| THE GALLIFREY CHRONICLES by Lance Parkin |
| Story ? Synopsis: In an old folks home, Marnal's death surprisingly leads to his regeneration. He is annoyed to realise that Gallifrey has been destroyed, and tracks down the culprit: the Doctor. He sets a trap for the Doctor, allowing him to steal the TARDIS, and lure the Doctor to his house. When he accuses the Doctor, he shows no remorse, being unable to remember. So, Marnal shows him the moment when the Doctor caused the destruction. Marnal refuses the claim that the Doctor had no other choice. The Doctor breaks free, and alters Marnal's cold fusion generator, sending it into the TARDIS to explode, where it creates a mammoth fireball. He follows it in, locking Marnal out. Then he dematerialises the ship. Marnal then finds that Earth suddenly has a second moon, and an immense of swarm of giant insects, dubbed the Vore, are attacking and killing people. Trix and Fitz, having left the Doctor, flee to New York when Trix is accused of murder. But seeing about the Vore, they return to England, where Fitz is attacked, and dies to save Trix. She manages to track down Marnal's house. Marnal has been teleported onto the new moon, which is the Vore's base. He summons the Doctor into a Vore trap. The Doctor finds K9 hidden away inside the TARDIS, and despite realising it's a trap, returns to the solar system, where the Vore bring it on board the moon. The Doctor realises that Marnal originally made contact with the Vore, causing them great destruction, using the TARDIS that the Doctor later stole. They make their way back to the TARDIS, but Marnal is mortally wounded. The Doctor is able to drag the new moon into the TARDIS, banishing it back into the Vortex, obliterating a lot of the Vore. He then returns to Earth, and shows that Fitz, and all the other Vore victims, didn't die, they were shifted in time. Meanwhile, the remaining Vore have built a huge base in Guinea-Bissau, and the Doctor, Fitz and Trix head off to deal with it... |
| Review:- So, after all the years of building, this is it - the pay-off. Has it all been worth it? Well, it's certainly a book like no other I can think of. The gloves are off, as Lance gives us answers and references to any number of stories and sources, bringing back old characters, and throwing in an alien invasion of Earth just to keep the thing dramatic. Now, rather than giving a sense of "pulling out all the stops", this book feels more akin to "go for broke". So, we meet the man who owned the TARDIS the Doctor stole. We meet the Doctor's parents, and we learn where the Doctor's memories went. Also, we meet Anji and K-9 after a long time, and find out Sam's fate. We learn that Trix and Fitz are now an item. Oh, and much, much more... The first half of the book is almost an extended recap, as characters discuss the Doctor's wanderings, with Marnal trying to find why Gallifrey has gone missing. This is fairly smoothly done, given the innate problem of doing this whilst trying to maintain a coherent narrative. After a while, though, we get the introduction of the Vore, who manage to provide some apocalyptic moments, as it looks like curtains for the human race. This, and I'm guessing here, seems to be intended to be a germane follow-on from the earlier stuff with Gallifrey and the Doctor's memories, but it doesn't really work. If that wasn't the intention, then it just feels like it was tacked on to give this book a bit of original drama. The idea that Trix and Anji are deliberately using foreknowledge to get rich seems a little wrong. Perhaps this is one plot idea that was intended to be dealt with someday, had the book series not been curtailed? Surely the Doctor couldn't really condone such blatant cheating, even with the Time Lords not around to bring them to justice? Is it meant to be a comment on Anji's suitability as a companion, given this is the way she has coped with it? The revelation that Trix is wanted for murder is far more interesting, and sadly is also a comment that gets no explanation. I can't believe it was merely a way to get she and Fitz out of England and then to come back. Much as their separation from the Doctor seems a convenient way to strand the Doctor, helpless in Marnal's house. Similarly, the Doctor pushes off in the TARDIS almost as if he needed some time to be filled in on the plot, and meet K-9. The damage done to the TARDIS is an unsubtle bit of remodelling, ahead of the new design seen in the new series. Fitz' apparent death is more subtle, as with Trix not actually seeing him die, allows for the chance that he escaped. His song is again unsubtle, and despite its opaque suggestions, is pretty pointless. So, it all boils down to a bit of cleverness in the TARDIS to dispose of the new moon, and then off to Africa for the big showdown with the Vore... This non-ending is a bit of a kick in the teeth, really - it's not the first book to end so badly, either, and why it should be seen as a good idea now is beyond me. To bring most of the story to a successful close and then throw it away like this seems a bit of a downer for the audience. It has to be said that for the most part, this is an entertaining book, and is easy to read. Ideas are introduced and eventually explained, and the usage of Gallifrey lore works well enough. It's just that the end seems to be making some sort of point that doesn't seem to make sense. Perhaps it's a failure on my part. But still, I would commend this book. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of this book. |