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Title: No Future (Doctor Who-The New Adventures) by Paul Cornell ISBN: 0-426-20409-3 Publisher: London Bridge Mass Market Pub. Date: March, 1994 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: No Present
Comment: Oh dear. I really didn't like NO FUTURE at all. I didn't find it to be offensively poor, but it tried to do too many different things, and I couldn't make myself care about any of them. A scant few days after reading it, and I simply can't think of much of anything that stuck out in my mind. Everything was so underdeveloped that it just went in my brain and then just went right back out of it. Well, it will make for a short review anyway.
There's so much going on here that it's difficult for me to recall enough about any one particular item to discuss. The book begins with a punk band filled with anarchists, but they (save Danny, who becomes a bit faceless) and the rebellious spirit all but disappear part of the way through. There some interesting stuff done with the UNIT characters, but then they're replaced in favor of the Broadsword division. The Broadsword division is set up in an interesting way, but there simply isn't enough time left to give them the development that they need. NO FUTURE feels like a rough draft, or a brainstorming session.
Interestingly enough, the one thing that the book does spend a lot of time on, Ace's "murderous plans" that the back cover mentions, is actually done extremely well. If there's a single reason to read this book, then it's to see the resolution of several character storylines that had been running through the NAs for quite some time. It's a shame about the rest of the book really. It almost seems as though the entirety of the non-character sequences were written purely to place the Doctor, Ace and Benny into the situations that Cornell wanted them in. When they actually get to those places, the book is great. But the actual plodding around to get to them was too boring and too scattershot to be really enjoyable. It's like taking a long car ride to a wonderful beach in a cramped and smelly automobile, only to arrive half an hour before sunset. The reward at the end of the journey is quite good in itself, just not enough to make up for the problems encountered en route.
It's a pity that so much of the book simply doesn't work. Individually there are a lot of elements that were done better in other Cornell books. The perceived betrayal, the revamp of the Brigadier/UNIT, the interaction between the characters, and the desire to break the rules of society are almost all familiar elements. We know that Cornell can do them better because he either had done them better or would go on to do them better. They just weren't given enough of a chance, so consequently they all seem underdeveloped. Reading other books in the Cornell back-catalog would be a great way to see what he's capable of doing on these same topics. You just won't find that same greatness here.
(Oh, and the cover is hideous. For some reason, everyone except the person I assume to be Benny has weird teddy bear fur sticking out of the top of their heads. I assume that person is Benny purely based on the fact that she's obviously using the force to levitate a can of beer out of the audience. And who can blame her? If I suddenly morphed into Liza Minelli, I think I'd be driven to drink as well.)
Rating: 4
Summary: No Future
Comment: Hey, I was more than happy with this one. Actually, I was quite impressed.
It's true the book is very busy. It is the climax to an extended "unseen foe in the background" plotline that started four books back, with the novel called Blood Heat. But the revelation concerning this issue is quite fun, because there hasn't been just one mastermind behind the scenes--but, rather, one mastermind, plus one superbeing held in thrall by said mastermind, and one disguised alien race invading the Earth while being manipulated by said superbeing. And yes, this hodgepodge of foes hiding behind the scenery all relate to past Who adventures, so some random knowledge of past TV episodes is only going to help (though I'm not the biggest expert on Dr Who trivia, and I enjoyed all these old foes suddenly returning).
It's also a fact that author Cornell has some unfinished business to take care of from way back in the novel Love And War, which introduced Benny and kicked out Ace, for awhile. So if you haven't read that particular book, you may be thinking "What's all this 'Jan' stuff?", and "Wha--Where is Heaven?". And then there are references to the TARDIS stuck in tar (oops--read Blood Heat), or Ace re-creating the TARDIS from memory (oops--I think that happened back in the Cat's Cradle trilogy)...
So okay--maybe don't leap into the series with No Future. But as regards wrapping up the loose ends from Love and War, I think it's handled skillfully, does not detract from the "unseen foe" business which is the main thrust, and leads to a poignant scene where Ace must make a very tough choice, when it comes to closing literal and metaphorical doors behind her.
This leads me to more comments on Ace, who I think is actually handled quite well in this story, especially when it comes to redefining her relationship with the Doctor, which has been friction-fraught since she returned as a battle-hardened soldier (oops--ahem, me again--better read Deceit). I don't want to give away anything about Ace--heck, she's the type to come and beat me up over it--but part of this book is about showing that she has a brain, and showing that, when necessary, a Companion can be just as cunning as the Doctor...and even do a little role-reversal (Cool!! Ace playing the mindgames, and the Doctor trying to do some Companionly keeping-up! I absolutely loved that concept, this once.)
I guess I've now given the impression that the book is perhaps too busy. But there really isn't too much plot to handle; no, everything is extra-complicated here simply because everyone involved is running a scheme. The Doctor is trying to scrabble a plan together, but as indicated, Ace herself has got ten chess-moves planned, all known only to her. Then there's the Brigadier, who also has his own agenda (does it really mean he's turned against the Doctor? Say it ain't so!). Heck, Mike Yates is running a scheme! And Benny, too--she's following some of the Doctor's orders, but she starts making her own moves.
And I haven't even mentioned the bad guys!
If all of this weren't frantic enough, every group of allies seems to have a traitor in their midst! These Black Star terrorists shouldn't trust every member; the mysterious alien race in the background has a few rogue members who don't conform to the "conquer Earth" mindset, let's say; and even our malevolent mastermind has a powerful creature in thrall that would just love to turn on him.
Frankly, I love the way it all gets cleanly sorted out--like laundry, only more exciting. It's especially neato that, amongst all these supporting characters trying to play Boss, the Doctor still shines best. Of course he does. And as far as his sourpuss approach to life, in this and adjoining novels, he wouldn't be the First cranky Doctor...
Rating: 2
Summary: Another New Adventure for the in-group only
Comment: This may be the epitome of the sort of New Adventure book that New Adventure haters hate, with references that can only be understood by reading other New Adventures, all-too-clever fannish inside jokes, and a violent, angst-ridden Ace who bears no resemblance to the basically cheerful soul from the television series. It's a far cry from the same author's Revelation, which is one of the few New Adventures I've found worthwhile.
Like Kate Orman's book, this does nothing to make me reconsider my decision to stop reading the New Adventures.
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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: Human Nature (Doctor Who the New Adventures) by Paul Cornell ISBN: 0426204433 Publisher: London Bridge Mass Market Pub. Date: July, 1995 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Cat's Cradle: Times Crucible (The New Doctor Who Adventures) by Marc Platt ISBN: 0426203658 Publisher: London Bridge Mass Market Pub. Date: April, 1992 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: Love and War (The New Doctor Who Adventures) by Paul Cornell, Publishing Carol ISBN: 0426203852 Publisher: London Bridge Mass Market Pub. Date: November, 1992 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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