorry!
A poor effort this one! The reuse of the Foamasi was good but the rest was uninteresting - the wedding stuff just rubbish.
| What: | Empire of Death (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 February 2005 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
David Bishop in "Empire Of Death" attempts to capture the spirit of Victorian England. Some of the common social practices of the day, such as sceances, charlatan mentalists, mills, and the attempt to conquer every available piece of land including Heaven itself, gets mixed in somehow or another. The Davison doctor here is typical of the TV series: patient, cautious, observant. He sizes up the options before springing into action in a last-minute desperate plan. The previous reviewer mentioned many of the novel's flaws, and I agree with these assessments. Queen Victoria is not developed enough as a character. The ending gets rather too complicated, mainly because Bishop does not add the few words necessary to uncomplicate it. The basic premise regarding the aliens who were good but are now evil, absolute split personality beings from other dimensions, has been handled elsewhere in Who, such as "Time-flight" and the CD "Storm Warning." It has interesting parts not well joined.
| What: | Dreams of Empire (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 February 2005 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
The Star Trek trick of taking some historical society and putting it into outer space never works when the relationship is too obvious. Thus, the various Roman Empire analogues in this story are often painfully strained. The trouble is that the story could have been written without them. On its face, it is an interesting story, a bit of "Man In The Iron Mask" mixed with "Julius Caesar" and involving a dedicated lost battalion of robot warriors. I always prefer stories in which the Doctor just stumbles into a situation rather than deliberately goes about trying to fix one, and so that part of the story works well for me. It's just the damn Roman stuff.
| What: | Business Unusual (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 February 2005 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
One of the loose ends of the TV series that the Virgin Missing Adventures books never got to tie up was how the Doctor met Mel. Gary Russell has taken the opportunity to clarify that point in "Business Unusual," his sequal to "The Scales Of Injustice." Mel's brief was never given enough detail in the series, for various reasons, which left her an unsatisfactorily developed character throughout her period in the series (she is much better managed in the CD adventures). Though we get to see some of Mel's homelife, including clashes between her rather progressive social views and her parents' conservative ones, she still does not quite come through as a full character in this book. Russell is now getting away from sticking too closely to the TV series in style, giving himself more novelistic opportunities to develop characters and complexify scenes, yet this one is very much a Doctor Who story and could easily have been filmed as one. The bad guy is a stock bad guy, megalomaniacal and misguided. The Doctor is suitably outraged at appropriate moments. The side characters get themselves into fixes and the Doctor must rescue them. Entertaining at its level, it still feels as though more could have been done with the basic premises.
| What: | The Dark Path (Missing Adventures novels) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 February 2005 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
By this time, I believe, the editors at Virgin knew that their contract had not been renewed, so decided to end their run of Who books on a definitive basis. Though the people at BBC stated that the Virgin line would not be treated as "canon," the Virgin people knew that the fans had already decided the opposite. "The Dark Path," therefore, tells the story of how the Master becomes the Master. The motivation for the change from Koschei into the Master does not quite work for me; the death of one close friend does not seem like enough push to get someone to go over totally to the dark path (like the dark side? hmmmm...). However, McIntee's characterization of Koschei's modus operandi in a presumably good cause shows the same pattern as the Master would later use - a grand plan, meticulously detailed. In plot, the novel is a kind of James Bond story set in the far future, complete with various "spies" and their technical gadgets, an impending all-out war, and a superweapon meant to trigger it. It has the same sort of appeal, though sadly without any Bond-girls (Victoria would never qualify), as a typical Bond film. As long as one does not question the details, it works.
| What: | The Shadow of Weng-Chiang (Missing Adventures novels) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 February 2005 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
Like other McIntee novels, "The Shadow Of Weng-Chiang" is strong on adventure and weak in characterization. It is better than the TV serial it follows in one respect - a more accurate portrayal of Chinese culture. As with "Lords Of The Storm," McIntee has done his homework to try to create a realistic culture based on some Non-European model. There it was India; here it is China. Set just prior to the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s, the novel effectively interweaves the historical background into the science fictional plot. McIntee has wisely not used old characters from "The Talons Of Weng-Chiang." The "Shadow" of the title is exactly that. As I said earlier, the weakness of the novel is mostly in the characterization, which is rather flat. Additionally, the plot is too conventionally whovian. Still, this is an entertaining read.
| What: | The Sands of Time (Missing Adventures novels) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 February 2005 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
"The Sands Of Time" is a sequel of sorts to "The Pyramids Of Mars," though the only repeat character from the TV series is Marcus Scarman as a walk-on. Two characters from "Black Orchid" make longer, though not long, appearances in this novel. The novel involves the bizarre kidnapping of Nyssa and the attempts to recover her. As such, Nyssa's role is greatly reduced, only slightly larger than in "Kinda." As in that serial, Nyssa spends most of the story "asleep." The novel's plot is rather typical of Davison-era stories, in which a long buildup ends in a threat that turns out to be not much. Think of "Snakedance" and "The Awakening" as templates. Strangely, this formula actually seems to work quite well. "The Sands Of Time" is one of the most atmospheric and mood dominated of the Who novels. Full of shadowy figures and mysterious motivations, punctuated by brief scenes of violence, it is one suspenseful read. The strength is in the plotting. Richards has managed a complex interweaving of different times and neatly tied together all the ends.
| What: | The Scales of Injustice (Missing Adventures novels) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 February 2005 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
"The Silurians" is one of the better Who stories, though it has many notable flaws, especially in the science. Gary Russell has attempted to fix some of these flaws while not going too far away from the original story. The novel is designed to explain Liz Shaw's reasons for leaving UNIT; therefore, she gets a very central role in the story. Russell has striven to keep the mood and style of Pertwee's first season, and succeeds in that. At the same time, since the novel form is unrestrained by budget, Russell takes the opportunity to write in many complexities and scenes that never would have made the TV series. This novel also provides the basis and backstory for Russell's later novel "Business Unusual." The weakness of the book (apart from that explained below) is that the Doctor's role is greatly reduced. For much of the novel, he is mostly a bystander, ineffecively outraged while he watches a society self-destruct. Remove the Doctor, and pretty much everything that happens here would have happened the way it happened anyway, a bit like "Warriors Of The Deep."
Apparently, the editors at Virgin thought that it would be a good idea to have all the UNIT officers advance from the ranks, contravening all standards and protocols in the British Military. Thus, we improbably get a "Sergeant" Mike Yates and hints of a "Private" Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart. Of course, this turn of events is utterly preposterous. Both Yates and Lethbridge-Stewart are clearly among the educated officer class, and always were. Lethbridge-Stewart, in particular, would have been officer corps from his school days, perhaps even having a military family history. Yates strikes me as recruited from university. I got over the problem of "Sergeant" Yates simply by rereading it as "Captain."
| What: | The Eye of the Giant (Missing Adventures novels) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 February 2005 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
Using the magic of time travel, Christopher Bulis has managed to reconfigure "King Kong" in Whovian terms. The Doctor, Mike Yates, and Liz get transported to the 1930s, where a private ship (movie star on board) has found an island of gigantic creatures (note the threatening crab on the cover) ruled over by one in particular, this time an alien and not a gorilla. There is more about UNIT in this book than in the TV series (more about which see below) and the UNIT squad seems less ineffective than in the TV series. Bulis is, like McIntee, a dependable thought not original writer. The story moves a good pace, has the right amount of action, but is highly predicatable.
Apparently, the editors at Virgin thought that it would be a good idea to have all the UNIT officers advance from the ranks, contravening all standards and protocols in the British Military. Thus, we improbably get a "Sergeant" Mike Yates and hints of a "Private" Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart. Of course, this turn of events is utterly preposterous. Both Yates and Lethbridge-Stewart are clearly among the educated officer class, and always were. Lethbridge-Stewart, in particular, would have been officer corps from his school days, perhaps even having a military family history. Yates strikes me as recruited from university. I got over the problem of "Sergeant" Yates simply by rereading it as "Captain."
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| Conventional, But Entertaining |
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| What: | Lords of the Storm (Missing Adventures novels) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 February 2005 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
Conventional, but entertaining. That summarizes most of McIntee's Who novels. McIntee, I think, has written more Who novels than anyone else. The reason for this may be that his books are always safe. One knows what one will get - plenty of action, not too excessive violence, a believalbe plot (the one exception is "Mission:Impractical"). The Sontarans are returned to status as credible menaces after their deplorable characterization in "Invasion Of Time," and weak characterization in "The Two Doctors." McIntee has been working through the history of his own alien race, the Chinese-inspired Tzun, whose fate as a race gets explained here.
