| GRIMM REALITY by Simon Bucher-Jones and Kelly Hale |
| Story 49 Synopsis: Something is amiss on the World of Wishes. The TARDIS lands in a forest, which bars the travellers from reaching it. They walk to a nearby village which seems to be full of fairy tales come to life. Anji is tricked into becoming a maid. Fitz joins a couple of Princes on a quest. The Doctor meets someone from a space mission, and rescues a goblin from a mirror. They go to a giant's castle. There, the Doctor is almost eaten, but buys time by working for the giant. In that time, he escapes with help from a Maid, and makes his way to the Castle of Sighs. There, he finds Anji competing with Christina, a captain of a spaceship, for the hand in marriage of the Duke. They manage to foil his aims. Fitz is duped by the Princes, but escapes, and reaches the Castle. The Doctor begins to deduce what the problem with the planet is, and that he, Anji, Fitz and Christina will journey to collect six boxes which have fallen from the stars. They travel to where Princess Ebonyblack slumbers in a high tower. The Doctor realises the planet will only be saved by removing the wishing boxes for good. To do this, he combines them all into one wish: and whilst the usurping abanak plan to use it for conquest, the stricken diseased vuim use it to cure themselves, thus solving the problem. The mission group return to their ship, and the Doctor and his friends leave in the TARDIS. |
| Review:- Once upon a time... Most genres and ideas have been considered through the prism of Doctor Who over the years, and fables is something rarely attempted. Perhaps the best attempt was The Sorceror's Apprentice, which kept itself grounded and was fairly well-plotted. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of this book, which ambles and meanders and thus fails to convince. Separating the travellers from the TARDIS is a simple device, and then splitting them up allows for the story to progress. Only it doesn't. Anji's troubles as a servant are only vaguely followed up, Fitz' quest with the obnoxious brothers has a half-decent resolution in the identity of the wolfskin on his back and the production of a Prince for the finale, but his joining them in the first place feels contrived. As for the Doctor, he draws attention to himself, rescues a goblin and then visits a giant, all of which make for dramatic scenes, but which only feel vaguely connected to an ongoing narrative. It really feels as though it was plotted at random. Now, that might be a subtle reference to Grimm themselves, but it's a rather silly one to make. And then about 3/4 of the way through, the strands come together and head in a different direction again. And it all boils down to a predictable choice of who will make the best wish. Though that is a good finish, the efforts made to get there don't feel justified. Whilst Fitz comes across well, as he tends to, Anji still feels a snooty cow, and her drudgery appears an amusing punishment for her hubris. As for the Doctor, he takes the world at face value, and sometimes finds it not meeting his expectations. When he causes the questing Alex to assume he is up to no good, he remains oblivious of his actions. The humans from the spaceship are pretty dull and venal. The abanak are amusing only for their resemblance to pink hippos. As for the insectoid vuim, they are clearly the goodies because of their affliction. There's no depth to mask the dreary superficiality of it all. On the whole, then, this is a bland and tiresome interlude between the more intriguing magic of the preceding The City of the Dead, and the superworldly events to come in The Adventuress of Henrietta Street. On its own, it isn't good enough. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |