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 | Catastrophe? Bloody Marvellous! |
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| What: | Catastrophea (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Xantos, London |
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| Date: | Saturday 11 September 2004 |
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| Rating: |   8 |
When if first picked up Catastrophea i looked at the back and saw that it was £4.99, so there i admit it i brought it because it was cheap but when i read the blur it attracted me even more so i dug into my pocket to find a scrunched up fiver and took a chance.
When i arrived home i picked up and began to read...and read...and read...and read.
Untill i could read no more, there's something about that just makes you not want to put it down.
Terrance dicks is one of my favourite authors (along with Mike Tucker), especially when he's writing for one of his favourite Doctor's.
I know i haven't actually spoke much about the actual story but i want to leave you intrigued and desperate...to read the book!
So dig out your fiver and go to your local bookshop, NOW!!!
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| History was never my favourite subject |
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| What: | History 101 (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Piers, Lancashire |
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| Date: | Wednesday 8 September 2004 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
This book is disadvantaged merely by its position in this range - any title following the excellent 'Crooked World' has a tough act to follow. This novel is such a change of pace, and not a particularly easy one. When I was doing GCSE History, I seem to remember a large part of the course devoted to the reliability of historical sources (which source is more reliable than another etc...); this book takes those ideas further by questioning which reality is representative of historical fact. As such the plot here can feel a little ponderous sometimes, although there are numerous set pieces along the way to pep up the action. I have to admit that the Spanish Civil War is a period of history that I am unfamiliar with, and perhaps I would have enjoyed this book more if I was more aware of the political/historical backdrop.
The main drawback for me with this novel were the numerous characters that populate Barcelona and its environs. A lot of the time I wasn't sure who was on which side or what their individual motives were. I feel some of the characters could have been trimmed out and nothing would have been lost from the plot. Eleana only seems to have a brother for the Absolute to 'murder' - she barely dwells on his death. Another gripe I had with the plot is that Fitz and Sasha managed to make a somewhat implausible journey across the Pyrennes on foot in a page or so!!
There are however some strong points in this story. The highlights for me were: Fitz's journey to Guernica and his relationship with Sasha; the scene when Anji stands up to the racist abuse she receives; when the Doctor first encounters the Absolute. The Absolute as a monster is in keeping with the story - the way it is described is obviously derived from the style of Picasso. Was this an in-joke??!
There are plenty of other things I could mention (whinge about?!) with this book, but as a first novel for this author it could be a lot worse!
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| A Missing Adventure from the NAs |
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| What: | The Algebra of Ice (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Phil Ince, Highbury, London |
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| Date: | Wednesday 8 September 2004 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Haven't read more than a handful of New Advetures but this is very much in the style of those I have read, perhaps closer to Time's Crucible than Nightshade (as I recollect them). Shows heavy influence and even reference of Paul "The Cornball" Cornell (reading like an homage to the NAs; much simpler feel to the writing though more complexity in the basis of the story than most of the BBC books I've read).
It's character heavy, fairly event light, but bowls along with some real wit and compassion not only in the dialogue but in the events themselves. Ace is 'emotional' but never raucous or shrill. The book's set early on in the NA sequence and for readers of the whole run, it probably adjusts the Doctor / Ace relationship since the Doctor's "coldness" is central to the book, even literally so by the end. This alien chill is given a context and his potential for apparantly dispassionate mass murder and manipulation is examined and 'explained'.
2 favourite things:
1. The expected happens. Why is that a positive?, you cry. Because the individuals are characters rather than plot points, ciphers. Rather than being a plod of predictability, the reader travels with the characters in the book as one might walk with them on a road. The consequence of the company and setting is that the reader can therefore see ahead.
2. It's messy. Rather than being full of pat resolutions where a punch or a bang conludes something, the energy of those sets something else off that then needs to be dealt with. Though the protagonists don't always recognise that at the time.
It has a few dashes of scientific philosophising, has a kind of Wells-ian or Clarke-ish taking of a single (in this case higher mathematical) idea and making a drama out of it.
I was absorbed by it and would recommend it heartily. If this is what the NAs were like even 2 times out of 5, I must get hold of some more.
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| Grossly over-rated - SPOILERS |
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| What: | Sometime Never... (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Phil Ince, Highbury, London |
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| Date: | Wednesday 8 September 2004 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
This is the 2nd book by Justin Richards that I've read, the other being The Burning. Now Justin is likely a very nice chap and good to his mother but ... whilst the two books are significant because they begin and conclude (different) strands in the 8th Doctor saga, neither has very much merit in itself. Sometime Never is substantially a colossally short-winded runaround, mostly in fact a steparound; a turgid, lifeless, po-faced dance to the mumbles of a 3rd rate baroque composer.
On the evidence of The Burning, Richards isn't in the least concerned with plausibility, embarassed by utility of the obvious, troubled by repetitiousness or capable of creating characters who breath.
There's a micro-episodic opening of crew being dropped in environments yielding one of the great terrible sequences in all Who literature when Trix winds up at a medieval royal banquet. Fitz is left to gatecrash a party which bares poor comparison with the 8Ds efforts in the TVM and what follows - and it may be as much as 100 pages; it certainly feels like it - is a chase which runs at the pace of chilled treacle. Random death occurs (notably a pointless loss for the Doctor which is then ignored; painfully painlessly written) and little else before a notably unimaginative conclusion of hour glasses containing the life essences of the protagonists (yes, you read that right) and Sabbath's final, heroic appearance. It's the kind of stunted, stilted, tepid turn-off of a book that discourages me from reading 8DAs for quite some time after.
This was a superb climax to the Eighth Doctor's adventures, taking plots that have been built way back since The Ancestor Cell and rolling them all into a non stop thrill ride, a story packed full of memorable incident and a bloody good enemy for the Doctor to fight. Justin Richards writes with his trademark skill and the story is one brilliant twist after another.
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| Disappointing (contains spoilers) |
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Advance news of this one sounded very promising indeed...an historical story featuring the infamous bodysnatchers Burke and Hare. What a shame that such a terrific story opportunity was wasted with Medicinal Purposes.
The main problem I had with the story is that it's a very slim premise padded out to four parts. There's a lot of running back and forth from one location to another with little of the plot being advanced. And then there's the sixth Doctors almost cheery attitude towards the actions of Burke and Hare. He tries to justify what they did to Evelyn and it just doesn't gell with what we know of the Doctor at all. He even tells Hare to keep up the good work. One expects the other shoe to drop and find that the Doctor has an ulterior motive for this behaviour, but it doesn't happen. The writer and script editor/director seem entirely comfortable with these views and that put me at odds with the story. And considering that TPTB at BF have gone to great lengths to make Colins Doctor more compassionate and emotional, this script doesn't do the evolving character of the sixth Doctor any favours at all.
More importantly, we've just come out of a story arc with Evelyn suffering a great deal of emotional turmoil at the death of innocents (three stories worth)...and here we have the Doctor taking her into a situation where he casually introduces her to characters who he admits will soon be killed. Colin Baker does what he can with the situations and lines he's given, but even he has trouble making the Doctors character in this story believable or indeed sympathetic and likeable. And the Doctors speech at the end of the story is very poorly handled by the author...he drops Daft Jamie off at a point where he's about to be killed and waffles on about Jamie getting what he's always wanted, a place in history and in peoples hearts. What the....?
As for Leslie Phillips, he's given a one note character to play in "Dr Robert Knox"...all purring charm and little else. I never felt at any point of the production that he was a force to be reckoned with. The character was so cliched that I found myself having to go back and listen to scenes because I had lost interest in the character and what his motivations where. Phillips, like the other actors, does his best with the material at hand but he certainly deserved better. What's really disappointing is the build up that this character may be a rogue Time Lord but is eventually revealed to be someone who bought a TARDIS and is using it to profit from his scheme. Maybe I'm missing something, but wouldn't it be extremely difficult for a non-Time Lord to understand and effortlessly control a TARDIS, especially this one which "Knox" claims is a Type 70..? Hell, even the Doctor has trouble controlling and maintaining a Type 40!
There's certainly stuff worthy of praise here. The sound design and music are excellent and the actors give their best. The cover art is very good. Just a shame that the story itself was so lacklustre.
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| Very nicely done original story |
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| What: | Scream of the Shalka (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Kairi Taylor, Astora, Queens, NY |
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| Date: | Wednesday 1 September 2004 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
The story, originally on the BBC website, is an unique one, which harkens back to the exciement of the older Doctor stories. While it's not quite up to the stories of, say, the Pertwee or Baker years, it's still very creative & entertaining.
Following on from the book 'Life During Wartime' (Part 1 of my review), this audio play was a very satisfying conclusion to this story. There is a strong sense of continuity here as Bernice goes right back to where we first met her, the planet Heaven where The Doctor and Ace found her (in Paul Cornell's NA 'Love & War'). Having only read that book for the first time only recently it was great how the action here tied in with other events in Bernice's history. As for the use of the Daleks, yes it is a crowd pleaser, but it is entirely plausible within the story; and also ironic considering the Fifth Axis' attitudes towards alien species. Good stuff! After such a long build-up throughout the book and these CDs, the ending does not disappoint, and I am now hungry for more Benny adventures...
As a bonus, this release also includes the short story 'Closure', previously only available to subscribers on the limited release 'Buried Treasures'. Although not perhaps the easiest of stories to enjoy, it is interesting in the moral dilemma it presents.
| What: | Salvation (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Matt, England |
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| Date: | Thursday 26 August 2004 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
Another brilliant little gem from Steve Lyons.
The character of Dodo is well introduced and written for throughout; she is a companion who has never really had a chance to shine. William Hartnell's Doctor is also catered for superbly.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but felt that the Gods' potential was never truly realised, very few revelations about them were actually made... Hopefully there will be a sequel!
I would vote 9.9 if possible. this is a Brilliant PDA, and an Excellent read- Highly recommended!
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| Captures the Real Spirit of Dr Who! |
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| What: | The Face-Eater (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Matt, England |
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| Date: | Wednesday 25 August 2004 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
A Fantastic book which I had trouble putting down. Written in classic Dr Who style, it captured the spirit of the T.V series, and I was able to read it as a stand-alone adventure, having not read an EDA since Dreamstone Moon.
The way the Doctor gets on the nerves of anybody in charge with very little effort is very amusing, and reminiscent of the more humorous side of Patrick Troughton's Doctor.
Particularly recommended- a brilliant read!
| What: | The Witch Hunters (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Matt, England |
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| Date: | Wednesday 25 August 2004 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
A brilliant novel which captures the fear and anger, and other emotions of the witch trials setting very well- I had trouble putting this book down.
If this story had been shown as part of the T.V series, it would probably be considered a "model" historical Doctor Who story.
Excellent Book- Highly recommended!
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| Good Ideas that did'nt pull together |
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| What: | Dreamstone Moon (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Matt, England |
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| Date: | Wednesday 25 August 2004 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
The Blurb for Dreamstone Moon made me want to read the book straight away, the ideas sounded promising. Most of the book was excellently written, with emotions, characters and settings captured perfectly.
The ending however, was a bit of a let down, I felt the well constructed components in the novel never pulled together, which is why my rating is not nine or ten.
I also felt several characters did so much moving from setting to setting, it was hard keep track of where they were- one minute in an airlock staring at a monster with huge teeth, then suddenly in a tunnel fifty miles underground for example.
Overall a well written book that, I felt, fell apart towards the end.
First off, I fell for Big Finish's marketing ploy completely, but then I'm glad I did! I was drawn to the Bernice Summerfield range by the 'Death & The Daleks' audio play, but when I opened the sleeve I realised that the CD was the second part of the story. Hence I forked out for this book before I gave it a listen. I was a bit worried that I would be jumping into this story part the way through, but thanks to the recap/character outlines in the introduction, newcomers such as myself can read this book and completely understand the scenario. The parallels between the Fifth Axis and the Nazis are clear from the beginning, and I guess the Braxiatel Collection is an allegory for the German Occupation of the Channel Islands: both are small pieces of land, but are symbollically important to those that possess them. By exploring the themes arising from Nazi Occupation against the backdrop of the 'Doctor Who/Bernice Universe' makes them refreshing here. This book is largely character driven, and my favourite story here is 'The Traitors', where military orders and love tragically clash. One of the best aspects of this book is Jason's character development: without giving anything away I was very surprised! It is the final story, 'A Bell Ringing In An Empty Sky' that seems to have split other reviewers. I found the story interesting, but how it fits in with the rest of the book is ultimately up to you. The story proper finishes with the final 'Lockdown Conversation': the cliffhanger will have you rushing over to your stereo!
I can't recommend this book enough!
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| Not quite the sum of its parts... |
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| What: | Halflife (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | John Ellison, Atlanta, USA |
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| Date: | Sunday 15 August 2004 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
A solid story with lots of interesting tidbits. Always nice to see the line acknowledging events from the past novels. I like continuity!
I found the setting interesting--reminds me of Casablanca for some reason. That said though, the various components of the novel never quite manage to come together and create a truly satisfying story for me. The above average rating I give it comes more from the book looking back at some INTERESTING aspects of the lines past and the unspoken promise of what may be coming.
All-in-all, a solid adventure.
| What: | The Five Doctors (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Andreas, Stockholm, Sweden |
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| Date: | Saturday 14 August 2004 |
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| Rating: | 3 |
What little story there is here is very weak, and the only way the episode may challange you is in trying to keep track of it's ten main characters (there would have been 12, but the fourth doctor and Romana is hardly in it at all). Worth a look if you want to see four doctors (and five companions) duke it out with some classic foes, but don't expect any story to back it up.
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| Paris has an ethos, ditto City of Death |
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In beauty and finesse very few episodes of Doctor Who can rival City of Death, the most acclaimed serial of the Graham Williams era. Its beautiful image is attributed to the ravishing Parisian atmosphere with its elegant, pittoresque architecture, the large parks and vibrant areas. Although David Agnew, pseudonym for Douglas Adams, David Fisher and Graham Williams, is credited with its script, the contribution of the late Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, is the most important one since he himself always had the rights of the script and used many of its elements in his 1987 novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Douglas Adams, by setting this ingeniously crafted story in one of the most beautiful megacities in the world and by weaving a peerless scenario with a witty and at times humorous dialogue, authored a classic of televised science fiction, which thrills fans and non-fans alike.
The serial's irrelevant title belies its true scenario and misleads the viewer, who would think at first City of Death is a story of urban terror, a dystopian society for example or a horror story of a series of murders. The city itself, more specifically its environment, largely contributes to City of Death's success, pleases the viewer and isn't depicted as a seat of evil and corruption, so that I fail to understand what motivated Douglas Adams or David Fisher and Graham Williams to choose this irrelevant title, which reminds me of horror B-movies. Death and evil are in fact personified by Scaroth, the last member of the alien race of Jagaroth, who strives to travel back in time, 400 million years before the story's principal timeline and by preventing the destruction of his race restores it to life. If he succeeds, he will radically and tragically alter the course of human history and eliminate the entire human race. For this purpose he needs a special time machine and he plans to finance the project of this device's creation by stealing objects of art, including the very famous Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum. A most extravagant but sublime time travelling concept in the finest time travelling TV series ever. The exciting opening scene, in which we watch the spider shaped spaceship of the Jagaroth trying to take off from Earth's very eerie desert landscape and then exploding in the sky, sets the ground for a classic of the series. This scene warns us that a special episode has begun.
In the subsequent scene we are transferred in a totally different spacetime, with the Doctor and Romana perched on top of the Eiffel Tower, Paris, in the year 1979. Along with Leisure Hive and Paradise Towers, this is one of the very few times the time travellers are seen as tourists only arriving in a place as a part of their vacation and for relaxation and not for exploration or out of curiosity. The viewer identifies with them and becomes a tourist too in the world's most visited capital. The interaction between the well-dressed Romana and the carefree Doctor is described as heralding the romance between the actors Tom Baker and Lalla Ward (they eventually married only to get divorced a year and a half later). The two characters' chemistry is marvellous, they exchange several memorable lines and since vigorous and in high spirits seem to literally enjoy their stay in Paris.
On the other hand, we encounter another duo, Count Scarlioni (Scaroth) and his Countess, who belong among the series' great villains and stand out not because of their wickedness - the Master, Davros, the Sontarans, Sil and many others are more evil - but because of their glamour and humanness, which oppose the monstrosity of most villains. Though the Count is revealed to be an one-eyed green skinned creature, a Jagaroth in disguise, he is presented in his human form during a large part of the serial. Marcus Scarman in Pyramids of Mars, the mercenary Lytton in Resurrection of the Daleks, Ratcliffe in Remembrance of the Daleks and others have a human form too but, unlike Count Scarlioni, they function as servants carrying out the orders of their non-human master(s). In City of Death, the bad guys are human masters of themselves, give orders, whilst their den is a lavish, luxurious Parisian dwelling, a house and not a spaceship or true head-quarters or their natural residence. In their battle against the two villains aforementioned, the Doctor and Romana are assisted by the aloof and gutsy British private detective Duggan, one of the most memorable one-off characters in the history of the series and who is defined as a one-off companion. All five principal actors offer an excellent performance and their interaction serves as a model. City of Death features unique, peculiar characters with their own idiosyncrasy. Even Kerensky, Scaroth's ingenious scientist with very distinctive foreign accent, although not a major character manages to conserve himself in the viewer's memory.
City of Death is usually praised for its brilliant, witty dialogue. Although I confess the dialogue seems to exaggerate at times and becomes pretentious, it is worth the praises. This serial contains some of my favourite lines ever and I will mention some of them. While on the train, Romana asks where they are going. The Doctor asks, "Are you talking philosophically or geographically?" Romana says, "Philosophically" and the Time Lord replies "Then we're going to lunch". Afterwards, they go to a cafe and the Doctor says to Romana, "You and I exist in a special relationship to time, you know. Perpetual outsiders." and Romana tells him not to be so portentous. When they are heading for Louvre, the Doctor compliments its gallery by calling it "one of the greatest art galleries in the whole galaxy". In the second episode, when Kerensky claims he is the foremost scientist on temporal physics in the whole world, the Doctor mockingly replies "That is a small place when you think about the size of the universe". It is a pity that the series in general lacks an equivalent of Douglas Adams' ingenious sense of humour. Tom Baker's era however, which since the moment I started exploring the fascinating world of Doctor Who, I have been presuming it is the funniest of them all, was marked by comic elements. Episodes such as Robot, City of Death, to a lesser extent The Sun Makers justify this impression I have of the era of Tom Baker, who brought humour and a whimsical attitude in the Doctor and so even in grave stories, he usually offers us a comic relief.
While on top of the Eiffel Tower, the Doctor calls Paris a city with an ethos. I will paraphrase the Time Lord's statement and call City of Death a serial with an ethos, with a distinctive spirit. To label it a "science fiction adventure" wouldn't be accurate because it lacks essential features of a typical science fiction adventure. We are not exposed to battles nor to gunshots/explosions (the explosion of Jagaroth's spaceship excepted), we don't get a glimpse of the outer space, there's no violence (Duggan's fake punches on Kerensky and on the Count don't count) and inevitably there's not exactly action either! As it was pointed out in the third paragraph of this review, this is one of the very few times the Doctor is seen as a tourist. His role as a tourist is overshadowed when he is portrayed as an authentic time traveller because unlike in the vast majority of televised stories, the Doctor of City of Death twice travels in different spacetimes in his attempt to hinder the plans of the enemy. He doesn't remain fixed on one place/area in one timezone, like he does in Inside the Spaceship, Tenth Planet, Tomb of Cybermen, Happiness Patrol and in many other adventures, but maneuvres in three different spacetimes. So unusual an episode City of Death is, that even the location in which it was filmed is striking, transcending for the first time in the show's history the British frontiers and I strongly believe on this foreign atmosphere is grounded its uniqueness. Dudley Simpson's acclaimed and memorable incidental music (my favourite one so far, rivaled only by Paddy Kingsland's incidental music of Logopolis) is melodic and as if emanating from a soap opera, perfectly renders the elegance of this foreign atmosphere and the luxury of the villains' dwelling. Taking into account its distinctive spirit, City of Death could be described as a "humorous science fiction/fantasy soap opera of intrigue", a long but I reckon a truly accurate characterisation.
When it comes to the production values, they are excellent and the serial although it looks dated, that is old-fashioned, doesn't look cheap, of a low budget. The bizarre, deserted settings of prehistoric Earth are so superb that it saddens me they were used only a little, at the beginning and in the end, for about five minutes. Since it is set in the modern era the story doesn't feature many futuristic/science fiction elements. The few special effects used are to be praised, including Jagaroth's spider shaped spaceship and to a lesser extent Scaroth's monstrous face, which although it betrays its true nature, that of a mask, is usually not laughed at.
City of Death's brilliance is by no means spared from imperfection, this time imputed to the severe plot vaguenesses. How did the Doctor know the Countess, a woman he is not acquainted with at all, wore a powerful bracelet of a supernatural function around her wrist and why did he take (steal) it? The Doctor at first seems to grasp the bracelet unwillingly while fainting, but the Countess doesn't react immediately to this incident, to this theft. She doesn't immediately notice that her precious bracelet she was wearing has been clutched, stolen! Why do the cracks in the fabric of time affect only the Doctor and Romana? The manner in which they accidentally get mingled in the affairs of the Count and the Countess, the adventure hook, is flawed, ludicrous. Why did the Doctor travel to Italy of the Renaissance period to meet Leonardo da Vinci? Through his encounter with Captain Tancredi he learns about Scaroth's experiments with time but his "This is a Fake" message to da Vinci proves futile afterwards. In the third part Romana and Duggan break into a closed cafe at night and discuss the situation and future plans. The question is: why? What was the point in breaking into the cafe? Those flaws in the plot and few others abate City of Death but don't detract it of course from its brilliance.
Elegant, original, very agreeable but with a somewhat flawed and pedantic storyline, City of Death ranks among the most classic moments of the series. It enjoyed unprecedently high ratings, averaging 14.5 million viewers, and attracted the attention of 16.1 million persons for the fourth episode: the biggest audience ever for a Doctor Who episode. Since the story offers us a visual tour in the French capital, I decided to end this review in French: Vive la Ville de Mort!
Grade: 8,5 or 9/10
| What: | The Sleep of Reason (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Joe Ford, Eastbourne |
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| Date: | Wednesday 28 July 2004 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
An astonishingly good read from Martin Day, continuing the excellent run of EDAs this year. The prose was gripping, the plot bubbling with tension and emotion and the characterisation sharp as a knife. I loved how we never saw a single scene from the Doctors POV, looking at him, Trix and Fitz from the POV of outsiders proves very rewarding and captures the magic of the character in a way we haven't seen for a while. Some of the scenes were violently brutal and the overall tone of the piece is very adult, I apriciated that very much after the last two fluffier books. I read this in two long sittings, unable to put it down...
| What: | The Eight Doctors (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | John Wrigley (2nd Incarnation), Time Vortex |
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| Date: | Sunday 25 July 2004 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
This book was an enjoyable romp for the Eighth Doctor i like books where the Doc meets various Incarnations of his.
Ace book
| What: | Synthespians™ (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Joe Ford, Eastbourne |
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| Date: | Saturday 24 July 2004 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
A truly insane book that might seem shallow and overwritten but is in fact a great deal of fun. This is Craig Hinton's best book by miles because he remember that Doctor Who was about entertainment and not technobabble and continuity. The sixth Doctor is captured to perfection and Peri gets a decent amount of page space too, it is lovely to see her letting her hair down for a change. Its a bit slow in places and the ending will leave you thinking who cares??? but it made me laugh loads and has some gorgeous bitchy dialouge.
| What: | Instruments of Darkness (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Stephen Carlin, Bangor, Northern Ireland |
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| Date: | Friday 16 July 2004 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
I find it ironic that there are certain characters who for one reason or another have holes in their memories. I say this because this is a story with some noticeable holes in it. I don't mean plot holes, but holes where something should happen. Characters appear, do little, then disappear again. Ideas arise, give the reader a little wave, float around for a while and then vanish. With the majority of Russell's work I get the impression of someone who jots down a lot of ideas, puts them in a book and then forgets to give them a raison d'etre.
While this book is not as continuity ridden as some of Russell's other work, it still fails to really engage. It is better written than some of his other work, hinting that he is beginning to get the idea. The story also features characters from "Business Unusual" so its an indirect sequel - this was one aspect I thought worked quite well.
I haven't listened to all of the 6th Doctor Big Finish audio adventures so I'm not fully au fait with Evelyn, the Doctor's companion in some of the stories. However, the character's appearance in this book whets my appetite - another plus for the book and Mr Russell. She really comes alive in this book and is perhaps one of the best aspects of it. This book makes me want to go and listen to those other Big Finish productions.
Its a reasonably enjoyable book and it shows an upward curve in Gary Russell's work - after years of dreading his next book, this one made me keen to see if the upward trend continues. This is a lively, entertaining book albeit with a lot of wasted characters and story ideas.
