| THE MONSTERS INSIDE by Stephen Cole |
| Story ? Synopsis: The TARDIS lands on a grim hillside, and the Doctor and Rose are soon taken prisoner, and separated. He is sent to a scientific testing centre, as he's alien. She is sent to a borstal, where she is narrowly saved from a severe beating. She finds a Slitheen up to no good. The Doctor is forced to share a cell with two Slitheen who claim to be historians. They help with solar equations, whilst the Doctor devises a way to use gravity for quicker travel, in order to get Rose sent back to help him. This happens, but Rose has trouble on the shuttle, and the Slitheen from the Doctor's cell make a bid for freedom. The Doctor finds out that a rival family to the Slitheen, the Blathereen, are at large throughout the Justicia system, and have a scheme to push the whole planetary system through an enormous warphole. Rose's shuttle crashlands, but she manages to evade the pursuing Blathereen, and meets up with the Doctor, who meets the Blathereen Patriarch, Don Arco. The people from Rose's borstal break out, killing their Blathereen guards, and coming to the rescue. By altering the gravity, the Doctor manages to threaten Don Arco, but he is replaced by Ermenshrew, a Blathereen who has been tricked by the Doctor before. By fiddling the gravity controls, the Doctor causes Ermenshrew to die, and her mothership is splatted. The Doctor and Rose return to the TARDIS, little realising the few Slitheen survived... |
| Review:- So, this book sees the Doctor and Rose out in the wilds of space, in that vast place that is the future. And they've found some old friends... This book starts simply. The Doctor and Rose crashland on a planet, and are soon arrested on trumped-up charges, separated onto different planets. They begin investigations into the problems of the Justicia system, Rose rather getting the thin end of the wedge. The Doctor is alarmed to meet the Slitheen, whereas Rose is only able to speculate on Slitheen infiltration. Both are unaware that this infiltration is far more widespread than they expect, and that the Slitheen are not the bigger problem... In some ways, this is a story to show how the Doctor and Rose interact when in a truly alien location, with Earth far from their thoughts and actions. In other ways, it's a thin excuse to give us more Slitheen action. If you liked the Slitheen on TV, then Christmas has come early. If not... well, maybe one of the other books will suit you? Arguably the neatest Slitheen moment from Aliens of London/World War Three, was the idea that Slitheen wasn't a race name but a family name. So here, to help illustrate that point, we have another family from the same planet, the Blathereen. The whole "hiding inside other people" shtick is the same, and at least allows Rose to show some detective nous. The Doctor, amusingly, is stuck working with a range of other aliens, and using his intellect to find a way to bring Rose to him. Rose, meanwhile, has to deal with other young humans, during what is otherwise pretty tiresome satire on present prison methods. She has to use courage and initiative to get what she wants, and is helped through her best chance by the Doctor's eccentric clues. Seeing the Slitheen as underdogs is a clever characterisation, but as their superiors the Blathereen are as unpalatable, it rather defeats the object. Especially when the Slitheen are slowly worked back from their nadir towards their old ways, leading to the tedious non-ending revealing the Slitheen are back in business. Justicia is a fair idea wasted by setting itself over so many planets. Amusingly, the reader gets to see the story set on several planets, but this doesn't make it any less silly. The barbed comments on justice are sledgehammer-subtle and the basic problems of crime and punishment are still overlooked at the finish. Fortunately, the Doctor works very well, and Rose gets plenty of good stuff. So, overall, not a good book, but not a bad one, I suppose. |
| Disclaimer: I have a copy of the book. |