Buys
I've purchased a lot of stuff recently, so I thought I'd take a break.
"Accomplishments"
Books: Finished a couple of Doctor Who books, the first of which is Wishing Well, a New Series novel by Trevor Baxendale and featuring a monster living down in a well. If each New Series 3-book release features a horror tale, a romp and a sci-fi story, this one is definitely in the first category. Baxendale manages a few very real chills even while staying in the "suitable for young readers" mode. The guest characters are all well drawn as are the Doctor and Martha, which usually makes for a good reading experience regardless of the plot. But the plot's good too, if at times a little too much like Forever Autumn.
Instead of reaching for the next New Who novel, I instead took up Iceberg, part of the New Adventures starring the 7th Doctor, and basically where I had left off a couple years ago. Written by the Cyber Leader himself, David Banks, this Cyberman story written in 1993 takes place in 2006 and ties into the other 20th century Cyber-stories, The Tenth Planet and The Invasion, and is infamous for not getting either the Doctor or the Cybermen into the action until page 140 (with 110 pages to go). It features an excellent would-be companion in Ruby, though the Antarctic Base personnel are characterized with too much detail for whatever pay-off they get. And yet... Banks' theme is expressed throughout so I never feel like it's a waste of time. Every paragraph, if not sentence, alludes to all things Cyber (isolation within oneself, mechanics vs. flesh, silver flash and body horror). In fact, the near future he creates is alarmist to be sure, but not very far off the mark, and it's a near future where we're headed for Cyberdom ourselves. Again, the plot takes second place to style and character, which isn't a bad thing. I read this because I really wanted to crack open Blood Heat, the next in the series, but I'm glad I didn't just skip it.
New Unauthorized Doctor Who CCG cards: 19 new cards, all from Doctor Who and the Silurians
Someone Else's Post of the Week
Trusty Plinko Stick is starting a series about Doctor Who, which I fully support. People have asked me if I would give Who the Star Trek treatment, and I said I wouldn't, but I'm glad someone is! Bill D. starts with The Mind Robber. Check it out!
I've purchased a lot of stuff recently, so I thought I'd take a break.
"Accomplishments"
Books: Finished a couple of Doctor Who books, the first of which is Wishing Well, a New Series novel by Trevor Baxendale and featuring a monster living down in a well. If each New Series 3-book release features a horror tale, a romp and a sci-fi story, this one is definitely in the first category. Baxendale manages a few very real chills even while staying in the "suitable for young readers" mode. The guest characters are all well drawn as are the Doctor and Martha, which usually makes for a good reading experience regardless of the plot. But the plot's good too, if at times a little too much like Forever Autumn.
Instead of reaching for the next New Who novel, I instead took up Iceberg, part of the New Adventures starring the 7th Doctor, and basically where I had left off a couple years ago. Written by the Cyber Leader himself, David Banks, this Cyberman story written in 1993 takes place in 2006 and ties into the other 20th century Cyber-stories, The Tenth Planet and The Invasion, and is infamous for not getting either the Doctor or the Cybermen into the action until page 140 (with 110 pages to go). It features an excellent would-be companion in Ruby, though the Antarctic Base personnel are characterized with too much detail for whatever pay-off they get. And yet... Banks' theme is expressed throughout so I never feel like it's a waste of time. Every paragraph, if not sentence, alludes to all things Cyber (isolation within oneself, mechanics vs. flesh, silver flash and body horror). In fact, the near future he creates is alarmist to be sure, but not very far off the mark, and it's a near future where we're headed for Cyberdom ourselves. Again, the plot takes second place to style and character, which isn't a bad thing. I read this because I really wanted to crack open Blood Heat, the next in the series, but I'm glad I didn't just skip it.New Unauthorized Doctor Who CCG cards: 19 new cards, all from Doctor Who and the Silurians
Someone Else's Post of the Week
Trusty Plinko Stick is starting a series about Doctor Who, which I fully support. People have asked me if I would give Who the Star Trek treatment, and I said I wouldn't, but I'm glad someone is! Bill D. starts with The Mind Robber. Check it out!
Comments
You're at a really good place in these novels. You've got several really good ones to look forward to: Blood Heat, Conundrum, No Future, Legacy, All-Consuming Fire, Blood Harvest... ah man, I'm envious. I wish I could go back and read those for the first time again.
Enjoy!
The Irredeemable Shag
http://onceuponageek.com
http://firestormfan.com