Books: Doctor Who: In Wonderland by Paul Magrs (2024)

"The Doctor and his companions visit the dreaming spires of peaceful Oxford, hoping for a brief respite from their travels. But when Lewis Carroll appears at a garden party and their fellow guests transform into animals, they realize that everything is not as it seems. An unknown cosmic foe has trapped them in a twisted version of Alice’s Wonderland. Separated from the TARDIS and from each other, their only hope of escape lies in cryptic clues; teased by fan-favorite characters from Carroll’s classic tale." 

The next Puffin Book that has the Doctor crossing-over with public domain characters continues with In Wonderland. This is a Fifth Doctor adventure, set in the twentieth season of the Classic Series and begins shortly after the TV adventure Mawdryn Undead. It features companions Tegan, Nyssa, and recently joined Turlough (who is still working for the Black Guardian, who is using the young man in hopes of destroying the Doctor - long story). 

Paul Magrs once again brings his odd brand of humor and Lewis Carroll's peculiar style of fantasy for this short novel. There are a ton of Easter Eggs, but while other authors just seem to drop them in for the fans, Magrs are less evident, and thus more entertaining. Also, with the setting of this tale in the Fifth Doctor era, the whole idea is perfect for the very British Doctor and would’ve made a fun serial had there been more money, CGI, and setting a tale outside the norm of 1983 (the recent animated release of the 1966 classic serial The Celestial Toymaker on Bluray is a prime example of surrealism the show could never really afford to dabble in). 

Magrs also ties the tale nicely to the Black Guardian saga, and there is great sequence with an older Alice that seemed to me have a double meaning. Insomuch as the real Alice wanted to hide from the fame Lewis Carroll brought her and fans of Doctor Who that can no longer be objective about the 60 year old franchise.

The Puffin line up will continue next spring when the TARDIS crew encounters Frankenstein!

Books: Money For Nothing By Donald E. Westlake (2003)

"Josh Redmont was 27 when the first check arrived, and he had absolutely no idea what it was for. Issued by "United States Agent" through an unnamed bank with an indeterminate address in D.C., someone seemed to think Josh was owed $1,000. One month later, another check arrived, and then another, and another...and Josh cashed them all. Month after month, year after year, never a peep from the IRS, never an explanation for all this seemingly found money; the checks even followed Josh from one address to another as he moved through life. Now, after a full seven years, we find him on his way to meet the wife and kids for a summer vacation. Puzzled by the approach of a smiling stranger, Josh's stomach seizes with dread when the unwanted greeting begins with, "I am from United States Agent." Dumbstruck, Josh attempts to feign ignorance until he hears the words, "You are now active."

Money For Nothing would be Westlake’s final non-series novel released in his lifetime, five years before his passing on New Year’s Eve 2008. Also, certain Westlake scholars believe this book also “constitutes the tenth and final ‘Nephew’ book, though with so many variations on the basic formula as to render it almost unrecognizable.” As FredFitch at The Westlake Review further notes “To some extent it is an attempt to blend elements from the two of his weakest books–his first comic caper, Who Stole Sassi Manoon?, and his first major attempt at satire, I Gave At The Office (the seventh Nephew)”

I’ve only read Who Stole Sassi Manoon?, and still hunting down a reasonably priced version of I Gave At The Office, so we’ll see.

But yes, this book works for various reasons, but on the whole, it’s sort of flat with a storyline seen many times in both movies and TV. Also, I’m curious why this book was written in the third person, as it might’ve worked better in first person. Then is the novel suppose to serious or funny? Yes, there are some serious situations, especially towards the end, but there are other serious parts sprinkled out through the book. Then there are some situations by some of the characters that are very funny and often reminded me of the early John Dortmunder tales when the “villains” were non-Americans and had little grasp of idioms and social cues.

Surprisingly, since this was released in 2003, there is zero reference to 9/11, which was probably a conscious point on Westlake, because the gist of the book deals with Ukrainian terrorist (which seems odd today)  and a planned assassination at Yankee’s Stadium. There is also a sequence that takes place in LTP area of JFK that seemed out place –the area would’ve probably had some security coverage and CCTV cameras by 2003. So it’s possible this novel is set before 9/11 (and maybe written well before, as well, but that doesn’t explain why someone like Josh does not have a mobile phone, but they use the internet with a powerful search engine. Maybe these were things Westlake had little use of?)

There is one bit of brilliant satire here, when Josh is trying to piece everything together and ends up going to a book reading at (the real) Westsider Books in New York. The description of the writer of fantasy series (and his fans) now in its seventh volume sort of resembles George R.R. Martin. But Westlake’s snarky vibe of the whole thing is pretty spot on.  

Anyways, not a terrible Westlake crime novel but not all will like like due to its sometimes slow pacing, almost no action, with humor that does not hit all the marks.

Books: Icerigger by Alan Dean Foster (1974)

“Following a criminal kidnapping gone wrong, Ethan Frome Fortune, a simple salesman and sophisticated interstellar traveler, finds himself stranded on the alien, deadly frozen world of Tran-Ky-Ky. With him are professional adventurer/soldier of fortune Skua September, the interstellar tycoon and his daughter who were the targets of the kidnapping, a vacationing schoolteacher, and the sole surviving kidnapper. They survive the frigid conditions and indigenous flora and fauna in their wrecked lifeboat long enough to be rescued by representatives of the local feudal government – who are facing a crisis of their own. Their arrival, and the fantastic wealth represented by the worked metal of their lifeboat, has coincided with an upcoming visit of The Horde. This nomadic swarm descends on various city-states every one-to-two years, exacting tribute as the price for not destroying their community... while rampaging through it. This time, the locals have decided to put up a fight.”

ICERIGGER, after 50 years, is solid novel, from accident to discovery to getting to know the locals and get into fisticuffs with them to fighting barbarian hoards. However, despite the traditional sci-fi cover, this first book in a trilogy plays out like high fantasy. 

I must note that at one time, the now 77 year-old Foster used to be a competitive weight-lifter, and like most of them, they take on contempt for those who don’t fit their own standards. This is notable because Foster created an intelligent female protagonist who is significantly overweight. This seemed to break the mold of these male-centric written novels where the smart women are also very beautiful. But like what Donald E. Westlake did in a recent novel I read, Foster seems mainly interested in telling fat joke. While in 1974 this probably played well with the readers, in 2024, it’s a bit off-putting.

It’s definitely cheesy, pulp, and one of Foster’s earliest works – I think his second novel after 1972’s The Tar-Aiym Krang. While he remains well-know writer, for most people it’s his long association with movie and TV tie-in novels, that started with DARK STAR (1974), THE BLACK HOLE (1979), and adapting all the episodes of STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES (1974-1978). His association with that franchise continued with a story credit for 1979’s STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, as well as adapting the first two films in the rebooted film series, STAR TREK (2009) and STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (2013). He also penned an original novel set within this new timeline, THE UNSETTLING STARS (2020). That book, however, was delayed over a decade due to issues with BAD ROBOT and their vision for the rebooted franchise. After 2016’s lackluster STAR TREK BEYOND, and with no new film set within the Kelvin timeline coming anytime soon, this book finally saw the light of day. 

Foster was also the ghostwriter of the original novelization of STAR WARS (1977), which was credited solely to George Lucas. He also wrote the follow-up novel SPLINTER OF THE MIND’S EYE (1978), written with the intention of being adapted as a low-budget sequel to STAR WARS if the film was unsuccessful. That obviously changed when the film took off and they went in a different story direction, because Foster's novel relied heavily on abandoned concepts that appeared in Lucas's early treatments for the first film. His association with STAR WARS continued in later years, penning THE APPROACHING STORM (2002) and adapting the first film of the sequel trilogy in 2015.

Beyond the STAR TREK and STAR WARS universe, he’s adapted TERMINATOR: SALVATION film, four TRANSFORMER novels, ALIEN, ALIENS, ALIEN 3, and ALIEN: COVENANT; multiple standalone film novelizations that include CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981), OUTLAND (1981), THE THING (1981), KRULL (1983), THE LAST STARFIGHTER (1984), STARMAN (1984), PALE RIDER (1985), ALIEN NATION (1988), and THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK (2004).

He also has well over 70 original novels, which ICERIGGER is the first in a trilogy (set early within his Humanx Commonwealth universe that most of those books take place in) of tales. 

Books: Conclave By Robert Harris (2016)

“The pope is dead. Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will gather to cast their votes in the world’s most secretive election. They are holy men. But they are not immune to the human temptations of power and glory. And they are not above the tribalism and factionalism that consumes humanity. When all is said and done, one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on Earth.”

I found Conclave a bit unputdownable, if that can be used. I’m not much of a Catholic anymore, or have much belief in God, but I approached this much more as a thriller than anything else. And it doesn’t disappoint, because we’ve seen in many books, TV, and movies what the acquiring of, the exercising of and the inevitable corrupting effects of what power brings. And we should not be shocked or surprised that in Universal Church, power and corruption is, well, universal. I’ve read only one other Harris novel, The Ghost, back in 2008, yet like that book, here he once again writes how easily things can be become undone. The idea of electing a new Pope seems easy, but here, those things become entangled like weeds in a garden.

Still, people are just people; they’re flawed, delusional, and filled with hypocrisy. They might be all dressed up in fancy dresses, but this is the only way a melodrama like can work. And work it does.

There is a movie version of this novel due in November, starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes. It took me a while to figure out why Fiennes is playing Cardinal Lawrence in the film (I saw the trailer and looked up the details online), and not Cardinal Jacopo Baldassare Lomeli as in the novel. The Dean of the College of Cardinals is described as an Italian in the book and Fiennes is obviously English, so instead of him putting on would probably be a terrible accent, the producers chose to rename him. Also, I can assume Sister Agnes role will be beefed up a bit, because you don’t get Rossellini for such a small, yet pivotal, role in the novel.