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Title: Cat's Cradle: Times Crucible (The New Doctor Who Adventures) by Marc Platt ISBN: 0-426-20365-8 Publisher: London Bridge Mass Market Pub. Date: April, 1992 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Complexity that never fully pays off
Comment: Marc Platt's previous entry into the Doctor Who canon was 1989's GHOST LIGHT, a story so squashed into the available time allotted, that much of it seemed confusing upon the first watch. Subsequent viewings made the material easier to understand, revealing a story in which virtually none of the action is wasted. In "Ghost Light" there's hardly a single line of the story that isn't vital.
The difference between that story and CAT'S CRADLE: TIME'S CRUCIBLE couldn't be any greater. Because of the strict time limits imposed on the television episodes, GHOST LIGHT ended up being boiled down to its barest essential elements. On the other hand, freed from those constraints, TIME'S CRUCIBLE grows into a massive sprawling work that spans literally millions of years, through the history of the Time Lords, from the beginnings of Gallifreyian time travel to the journeys and origins of the Doctor. The book suffers from an incredible lack of focus, and this is a pity because there are a lot of very interesting ideas present, that if executed properly would have resulted in a much more satisfying story.
The plot is intensely complicated. Unfortunately, the complexity doesn't necessarily mean good, and the payoff at the end isn't especially rewarding. If you have the guts to make it all the way to the ending, you'll find that the conclusion and explanations are worth it, but only barely. It all makes sense (apart from one or two minor problems that I noticed) but when one reaches the ending, one wonders why we had to go through such an elaborate process to get to it. It feels complicated, not because the story had to be, but because the author just felt like making it convoluted simply for the sheer sake of it.
The story somewhat centers around several survivors from a wrecked experimental time vessel that had crashed into the TARDIS. The poor characterization, and unsure prose style meant that I had a lot of trouble keeping track of which person was which. After a few pages they all seemed to melt into the same puzzlingly enigmatic character. This was quite annoying as there was a great opportunity here to explore the characters as they appeared and reappeared in different stages of their lives.
It's frustrating when one sees good ideas go to waste, and TIME'S CRUCIBLE falls into that trap. There are some very interesting concepts here that never really get close to fulfilling their potential. The setting is excellent and the descriptions of the dead and decaying city are very effective. The passages dealing with the apparent destruction of the TARDIS convey a sense of impending doom quite well. Ace's reactions to the story unfolding around her are handled interestingly. Some of the sequences set on Ancient Gallifrey feel quite epic. All of these things make for fascinating reading, but the problem is that they simply don't work well together. As individual set pieces they are engaging, but the momentum keeps getting lost somewhere. The gaps between the exciting parts are simply plodding and dull.
This should have been a much better story than it ended up being. There are a lot of fabulous ideas and the central concept is quite an intriguing one. The problem is simply the poor execution. If there had been some major editing to remove all the dull, incoherent parts, and to tighten up the pacing, the book could have been very much improved. The ending really needed something with enough impact to make the sitting reader bolt upright and shout, "Oh, so that's what was going on! That was incredible!" Unfortunately, the result was the reader having a yawn, a stretch, and mumbling, "Oh, so that's what was going on. Well, that all makes sense, but so what?"
Rating: 4
Summary: The past and the present in collision
Comment: With the TARDIS under attack, the unexpected collision with an early time vessel from Gallifrey's past seemingly destroys the TARDIS and Ace awakes in a strange city under attack from a thing known as "the Process"...
Written by Marc Platt, probably best known to Doctor Who fans as the scripter of the late classic 'Ghost Light', this book is the first in the very loose Cat's Cradle trilogy and features a substantial look at the prehistory of Gallifrey, the Doctor's home planet.
Reasonably complicated in structure (the behaviour of some of the characters is determined by complicated matters that become plainer towards the end of the book), it helps fill out the background of the Doctor's people while involving the Doctor and Ace in a seriously threatening adventure.
All in all, a worthwhile read, but it requires concentration.
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Title: Timewyrm Genesys (Doctor Who) by John Peel, Publishing Carol ISBN: 0426203550 Publisher: London Bridge Mass Market Pub. Date: July, 1991 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Timewyrm: Apocalypse (The New Doctor Who Adventures) by Nigel Robinson, Publishing Carol ISBN: 0426203593 Publisher: London Bridge Mass Market Pub. Date: December, 1991 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Timewyrm: Exodus (The New Doctor Who Adventures) by Terrance Dicks, Publishing Carol ISBN: 0426203577 Publisher: London Bridge Mass Market Pub. Date: September, 1991 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Combat Rock (Doctor Who) by Mick Lewis ISBN: 0563538554 Publisher: BBC Worldwide Pub. Date: July, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Ten Little Aliens (Doctor Who) by Stephen Cole ISBN: 0563538538 Publisher: BBC Worldwide Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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