| VENUSIAN LULLABY by Paul Leonard |
| Story ? Synopsis: The Doctor acts on an invitation and takes Ian and Barbara to Venus, shortly before the end of its civilisation. Whilst he and Barbara eat part of a dead friend of the Doctor's, Ian thinks they've both gone mad. He's soon kidnapped by one of several factions who oppose the end of the Venusian race. The Doctor is next to suffer attempted kidnapping. But he recovers. Barbara sets out to try and find Ian. The Venusians are visited by a huge spaceship, bringing the Sou(ou)shi, aliens who offer to take the doomed people to Earth, which they accept. Aboard the ship, the Doctor correctly deduces the Sou(ou)shi have lied - they will kill the Venusians and use their bodies to fertilise Earth. He escapes the ship, but is shot out of the sky. A Venusian soothsayer predicts that a blue box will destroy the Venusians aboard the ship, so the Venusian leader, Jofghil, demands the Doctor be killed. Barbara finds Ian, but both suffer further attacks. Ian is kidnapped and taken underground, before starting on his way back. The Doctor is rescued, and makes it to the TARDIS. The Sou(ou)shi kidnap Barbara and torment her, to ensure the Doctor doesn't stop them. He eventually pilots his Ship back onto the Sou(ou)shi craft. Ian is arrested on his return, but he and Jofghil learn that the Doctor was mistakenly accused - the prediction showed that the Sou(ou)shi would kill the Venusians. The Sou(ou)shi learn of the underground plan to launch rocks into the atmosphere, which will damage their ship. They blackmail Ian into stopping it. Instead, he approves it. In the confusion, the Doctor is able to rescue Barbara and many of the Venusians. The rest die when the ship is destroyed. Ian spends time recovering on Venus, until eventually, the Doctor manages to pilot the TARDIS back to pick him up. |
| Review:- Trouble with the neighbours, as Venus prepares to pull the curtain down, whilst some don't want to leave the stage... Leonard's first Dr Who book has an incredible scope, and makes the reader work harder than usual. The pentatonic scale applies with five-legged Venusians who are friendly to aliens, but faced with the overwhelming imminent catastrophe of their deaths. Whilst many factions grow up believing they can save the day, the offer of outside intervention puts Earth at risk... There's no reason why the Venusians shouldn't all have long names, live in places with long names, operate to a wholly unfamiliar scale of measurement, or any of the many ways in which this book conveys the alien-ness of Venus. But they do all combine to achieve a true sense of something alien, something unfamiliar. Cunningly, Leonard has Barbara seeing things through a Venusian perspective, which helps her (and the reader) see this strange world for the better, whilst Ian still presents the unfiltered view. The method of achieving this descriptive short-hand is the rather brutal eating of a dead Venusian, but that works as part of a whole culture of remembrance. When Ian later goes through this experience, it remains as stunning as it was before for Barbara, but does bond him to Jellenhut. Indeed, in many ways this is a book about lack of communication, and lack of trust. The Venusians who wish to use the Doctor's knowledge cannot tell him apart from Ian, and cannot understand the human way of life when Ian tries to explain it. Frequently, rather than respecting an alien, the Venusians are shown to treat them as little more than vermin, pests to be removed rather than tolerated. This, of course, is hardly unsubtle commentary on the racial issues troubling the human race in 1994 or today. But it is perhaps heart-warming that the Doctor and his friends can win Venusians over with respect and trust, best shown when an assassin looks the Doctor in the eye and realises he can't be a budding mass-murderer. Then there are the Sou(ou)shi, whose gift-horse-tastic offer alerts the Doctor instantly, but deludes the desperate Venusians. In the tradition of false advertising, the offer seems too good to be true, and it is - though without checking properly, the Venusians commit to a deadlier deal than they expect. A lesson always worth noting. Once the Doctor sees through the charade, he has to escape from the Sou(ou)shi and avoid being hanged as an enemy of the state on his return to the ground. This latter sub-plot is built into the story slowly, building in relevance as other events move on. The twist that the prophecy that seems such vital evidence has been doctored (as it were) is one of the first signs that there is hope for the Doctor and his friends. The TARDIS is nearly buried at sea, Barbara and Ian go through terrible ordeals in a desperate search for salvation, and the Doctor walks into a planned assassination. But by their words and their actions, they win over Venusians which leads to their eventual rescue of the situation, as the Sou(ou)shi are found out, and have their ship smashed from the sky. As a comforting attempt to recreate the magic of televised Doctor Who, this fails on the grounds of plausibility - there is no way this could have been adequately made in 1964/5. But as an attempt to bring some of the scope and imagination of the New Adventures range to former Doctors, it's a definite triumph. Though often hard-going, it is an impressive work. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |