As I was reading this, I felt it divided fairly well into four episodes.
While I'm only going to do one review, I am going to give subheadings
just for fun.
Episode 1: Politics and Poison (Chapters 1-4)
We open on Roanoke Island, and the explanation of what happened to the
colony there doesn't, of course, fit well with events as experienced by
the sixth Doctor, Jago and Litefoot in Voyage to the New World; though if you squint, you could say they were just about
compatible. Those of us who like to pretend this is all one vast
narrative across different media spend quite a lot of time squinting, I
find!
Another squint concerns Steven's comment that he has been to the time of
Torquemada. This is really an argument for placing the book later, I
suppose, but everything else seems to imply that it's quite soon after The Time Meddler,
as we shall see. It's also odd that the TARDIS should have taken the
Doctor to the time of the Spanish Inquisition twice since leaving 1963 (The Flames of Cadiz recording the previous visit), but it's not impossible that they've been there since The Suffering - though I'd rather give Steven as few adventures as possible before this.
A harder detail to swallow is the comment that Vicki was happy on Dido. Really? I didn't see any evidence of that in The Rescue. Still, this is easily ignored.
Right, enough nitpicking; on to the main setting. Venice! Lane brings
the city of the time to life very nicely, and I certainly learned quite a
bit about Venetian politics and Galileo's life. I did enjoy the Doctor
being mistaken for a priest, for example, being an idea very true to the
period (both 1965 for TV production and the Seventeenth Century for
plays).
One feature that surprised me was Steven's drinking (another was the
introduction of Braxiatel, though I don't know why: it had to happen
sometime before the Benny Summerfield audios, after all). This is one of
the reasons I want to place this early, because it strikes me as being
best treated as another after-effect of his captivity, and he actually
seems to adjust quickly.
Episode 2: Ascension (Chapters 5-7)
OK, I said enough nitpicking, but I have to comment on the fact that
we've got William Shakespeare again - and Christopher Marlowe, too! How
many incompatible tales are there concerning these men? Someday soon I
hope to get my hands on The Shakespeare Notebooks, which I am sure will add some more.
This part was less successful for me, partly because it fills in too
much backstory in ways I found odd. The Doctor being agnostic isn't a
problem, and although Vicki being so sensitive that she recognises the
Doctor as not being human feels like an intrusion from a later time it
doesn't really offend. But the Doctor describing Susan as "my
granddaughter, if such terms can be applied to beings like us" just
feels wrong.
I also found it hard to read Albrellian's speech. This is intentional, but it takes me out of the story in the same way as Venusian Lullaby, although on a smaller scale.
Episode 3: Towers of Destiny (Chapters 8-13)
The pace of the plot picks up here, and yet I find myself more
interested in the characters. The scene where Bellarmine takes his cues
from Revelations was both clever and amusing. I also loved the
comment, regarding Shakespeare, that "the two contradictory stories sat
together in his mind, indigestible and uncomfortable" - given the sheer
number of incompatible stories about him, this is just perfect! The
Doctor climbing the mast of the boat, however, is not. I know he's
fitter than he appears, but there is such a thing as going too far.
I was also less than keen on the comment regarding the first Doctor
acting against miniscopes - it's too much of a reminder that history
really does revolve around him.
Episode 4: Laputa (Chapters 14-17)
The final episode provides a satisfying resolution, though again the
historical coincidences grind a little bit, with Vicki coming to the
court of King James I for the second time. Interestingly, although the
Doctor's habit of saying "hmm" is commented upon, the verbal tic is not
actually used that much in this book - and certainly not overused. Well
done.
Missing Adventure 16 as a Whole
Lane's prose is workmanlike: it doesn't stand out as particularly
inspiring, but it's clear enough and doesn't get in the way of my
enjoyment of the setting and the plot. I could have read a legal
electronic version of this, having downloaded it from the BBC website
when it was available for free there, but I saw a reasonably cheap paper
copy and picked that up. I prefer reading a physical book where
possible, and this is one I think I'll be keeping.
Lane's inclusion of sources and historical notes was very welcome, too,
and I wish more authors would do the same. Even if I never follow up on
them I appreciate the touch.
Published:
Date: November 1995
ISBN: 0-426-20457-3
Rating:
7/10.
Next Time:
Corridors of Power.
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