| DRIFT by Simon A Forward |
| Story ? Synopsis: Intending to take Leela to pre-industrial America, to meet native Americans, the Doctor finds they are in modern USA, and the TARDIS has become lost. The snows are thick, and US undercover team White Shadow are locating the wreckage of a plane, which was carrying a highly sensitive piece of equipment, the Prism AKA the Stormcore. A group of cultists steal the Stormcore, though it does them little good. The good peoples of Melvin Village are under threat from an Ice elemental, which apparently only wants to make contact. Unfortunately, it is inimical to human beings. Despite intrigue from a couple of faux-CIA agents, the Doctor deduces a way to entrap the ice creature, involving setting off a massive explosion. This happens, the day is saved, lives sort of return to normal, and the Doctor and Leela leave. |
| Review:- So this is 2002 Doctor Who, which can now be "anything", including rubbish. Drift is different, for it resembles an American TV Movie, of the sort that make Channel 5 so dull in the afternoons. The family melodrama is deep, and relevant, and doesn't jar. If the be-anything ethos allows for new stories like this, then go man go! Leela spends most of the book doing very little, but then Anji Kapoor has done similar, and been seen as ignored. We shall see how reviews turn out for Drift. The Doctor is a great read here, making the pages come to life. I usually find myself keen for Doctor sections, because that's when the action happens. Perhaps the only downer is that the ice elemental is not characterised. It could easily have been some kind of msichievous/malevolent demi-god(dess), which might have provided a little spice to the scenes where the weather really takes an active role. But then there exists a school of thought that creatures with which we cannot reason, are more threatening. See Nightshade for another example, though that had the same flaw. White Shadow could easily have been US UNIT, and anyone who is impressed by the CIA double-act should get out more. Particularly since one of them is named Theroux! Do me a favour. Perhaps there are other team members called Kennedy or Clay. Things are also a little silly when the local police and the investigating White Shadow are linked by brotherly ties. Coincidence? Or convenience? I did like this book, eventually. More, please... |
| Disclaimer: I have read the book. |