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chicafrom3The (past Doctor) adventures continue!
The First Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian inadvertently strand themselves on a world on the verge of apocalypse-by-moon-impact. Separated from each other and the TARDIS, they must find a way to rescue both themselves and the city's inhabitants.
Not a favorite! There's some interesting worldbuilding going on, the city and the way they're handling the oncoming apocalyptic event are both legitimately fascinating, but it's all undermined by characterization and plot choices. Right from the beginning, when Barbara is like "I don't want to explore, let's just stay in the TARDIS. Oh, of course IAN wants to explore. If IAN wants to explore I GUESS I'll tag along." Really?? Are we talking about the same Barbara and Ian? There's a frankly awful moment when Barbara and Susan flash their legs at a passing car (it turns out to be unoccupied but that doesn't make it better) to try to get attention. Barbara is tortured throughout for no real reason; there's really zero reason for the brainwashing plot, it adds nothing. There's a weirdly complicated subplot with a robot duplicate of Susan, and when she's found out the Doctor (and the narrative) are emotionally abusive of her and use dehumanizing (okay that's not a great word to use for a robot but she's sapient and I can't think of a better word right now) language throughout, even after the Doctor accepts the fact that she's a person and functionally identical to Susan. It's all very weird and unpleasant.
I really didn't like this one, and I like it less the more I think about it.
But I prefer to end these reviews on a positive note, so here's a Team TARDIS moment I did enjoy:
The Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa, and Adric land on a space station in distant space and stumble onto a plot by the Celestial Toymaker.
I liked this better than the previous book, but it's frustrating that we had two books in a row that started with the premise "Team TARDIS doesn't like or trust each other and they don't want to be travelling together", particularly because I don't agree with that premise for either group. I can see it more for this group...except it's set between The Visitation and Black Orchid, and at that point they're already gelling more than they're portrayed here. It's just frustrating. Maybe it's me, maybe I'm not in the right mindspace.
There's also, again, some blatant sexism that drags things down, specifically in the lengthy flashback to the Doctor's Academy days on Gallifrey, making trouble with the Deca. Millenium is a fellow Academy student, and a fellow member of the Deca, ostensibly the cleverest students around. Why is she written like she doesn't have a coherent thought in her head and has to rely on The Manly Boys to protect her? Why does the Doctor keep patronizing her and calling her "my dear" and assigning her menial tasks and acting like he wants to pinch her cheeks and send her off to her room? Trying to be generous, I think the author is trying to capture the First Doctor's voice -- but there's a huge difference between an older gentleman talking to his granddaughter or people young enough to be his child/grandchild, and a young man talking to his peers at school. It's just. Frustrating.
I'm frustrated. Because there's an excellent story here. Tegan gets a really good arc, actually, once I get past the initial frustration of all three companions being written as shrill children who hate each other. The supporting characters are fun. The story of the Doctor fucking up and getting his school friend bodysnatched by the Celestial Toymaker is really creepy and cool. It's just dragged down by lazy characterization and unexamined sexism.
The First Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian inadvertently strand themselves on a world on the verge of apocalypse-by-moon-impact. Separated from each other and the TARDIS, they must find a way to rescue both themselves and the city's inhabitants.
Not a favorite! There's some interesting worldbuilding going on, the city and the way they're handling the oncoming apocalyptic event are both legitimately fascinating, but it's all undermined by characterization and plot choices. Right from the beginning, when Barbara is like "I don't want to explore, let's just stay in the TARDIS. Oh, of course IAN wants to explore. If IAN wants to explore I GUESS I'll tag along." Really?? Are we talking about the same Barbara and Ian? There's a frankly awful moment when Barbara and Susan flash their legs at a passing car (it turns out to be unoccupied but that doesn't make it better) to try to get attention. Barbara is tortured throughout for no real reason; there's really zero reason for the brainwashing plot, it adds nothing. There's a weirdly complicated subplot with a robot duplicate of Susan, and when she's found out the Doctor (and the narrative) are emotionally abusive of her and use dehumanizing (okay that's not a great word to use for a robot but she's sapient and I can't think of a better word right now) language throughout, even after the Doctor accepts the fact that she's a person and functionally identical to Susan. It's all very weird and unpleasant.
I really didn't like this one, and I like it less the more I think about it.
But I prefer to end these reviews on a positive note, so here's a Team TARDIS moment I did enjoy:
Of course, none of this would matter in a few hours, but it reminded him that the TARDIS was lost and with it any hope of returning to their own time. But if there was a chance Barbara and the real Susan had been taken down the Doctor’s hypothetical tunnel, then that was all that mattered. As long as they were together they would somehow win through.
The Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa, and Adric land on a space station in distant space and stumble onto a plot by the Celestial Toymaker.
I liked this better than the previous book, but it's frustrating that we had two books in a row that started with the premise "Team TARDIS doesn't like or trust each other and they don't want to be travelling together", particularly because I don't agree with that premise for either group. I can see it more for this group...except it's set between The Visitation and Black Orchid, and at that point they're already gelling more than they're portrayed here. It's just frustrating. Maybe it's me, maybe I'm not in the right mindspace.
There's also, again, some blatant sexism that drags things down, specifically in the lengthy flashback to the Doctor's Academy days on Gallifrey, making trouble with the Deca. Millenium is a fellow Academy student, and a fellow member of the Deca, ostensibly the cleverest students around. Why is she written like she doesn't have a coherent thought in her head and has to rely on The Manly Boys to protect her? Why does the Doctor keep patronizing her and calling her "my dear" and assigning her menial tasks and acting like he wants to pinch her cheeks and send her off to her room? Trying to be generous, I think the author is trying to capture the First Doctor's voice -- but there's a huge difference between an older gentleman talking to his granddaughter or people young enough to be his child/grandchild, and a young man talking to his peers at school. It's just. Frustrating.
I'm frustrated. Because there's an excellent story here. Tegan gets a really good arc, actually, once I get past the initial frustration of all three companions being written as shrill children who hate each other. The supporting characters are fun. The story of the Doctor fucking up and getting his school friend bodysnatched by the Celestial Toymaker is really creepy and cool. It's just dragged down by lazy characterization and unexamined sexism.
"Tell me, Doctor," said Paladopous, "d'you travel with these people out of friendship or have you committed a crime and they are your penance?"
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