| THE LEFT-HANDED HUMMINGBIRD by Kate Orman |
| Story 21 Synopsis: Landing in 2030, the Doctor, Ace and Benny find a note from Cristian Alvarez, sent in 1994. They arrive to find he's met him twice already, although this is their first meeting. Something unnatural is causing chaos in Mexico, and lands Ace in hospital, briefly. Whilst Benny looks after Cristian, the Doctor and Ace travel back to 1487 for clues. Instead, they allow their enemy to allow a nebulous creature called Huitzilin to survive by clinging to the Doctor. They fetch Benny and head to 1968, where Huitzilin tries to achieve physical transference, instead causing a couple of deaths. A further run-in in 1969 and then 1980 provide more clues, and a plan for the Doctor to deal with Huitzilin. They finish up on the Titanic in 1912, where an ancient Exxilon weapon is lurking, together with a means of banishing Huitzilin. The Doctor tries, but fails, and Huitzilin begins to consume him to achieve final existence. But Cristian shoots him in the process, killing the would-be god. He is returned to his own life, freed from his spiritual bugbear. |
| Review:- The first female Dr Who writer of the New Adventures came from Australia, and brought with her this tale of drugs, Aztecs and John Lennon. As you do. The big gimmick of the book is using reverse-continuity, as the Doctor, Benny and Ace meet people in the wrong order, so that Alvarez and UNIT rogue Macbeth have already got mixed experiences of them when they apparently meet for the first time. This is quite a clever trick, and helps make the mass of padding pass better than it sometimes does. For padding it most certainly is. Well-researched and interesting padding, I am willing to believe, but with each gratuitous trip through time, the story judders along looking for a resolution. Whilst the 1487 jaunt does at least create the moment of dislocation when history is changed (a variation from the two preceding tales where history is changed before the TARDIS arrives), the 1968 Happening, and the two John Lennon interludes, are just window-dressing. Macbeth suffers from a popular writer's game of unrealistic naming. Are readers supposed to assume his parents were idiots or lunatics to christen him Hamlet? Or is it just a writer having a laugh? Well, I know which I expect to be the case. His actual characterisation is quite plausible, but sadly rather boring. When his comeuppance comes, it's a welcome relief for the readers who were presumably waiting for it from his first appearance. Alvarez' story is different. A broken man in 1994, he turns to friends for salvation, and instead leads them into his life and causes his own woe (in a roundabout way). His 1980 self's journey onto the Titanic does prove critical, of course, as he solves his problems with violence. Now there's an interesting moral message, especially in a book where Ace stabs the Doctor (though not aware of it), and in a series where Ace's violence and the Doctor's attitude to others were put under the microscope to deal with underlying questions that had been built up for several books. Bernice gets to visit history, but doesn't enjoy it. Sadly, her whining and distaste for Ace does her little credit, and she's more a bystander in the Doctor's battle with Huitzilin. The whole 1487 section seems to be both a homage and a criticism of The Aztecs, with a more considered representation of the barbaric yet brilliant people. Really, there are any number of gods whose resurrection would have suited the story. The less said about events on the Titanic, the better. The Doctor gets a haircut, and Ace avoids death in the most silly plot-convenient way ever. And Huitzilin dies via a stroke of luck. His sudden death rather befits the rest of the book. On the whole, it is a competently-written book, but often rather too indulgent. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of this book. |