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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.
| What: | The Empire of Glass (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 |
I have not read all the Missing Adventure books, but of the ones I have read, this is the best. Steven is among my favorite Who companions. He was rarely written well in the series, though the possibilities for him were always there. Lane handles Steven especially well, highlighting his qualities - broad mindedness, loyalty, bravery. More so than most Who companions, Steven could take care of himself and stand up to the Doctor's powerful personality. Vicki gets equally good treatment. She was often too "wet," to use an English expression, in the series. Lane characterizes her as sensitive and intelligent. The main weakness of the novel is an overly complex plot, not all of which gets effectively concluded by the end of the book. Read it for the characters.
| What: | Managra (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 |
Stephen Marley's only Who novel makes me want more. I've read other Marley work, and all of them have the same characteristic quirkiness. Marley has a rare ability to create entirely other kinds of worlds, wholly improbable, yet somehow running on bizarre systems of internal logic that make them work. In this case, Europe of the future becomes a kind of grand over the top melodramatic theatre, in which facsimile historical figures plot and scheme against each other and against themselves. For instance, we get all three Lord Byrons - mad, bad, and dangerous to know. The main fault of the novel is somewhat weak and stereotypical characterization. However, the strange world and the eerie, dreamlike plot make up for this deficiency.
| What: | Invasion of the Cat-People (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: | 1 |
Even Gary Russell sheepishly admits that this novel is not particularly good. Dreadful is the most apt adjective. The plot makes little sense. The worst part is the Cat-People themselves. These come off as 1950's C movie alien baddies, like the Lobster Man. Every cat cliché imaginable gets used, down to the kitty-litter. The book might have made a half-decent pardody, had it been written that way.
| What: | The Menagerie (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 |
In this novel, Martin Day manages to keep several mysteries going and reveals them at just the right times, though the main mystery, the identity of Zaitabor, becomes clear too soon. The Doctor and his companions are well managed. In particular, it is entertaining to see Zoe handle matters on her own, without always relying on the Doctor or Jamie to get her out of a "situation." The novel might win the award for the funny names in a SF book award: try Mecrim, Defrabax, Zaitabor, and Rexulon, for instance. Not quite as outlandish as Zaphod Beeblebrox, but close, and thus too humorous for an otherwise serious novel. Another problem is the mixed medieval/high tech culture of the main setting. Though there is some justification for the high tech part, feudalism is not the obvious form into which a society would degenerate, and this one is just too close to movie medievalism to be convincing.
| What: | Time of Your Life (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 |
This is Steve Lyons' second Who novel, and he has not found his strength, yet, though his later novels will be among the best of the Who novels. This one just gets out of control. The early parts, the setup, are quite intriguing. There is a nice, slow build as forces align themselves to clash on the huge space station Network, broadcaster to the worlds. Lyons has much fun with parodies of various styles of TV programmes and takes several pot shots at the BBC. The main problem involves the second half of the book. Once the forces start clashing, a violent, bloody mess occurs. It is as if Lyons is trying to outdo '80s action films in terms of body counts and gruesome deaths. This violent strain takes over, and the plot disintegrates under its weight. Still, the first half is very interesting and indicates the strongest aspects of Lyons' writing.
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| Good Use Of The Novel Medium |
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| What: | The Romance of Crime (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 |
Too often in the "Missing Adventures" series, the authors write as if they were novelizing screenplays, with the obvious restrictions in place. Not so in "The Romance Of Crime." This is clearly a novel, written as a novel to be read like a novel. Thus, there is much more focus on character, many of whom are more than just the cardboard types found in some of these books. The dialogue reads realistically, and one can hear the voices as one reads. The one drawback is the plot, which follows the usual megalomaniac creating destruction scenario. Granted, the megalomaniacs are well motivated, but the freedom offered in the novel form to create a new kind of menace makes these menaces rather mundane.
| What: | The Crystal Bucephalus (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: | 5 |
As I have said elsewhere in these pages, Craig Hinton is my least favorite of the Who novelists, and that this is probably his best novel indicates just how bad the others are. Hinton's problem is trying to write too big. In this, he is the opposite of John Peel, whose limitation is trying to hard to write like others. Hinton is an everything and the kitchen sink writer. The title refers to a restaurant at the end of the universe (almost, but the inspiration is obvious) in which patrons pay huge sums to be able to dine in specified historical settings. Such a place is just too tempting to those who see the possibility of using it to dominate the universe (surprisingly, the Master is not in this story, though the setting would be right for him). So, the reader gets whiplash from the multiple changes in scene. All the various factions and groups vying for control are pretty much comic-book quality creations, poorly characterized and simplistically motivated. The Doctor's companions are mostly relegated to the sidelines. In sum, the book may be good for thirteen-year-old boys, but older readers will perhaps be irritated by it, feeling that another thorough go through the draft could have brought it some missing focus.
