Well then. This is the only story I know of written by American author
James A. Moore, though from his biography I see he's a successful
novelist and games writer. Despite being published in 2007 it feels like
typical 1990s SF, with its emphasis on nano- and bio-tech,
posthumanism, and political grunge; there's definitely a millennial
feel. Which isn't a criticism, by the way, just an observation.
Unfortunately the political aspect suffers a bit from the story's
length, in that the parties standing for office are too clean in their
divisions, being entirely based on single-issue platforms. This is
useful for making clear what everyone stands for in a few words, but
lacks nuance and adds a layer of unreality which doesn't fit with the
overall grimy street-level tone of the piece.
The prose itself is decent; it's easy to read, with Ian and the Doctor's
speech and action coming across as fitting the characters as performed
by Williams Russell and Hartnell. The complete absence of Susan and
Barbara felt odd, with a particularly flimsy excuse offered for them
staying behind in the TARDIS, but this is a minor complaint.
I have more problems with the pacing. After a nice, leisurely amble for
most of the running time, the story suddenly becomes so hectic that it
decoheres and is quite hard to follow. In addition, the reactions of the
local inhabitants to the Doctor's revelation felt both too exaggerated
and too confused. In practise this worked like one of the more recent TV
episodes, which race by so fast you don't have time to notice the
flaws, and I wasn't strongly put off; but it did sour things somewhat
when thinking about it afterwards.
Short stories are a very tricky medium to get right, and even though I
have made a number of negative comments this is still a slightly
above-average example. The set-up and ideas are a lot of fun, the
wordsmithery is good, and it doesn't outstay its welcome. I didn't 'get'
the title to start with, but it fits well in retrospect.
This story really could go anywhere during Ian, Barbara and Susan's
travels after they've all settled down a bit, so I think I'll put it
between two stories of a different stripe. Perhaps just after The Reign Makers.
Why Does the TARDIS Return to Earth So Often?
Since we seem to have some space, I just want to say a little about a
topic that has been bugging me lately: why do they keep revisiting
Earth? The Doctor has affection for our world, sure, and during the
periods when he has some control over his destination that is a good
enough reason; but when he doesn't, his feelings aren't relevant.
(I should make it clear that I'm not talking about artistic, production
or marketing decisions. Extradiegetically - to insert a posh word I've
learned from reading Doctor Who blogs - it makes perfect sense.
Want to include history lessons? Or make use of the BBC's expertise in
period costume drama? Or avoid putting off people who can't relate to
the Zogs of planet Zog? Or just save money by using locations that are actually on the planet you're trying to represent? Pick Earth! No, I'm talking diegesis here: in-story explanations. And hoping I'm using the big words correctly.)
So, what do we know? As confirmed by the ship herself, the TARDIS takes
the Doctor where he needs to go. All well and good, but why is that so
often somewhere (and somewhen) on Earth? Despite the second Doctor's
comment that the Earth seems more vulnerable than other worlds, there
are a hundred million worlds in just one galaxy named in one recent
episode (which actually means it was probably well below average size
based on current estimates, but what the heck); and there are more than a
hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe. You can't tell me
that Earth is more than 10,000,000,000,000,000 times as vulnerable as
the average world! Can you?
There has to be a better explanation; and perhaps I discarded the
Doctor's feelings too soon, because the TARDIS is a far from objective
arbiter of where he needs to go. "Need", itself, is a subjective word,
and I can certainly see her paying as much attention to the Doctor's
needs as to the universe's. Add in Susan, Earth-lover extraordinaire,
and I don't think I need to say any more.
So I won't.
Published:
Date: June 2007
ISBN: 1-84435-253-6
Rating:
6.5/10
Next Time:
A look back at Iananbarbara.
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