REQUEST FOR NEW ADV. LIST/REVIEWS
ggreg
especially the most recent ones. but could some kind soul please list all
the novels released thus far along with a small review to help out all of
us out here who have yet to read one, and due to time considerations and
cash flow, will only be able to purchase very slowly? i'd like to start
off with the best one, if there is any consenus on which one(s) definitely
stand out. thanx,
ggreg
Jonathan Blum
>i know a lot of the NEW ADVENTURES have been already reviewed heavily here,
>especially the most recent ones. but could some kind soul please list all
>the novels released thus far along with a small review to help out all of
>us out here who have yet to read one, and due to time considerations and
>cash flow, will only be able to purchase very slowly?
My turn this time? All these comments are My Humble Opinion (TM). Feel
free to post second opinions.
From the beginning:
TIMEWYRM: GENESYS by John Peel
So-so. Aside from the fact that the Doctor is clearly William Hartnell
wearing a question-mark pullover, and a few bits of minor stupidity,
it's a good basic story that introduces a damn good villainess who
doesn't fall into the usual cliche traps.
TIMEWYRM: EXODUS by Terrance Dicks
This book made me take back most of the nasty things I've ever said
about Terrance "Novels While U Wait" Dicks. It's well-paced, grippingly
plotted, and has the Doctor doing just the right combination of planning
and bluffing. It's the Doctor in an alternate Nazi Britain, and at the
rise of Hitler.
TIMEWYRM: APOCALYPSE by Nigel Robinson
Utterly blah. You can read the other three Timewyrm books and skip this
one with no problem. It's very much the formula Doctor-liberates-a-planet-
from-a-dictatorship story, with the only nice touch being the brief
appearances of Patrick Troughton.
TIMEWYRM: REVELATION by Paul Cornell
A must read. A trip inside the Doctor's mind and Ace's past, with loads
of lovely continuity touches and lots of character development. Page
after page of beautiful prose, densely packed with ideas, producing one
of the most wonderfully surreal and gripping stories ever.
CAT'S CRADLE: TIME'S CRUCIBLE by Marc Platt
This was originally pitched as a TV story, but it was rejected because it
was too complex. (Instead he wrote "Ghost Light".) It's a brilliantly
mindbending idea involving the dimensions of the TARDIS and the ancient
history of Gallifrey, but it sometimes gets a little hard to follow.
CAT'S CRADLE: WARHEAD by Andrew Cartmel
The dark side of Doctor Who. If you like the Doctor knowing more than
he lets on, and laying devious plans, then this is a story for you.
It's a very cyberpunk story, and one with no moral bearings whatsoever,
which leaves it very discomforting with regard to the Doctor and Ace's.
actions. It's a love-it-or-hate-it story, which I (mostly) loved.
CAT'S CRADLE: WITCH MARK by Andrew Hunt
A somewhat lighter tale of werewolves and unicorns. It's the only
New Adventure I haven't read, but the general consensus is it's OK.
NIGHTSHADE by Mark Gatiss
If you like "The Daemons", you'll love "Nightshade". It's another
very formula story of an isolated English village beset by alien
forces... but it KNOWS it's a formula story, and it's basically
one long nostalgia trip for classical Doctor Who and Quatermass.
It's not bad -- IF you don't expect much, and if you skip every
mention of a character named Robin Yeadon.
LOVE AND WAR by Paul Cornell
Quite simply the best. The perfect balance of realistic adventure
plot and Cornell surrealism, lovely characterization, and a devastating
ending. And Ace actually gets a believable love interest. They also
introduce Bernice "Benny" Summerfield, a second companion who is
actually pretty interesting except when she's competing for lines with
Ace. I'd recommend this as a book to start with, because it stands on
its own, except that it's mostly downhill from here.
TRANSIT by Ben Aaronovitch
From the sublime to the mundane. This book has been flamed left and
right, but nothing could be as bad as people make this book out to be.
Judge for yourself. It's another cyberpunk story, with a few nice
touches, but generally nothing remarkably good or bad. This book
begins two trends in recent New Adventures -- dropping lots of hints
(in this case about the relationship between Gallifrey and Earth)
which are probably never going to be followed up on, and of including
at least one Paul Cornell - style surreal sequence of dubious relevance.
(In this case, it works.)
THE HIGHEST SCIENCE by Gareth Roberts
A very TV-like story, decently written, nothing too heavy. Worth reading.
THE PIT by Neil Penswick
The pits. A couple of nice ideas, and one neat twist when it comes to
who the bad guys really are, but overlong and generally blah. Plus,
it's got the worst characterization of the Doctor on record. Plus, the
book basically ends with a call for pseudo-fascist divine intervention.
Plus, the Doctor barely blinks at the destruction of seven planets.
All this and dangling plotlines too.
DECEIT by Peter Darvill-Evans
A shoot-em-up in space with Abslom Daak. Overlong but undemanding.
It's probably not that bad if you don't go in expecting anything, the
way I was. Yet another dangling thread.
LUCIFER RISING by Andy Lane and Jim Mortimore
Here it gets good again. A strong hardcore SF story, with shades of
Arthur C. Clarke ("2010" and "Rendezvous with Rama"). Plus plenty of
character development -- some of it quite frightening -- for the Doctor
and Ace. Yes, there's the obligatory surreal scene, but thankfully all
the loose ends are tied up.
WHITE DARKNESS by David McIntee
A refreshing book -- the first one set in Earth's history since "Exodus".
(Well, "Nightshade" was set in '68, but this is real history -- Haiti,
1915.) Reads like a movie. Has a simple story to tell but tells it
damn well. One of the best.
SHADOWMIND by Christopher Bulis
Space opera heaven. A collection of good bits, strung together on a
one-dimensional plot with two-dimensional characters. The strength of
the story is in the details. A good afternoon's read, but not something
you'll want to read again and again.
BIRTHRIGHT by Nigel Robinson
Now this is good. A Doctor Who story in which the Doctor stays almost
completely off-stage, setting up the plans. Another historical/SF
story, with a mess-with-your-head ending. Surrealism and dangling
threads aplenty, but it's not too bad this time.
Coming up: ICEBERG by David Banks (featuring the Cybermen) and BLOODHEAT
by Jim Mortimore (featuring Silurians).
Basically, the best places to start are either at the beginning, or with
NIGHTSHADE or LOVE AND WAR (depending whether early-'70s or late-'80s
Who is more to your taste), or with WHITE DARKNESS. The two best books
are, without a doubt, those by Paul Cornell. They're both ultimate
pieces of Doctor Who -- LOVE AND WAR just edges REVELATION out for me
because in LOVE AND WAR you end up really caring about even the minor
characters. REVELATION is a more abstract kind of brilliance -- you don't
feel the people crying real tears.
Here's to the next batch...
Regards,
Jon Blum
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"All this time you two thought you were playing some twisted game of
chess... when it was just me playing solitaire!"
D O C T O R W H O : T I M E R I F T