| DIVIDED LOYALTIES by Gary Russell |
| Story ? Synopsis: The TARDIS lands on a space station, Little Boy II, orbiting Dymok. The Doctor and his companions experience strange dreamlike moments. The reports from Dymok cease, so the station staff use a shuttle to reach the planet's surface, with Adric staying behind. On the ground, they soon find a pyramid, which the Doctor suspects is a trap. They also meet an old man, the Observer, who destroys the shuttle, leaving them all no choice but to enter the pyramid. Tegan is surprised to be told she is worshipped by the Dymova, and the Doctor takes the opportunity of being drugged to see if his dreams hold any answers. He recalls life on Gallifrey, where his first trip in a TARDIS led him to the Toymaker, and where two of his friends were lost. The Toymaker is on Dymok, and wants the Doctor to separate him from the Time Lord whose life he took all those years before, Rallon. He refuses, and Adric and Nyssa are placed in a deadly giant game of chess, whilst the Doctor has to complete a vertical jigsaw. The Observer has been using Tegan to focus the spiritual power of the Dymova to break the Toymaker's concentration. Rallon forces himself through all his regenerations at once, confusing the Toymaker and allowing his friends to escape. The Toymaker takes over the Observer, whom Rallon created for that purpose. Dymok disappears, but it was never there anyway. Little Boy II's crew call in to break the news. Having repaired friendships with his companions, the Doctor leaves in the TARDIS, having recovered his lost friends at last. |
| Review:- A new and deadly game awaits the Doctor, and his friends aren't sure if they can trust him anymore... Russell's reputation rather precedes him for this one, with the continuity nut going for broke with both the return of the Celestial Toymaker, but more notoriously, presenting a lengthy interlude featuring the Doctor during his youth on Gallifrey, which features all the usual suspects. What this all covers, though, is quite a slight story. Though this team is rarely used in either the MAs or PDAs (Cold Fusion is another one, but that's pretty much it), Russell nevertheless wastes them on an extended exercise in trust. Sadly, there isn't enough drama in the plot to make this work, and so it just feels like a deliberate waste of time. The Dymok interlude is also pretty meagre, contriving to provide a setting, and some handy extras to be placed in danger. As for the Toymaker, his redefinition as the Dream Guardian is a nice try, but pretty silly, and seems to detract from the character rather than enriching it. Russell can at least be trusted to acknowledge The Nightmare Fair, but only by explaining why the Toymaker goes from genial in his 1st appearance to rather cold in his last. This book itself would be enough to darken anyone's mood ;-) Though the Toymaker is interesting, and all-powerful menaces usually get my vote regardless, there only ever seems to be 1 plot - the Doctor must try a game, and win. Which he does, even if he has to cheat. So that leaves us with the Gallifrey bit. Hmm. Drawing together the various people who have become renegades into one set, the Deca, at least gives some cohesion to their stories. The additions of Rallon and Millennia give this story its edge, whilst Jelpax becomes the odd one out - actually not becoming a crazed renegade explorer. An appearance from the Lord President gives that touch of power to the adventure, and there are nods to other works involving Gallifrey's past (eg. Lungbarrow). I'm not sure there's a lot wrong with this, although it does rather point up the sparse drama in the rest of the book. The Doctor left his friends behind with the Toymaker, narrowly escaping himself, and unable to return. The Toymaker wants rid of them, and causes trouble to get it. Put like this, it's pretty thin. In addition to this, there are some other rotten bits. Amy Earhart, infamously vanished American pilot turns up, as one of the Toymaker's challengers. This is not only insulting, it's distasteful too. So, maybe the critics are right for once. This is a bad book, however well it's written. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |