Book: Doctor Who: Hunter's Moon By Paul Finch (2011)

“On Leisure Platform 9 gamblers and villains mix with socialites and celebrities. It's a place where you won't want to win the wrong game. With Rory kidnapped by a brutal crime lord, the Doctor and Amy infiltrate a deadly contest where fugitives become the hunted. But how long before they realize the Doctor isn't a vicious mercenary and discover what Amy is up to? It's a game that can only end in death, and time for everyone is running out.”

After reading two Eleventh Doctor novels that abound with clever plotting and humor, this third (and last for now, as I move on to other books) is a bit bleaker, less interesting, with a fairly large cast of guest characters (with all annoyingly similar names and spellings, which gets very hard to keep straight) who are all pretty much vile aliens. The book has a strong, yet familiar premise (The Most Dangerous Game comes to mind), but writer Paul Finch never captures the TV voice of any of the three main characters, The Doctor, Amy, or Rory. And while the Doctor always has to use his wits in most of situations, he is portrayed as rather mean as well, telling Amy to go along with the customs on the planet –something I’m sure I could not see this version of the Doctor doing. Rory losing the TARDIS in a game is best set piece, but here’s another bit being out of character. So in the end, all three are used as a plot device instead of –what is usual- the other characters. This would be fine –if a bit weak- if the reader could care about anyone else, as even Earthlings husband and wife team of Harry and Doris (with daughter Sophie) is too broadly painted.

So while I flew through the other two books, Hunter’s Moon was a slog, and where there could be some comedic moments –like Amy as a servant girl- Finch never seems to want to go in any direction with that potential, so it becomes a missed opportunity. Again, as noted, these original novels set within the Doctor Who universe are a mixed bag. Some work, but sadly, a lot don’t. It’s frustrating thing, as most of these media tie-ins tend to be. I stopped reading and collecting Star Trek and Star Wars novels mostly because of this; that a good 95% are pretty bad. My thought has always been on these books (and the others mentioned) that instead of quantity, the editors should be finding quality. If that means just a handful of titles a year, so be it. 

Otherwise, pass on this tale. 

Books: Doctor Who: Touched by an Angel By Jonathan Morris (2011)

 

In 2003, Rebecca Whitaker died in a road accident. In 2011, her husband Mark is still grieving. Then one day, he receives a strange letter and envelope full of money, written in his own handwriting. This package contains a set of instructions with a simple message: "You can save her." A few hours later, he is touched by a Weeping Angel and sent back to 1994. It’s there that the Doctor, Amy and Rory catch up with him after the TARDIS detects some wibbly-ness. There they try to convince him to live out his altered life away from his younger self to avoid paradoxes. Of course, this doesn’t go to plan and there’s a paradox waiting around every corner, along with six Weeping Angels waiting for their chance to feed. While Mark agrees with most of the Doctor’s request, he still wants to save Rebecca, and begins a master plan to do just that. All too late the Doctor, Amy and Rory realize older Mark’s plan, so it’s up to them to save the whole world. Because this time the Weeping Angels are using Mark himself as a weapon to change history.

There two things that make these tie-ins work for me (and probably a lot for the fans):

1). How much the writer(s) capture the characters we love and see on TV.

2). How much the story could be an episode if money was no option.

3). How much the Doctor and his companions are the focus of the story

Most of the original novels in franchises like Doctor Who usually can’t do all three, but Touched by an Angel feels like an episode that would’ve fit nicely during Matt Smith’s run as the Doctor (though not specifically stated, this story is seemly set after the events of the 2010 episodes Time of the Angeles/Flesh and Stone but before the two-part The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood). The book does have something to say about death and facing up to reality of losing those you love, as we learn much about Mark and Rebecca’s relationship (and though the Doctor, Amy, and Rory do sort of take a backseat here, it’s all for the best) from their first meeting in 1993 to the night in April 2003. This would be something excised from a TV script. 

The story is surprisingly heartfelt, sweet, and charming. It can be very touching, as well, especially near the books end. But Doctor Who without some humor is sad, so it also has fun with Rory, with Doctor's oddness and all sorts of timey-wimey bits, including a set-piece that takes place at wedding that is pure comedy gold.  

Books: Doctor Who: Paradox Lost (2011)

  

"London 1910: an unsuspecting thief finds himself confronted by grey-skinned creatures that are waiting to devour his mind. London 2789: the remains of an ancient android are dredged from the Thames. When reactivated it has a warning that can only be delivered to a man named 'the Doctor'. The Doctor and his friends must solve a mystery that has spanned over a thousand years. If they fail, the deadly alien Squall will devour the world." 

Even as a fan of the franchise, have collected the novelizations of all the original serials (and collected adaptations of the modern series), when it comes to the original media tie-in novels, I’ve been reticent in reading them. Much like the Star Trek and Star Wars novels, most are just fan-wank tales which usually contain a lot of continuity throwbacks for the fan readers (I really don’t see non-fans reading these novels) and sequels to serials. Most of the original novels released in the 90s generally fell into two categories: really good or really poor. So based on this, I stayed away from reading the modern series novels because some –if not a lot- looked just horrible. And the few reviews I’ve read on various sites have not been encouraging, either. Most of the criticism seems to be how difficult the writers have with capturing each of the Doctor’s TV mannerisms and translating them on the written page. Others include having the Doctor almost be a secondary character in his/her book. Still, there are a few novelists who do have a following, who do seem to understand the Doctor in whatever regeneration he’s in, such as Gareth Roberts, James Goss, J.T. Colgan, and Una McCormack.

Paradox Lost is rather mostly continuity free (and set sometime after the events of TV episode The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood two-parter) and a rather fun tale (that borrows a lot of themes from Back to the Future II and the Star Trek: The Next Generation 2-part episode Time’s Arrow. So it does have a bunch of timey-wimey stuff, but thankfully Mann keeps the logic in check). While it does have the traditional Who trope of splitting up the Doctor and his companions, the “guest” cast is small, which makes the story flow much quicker. The Squall get the short-shift here, as they’re just mindless killing machines. They serve a purpose because George Mann says they should, but, yeah, one dimensional. 

But again, this is another tale set in past, which has an inter-dimensional invasion and no one stops to ask how London and its surrounding suburbs never makes note of this, Also, Angelchrist mentions many times how the London secret service (which he was a part of) is aware of the alien activity (curious if he was alluding to Torchwood?). The book has the police covering up most of the story by saying a serial killer is on the loose, but the word was not coined until the 1940s (though it became more popular in the 1970s), as writer Dorothy B. Huges used the term “Series Killer” in her 1947 book A Lonely Place.  

Books: Forced Perspectives By Tim Powers (2020)

 

“In book one, Sebastian Vickery and Ingrid Castine had come together and been driven to cross over from ordinary reality into a nightmarish afterlife known as the labyrinth, a world populated by deceased or never-born spirits. They managed to return and close the gateway between these two worlds, but they also returned with the unique ability to perceive time differently.

Former Federal Agent/LA cop Sebastian Vickery is hiding out Barstow, while Ingrid Castine is back on the East Coast trying to live their lives. But both are still sensitive to the ghosts that haunt the modern Los Angeles highways, byways, and secret nooks and crannies, and are soon reunited and as they are plunged into the supernatural secrets of the vast city and its history—from the fallout of Satanic indie movies of the Sixties, to the unquiet La Brea Tar Pits at midnight, to a haunted sunken city off the coast of San Pedro seeking to rise again.

They may be old hands at dealing with the spirit world, but they have never been in a pursuit so deadly with the stakes so high. For, if a ghost-addicted Silicon Valley guru has his way, the lost souls of a million Angelenos could be drawn into the creation of a predatory World God guaranteed to bring about the end of life as we know it. And Vickery and Castine are all that stand between it and California-sized destruction.”

Forced Perspectives is the second of three tales featuring Vickery and Castine. Once again, author Tim Powers gives us another frenetic urban fantasy that blends Egyptian mythology, alternate Los Angeles history, and modern technology. One thing about Powers books is they can become a travelogue –all the locations, street and freeway names are real. One could navigate around LA using a Tim Powers book.

Anyways, if you like secret histories, like why Cecil B. DeMille really buried the Pharaoh’s Palace set after he filmed The Ten Commandments in 1923, stories filled with ghosts and Catholicism, and other supernatural high jinks, then this is the book for you! I felt the second book was a bit better than the first, the characters are fuller the set pieces more developed with Vickery seemly falling in love with Castine (though I’m not sure she is yet), but it does go on a bit too long. Still, Powers continues to bring a lot of weirdness with a ton of enjoyable quirks to this series. I’m still not wholly keen on this sub-genre, this Urban Fantasy arena, but at least I like these books.

Books: Alternate Routes By Tim Powers (2018)

 

“Something weird is happening on the Los Angeles Freeways—phantom cars materialize, lanes appear from nowhere, and unmarked off ramps lead into another world known as the Labyrinth of Forever. As a driver for a supernatural-evasion car service, it’s Sebastian Vickery’s job to avoid these anomalies. But when a secret government agency tries to have him killed for knowing too much, Vickery must plunge headlong into that plane of ghosts, myths, and legends. There he’ll discover that he has much more to fear than death: something lurks in that otherworldly realm—and it has designs on our world.” 

While not a huge fan of Urban Fantasy, I generally do dip my toes into the genre from time to time. Tim Powers is by far the weirdest writer of these books, though. Alternate Routes is mostly set within Los Angeles and surrounding cities, his prose is strong, vivid, and captivating. He’s also very original, which is not something I can say a lot about fantasy writers these days. As usual, Powers mixes a lot of ideas and genres, like history and mythology and poetry (the works of John Dryden play important role here, as does Ovid and Greek legends of Daedalus). But this tale of ghost uprising that is tied the American highway system (locally, the 110 and 710 freeways), while underneath it all, is the Minotaur's Labyrinth proves Powers can command a image.

Vickery and woman who helps him, Ingrid Castine, are great, quirky characters –sort of proto-type Mulder & Scully without all the sexual tension—but because of this, lacking this  emotional connection, does distract me, the reader, but I still found the book worth reading (and sequel, which is up next).

Books: Quicksand By Steve Toltz (2015)

"Liam is a struggling writer and a failing cop. Aldo, his best friend and muse, is a haplessly criminal entrepreneur with an uncanny knack for disaster. As Aldo's luck worsens, Liam is inspired to base his next book on his best friend's exponential misfortunes and hopeless quest to win back his one great love: his ex-wife, Stella. What begins as an attempt to make sense of Aldo's mishaps spirals into a profound story of faith and friendship."

Absurdity abounds in Steve Toltz second novel, as Quicksand is so much more than a dark satire about faith, fate and obligation to friends and what an artist owes his muse. Much like A Fraction of the Whole, this witty novel has a million weird thoughts and ideas that could fill out multiple books. It’s also about words and psychology of the human soul. It took me a while to really into it, start liking Aldo a bit more, like his ideas, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this not a book for everyone looking for a plot or even a story; again, it seems to be a jumble of weird, dark, funny ideas. But the one liner’s are pretty funny, and it can be very engrossing. Books like this are great when you have a bit of time on your hands, as you might feel the need to go back again and again to catch the sentence or actions again. I mean, everyone should take a chance with satire, even if Toltz can’t sustain it all the way through. But there are enough laugh-out-loud bits as it takes on the absurdity of our modern world and even (maybe) a fairly interesting conversation with God (?). So, yeah, it may not be a beach read, but it’s still a worthy novel to drown yourself in.