| PLACEBO EFFECT by Gary Russell |
| Story 13 Synopsis: The Doctor takes Sam to Micawber's World, an artificial planetoid which is hosting the wedding ceremony of two old friends of his, Stacy and Ssard. They suffer a protest from the Church of the Way Forward, whom Sam investigates. The Doctor gets involved in the mysterious murder of a Foamasi, and begins to suspect there is a serious problem timed to coincide with the imminent beginning of the Olympic Games. In tunnels below the surface, human agents are killed and infected by Wirrrn, who are using a doctor to create pills which will affect the DNA of competitors in the games, and create new sources of Wirrrn. As a scheme involving renegade Foamasi is quelled, and the humans begin to work together, Sam witnesses the giant Wirrrn Queen underground, and escapes to inform the Doctor. The opening ceremony of the Games is interrupted by a bomb, and Wirrrn begin to break out. Finding the Wirrrn Queen, the Doctor fends off its attacks, and causes her to electrocute herself, which kills her. Meanwhile, the leader of the Church, thinking she was his Goddess made flesh, escapes the planet with her incubating subjects... The Doctor having synthesized a counter-drug, is assured that most of the athletes who had taken the wrong pills may recover normality. |
| Review:- A crazy blend of ideas come together around a run-in for the Doctor with some old enemies... No small task this, but Russell likes things like this, so who better? Beyond the simplistic Wirrn (or Wirrrn as he prefers it) versus Foamasi outline, he tackles drug-taking in sport, royalty and devotional churches along the way. Plus he ties this range in with the short-lived comic strip he wrote for Radio Times, giving Stacy and Ssard a (mostly) happy ending. Six impossible things before breakfast? Something like that... His success rate is mixed, though, perhaps inevitably. The Foamasi are a definite success, going far beyond their scope from The Leisure Hive, to become an interesting and well-motivated race. Sadly, no-one since has run with this, but at least it could happen. There is less hope for more from the Wirrn, though. Whilst their previous outing in The Ark In Space relied more on their scary factor and resemblance to wasps, this book has to use their more psychological terror and absorption. Whilst they make useful props for invasion, they're not that interesting, or practical. Set in 3999, the book ties in somewhat with both his previous Peladon book, Legacy, and the telly story, The Daleks Master Plan, using the Teknix as a sort of civil service. He has more success with the Jadeans, especially Ms Sox, who in time-honoured tradition binds her loyalty to her boss with love. Shame Chase Carrington meets such a grisly end. Carrington does provide the cement for other plot elements, namely the artificiality of Micawber's World (what a name!) and the Olympic Games. This seems a curious aspect to the book, although it ties in with the Wirrn infiltration, and a less-than-subtle attack on athletes taking performance-enhancing drugs. Although there is some black humour in the idea that cheating athletes will pay a higher price than they expect... Even less subtle though is the Duchess of Auckland, a scatterbrain from Earth come to add pageantry to the Olympiad. Russell leaves no room for doubt over his feeling on royalty, with two lengthy descriptions on how twittish and unnecessary she is, and then he blows her up. Ta very much, how even-handed, eh? The Church fare little better, although as several NAs and EDAs over the years have had a mighty pop at religion, this element feels less involving. Sam is often little more than a moral mouthpiece anyway, so her lengthy discussion and refutation of Reverend Lukas feels quite mind-numbing. Where this may work is that ultimately, Lukas really bets on the wrong horse and is responsible for the salvation and continuation of the Wirrn. Thanks for that. And where is the Doctor in all this? Often nowhere, best exemplified when he disappears from the action for 40 pages (1/7 of the book!). His covert efforts to understand who would kill a Foamasi lead to a chance for him to see that race in a new light, and he realises the drugs are the problem as well. Dismissing Sam and delaying his discovery of the Wirrn feels rather callous, but it does pad the book out a bit longer. So, whilst not shy of tackling several issues at once, it tends to make an unsatisfactory job of some, whilst faring better with others. Readable, it improves once things start happening and characters start interacting more. Hardly a triumph, but far from a failure. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of the book. |