| CHRISTMAS ON A RATIONAL PLANET by Lawrence Miles |
| Story 52 Synopsis: The Doctor tries to tie up a loose end, and Roz finds herself dumped in Woodwicke, New York State, in late December 1799. Leaving Chris in the TARDIS, the Doctor tracks her down. But the TARDIS is invaded by an extra-dimensional force. The Doctor and Roz are given the runaround by the locals, led by Matheson Catcher, who is in commune with the Watchmakers. Chris finally witnesses the arrival of the Carnival Queen, embodiment of irrationality, which wants to change the universe to its way of thinking. The Doctor, aghast at the consequences, offers Chris a choice of who he trusts more: him or the Carnival Queen. As an ex-Adjudicator with a history of law enforcement, Chris sides with the Doctor. The Carnival Queen claims the Doctor tricked him, but he deduces it was actually the TARDIS Interface that did it. Woodwicke returns to normality. |
| Review:- An iconoclast makes his first foray, with a tale of American madness... Perhaps symptomatic of the dog days of the NA range, this book goes through the motions without any great enthusiasm; Roz is lost in history and copes badly. Whilst she later comes to terms with how much she has changed since meeting the Doctor, it doesn't feel like a long-term change, just a health check-up; Chris is stuck in the TARDIS, makes a friend, and ultimately has to decide the fate of the Universe; And the Doctor fails manfully to keep a lid on the chaos in Woodwicke, his lack of umbrella being a metaphor for his lack of control. Matheson Catcher is an all-too-credible nutty villain, twisted by circumstance and espousing a violent and twisted ideal in the name of Reason. The irony of all the damage done in the mistaken good cause of logic is entirely evident. The brutal murders committed are neither condoned nor condemned. It is left to the reader to judge, not that it's difficult to say. Other characters like the frightened Daniel Tremayne, the worried Erskine Morris, the misguided Marielle Duquesne, all come across with depth and credence, even if the pattern of the book doesn't really suit them. Using super-powerful enemies is more difficult than it seems, and must form part of a coherent plot. The Carnival Queen is given enough rope, and the effects she has in mutating buildings and bodies is highly appreciable. But the problem is that the Doctor must then stop her without seeming wrong to do so, or unlikelily supreme himself. Here, the abnegation of charge which leads him to pin the answer on Chris is a total failure of trust, and evident of a wordy book that is full of learning and erudition, but not the wherewithal to turn that knowledge into proper creativity. Basically, however smart the author, it doesn't excuse poor storylining. The Shadow Directory is the link to the Brotherhood already mentioned in SLEEPY, and Marielle is perhaps a better mouthpiece for it than some. Her frustration at being forced to trust a man she feels she should kill makes for some worthwhile drama, although ultimately she is just a cipher to bring in the Carnival Queen. As the chronological first book in this series, then it provides only fleeting information to the ongoing arc. Another quirk in this book is that its spurious verbiage is a cover for an attempt to reference nearly all 158 telly adventures. Quite what the point of doing that is, is not for me to say. The outlandish ideas behind the plot don't really fit with what might otherwise have been quite a charming book. The ideas on mob mentality are as equally stupid as later shown in Midnight. Despite these and other flaws, Miles developed a certain cachet, and went on to write even bigger and sillier books. If that isn't a condemnation of Reason, I don't know what is. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of this book. |