Here it is, the first in what will be my new series of regular(ish) updates about books what I am reading.
A as the more alphabetical amongst us know is the first letter of the English alphabet so it is obviously the place for me to start. The A in this instance is Aaranovitch.
So, the basics first. The book is a TV tie-in from the series that I collect. It's basically a novelisation of the TV episode of the same name. Now there are two schools of thought when it comes to TV adaptations, you either do a very bare bones type up of the script with some very straightforward and to be frank rather dull linking bits where people don't speak.
OR
and this, thankfully is the option that Aaranovitch has taken. You take the script, maintaining the lines and events but you add an entire plethora of additional stuff to it, thus giving you something MORE than what you got with the original TV story.
Aaranovitch takes the daleks, previously just blobs in cases with nothing more interesting to say than "Exterminate" and things of that ilk and really adds something to them. Whilst I wouldn't say he gives them personalities, he gives them some real depth. The sense with which they refer to the Special Weapons Dalek (The Abomination as they call it) gives a real sense of internal racism and fear within an individual dalek faction. He also adds some additional character development notes that take the story and really flesh it out, making an other wise good Doctor Who tale and making it a really solid tale.
Throughout the story we keep getting undercurrents of the past that lead up to the events in the story, background information on some of the characters that never appeared in the televised version. All in all, this is really a very enjoyable book. Short but packs a lot of information.
The book makes you feel slightly more involved in the story because you get to experience a lot of internal thoughts of the characters.
As mentioned elsewhere. I am trying to improve my reviewing technique. So hopefully the next few will be a marked improvement on this.
this is interesting, because i often think what would Doctor Who be like if it dwelt. if it didn't rush through the tale at breakneck, telly speed, and you actually gfot to know characters other than the doc, companion, and one or two other regulars. will there be/are there already novels of the recent series?
ReplyDeleteinternal racism seems like a clever way to get conflict, complexity and three dimensions from daleks, without the danger of making them sympathetic/changing them.
must give you that conflict and complexity, without giving you the sympathy.