Wandering Who
Written: Feb 26 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good characterization of Mel and Evelyn.
Cons: Long setup, too quick resolution. Too much explaining of character
The Bottom Line: Don't bother with this book unless you like huge character infodumps. Not a lot happens until the end, when too much happens all at once.
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| hist's Full Review: Gary Russell - Dr Who: Instrument of Darkness |
This book is a Past Doctor Adventure, featuring the Sixth Doctor and Mel.
Instruments of Darkness is the third (last?) book in Gary Russell's "trilogy" of books which also includes Scales of Injustice and Business Unusual. This is a good thing, because Instruments is a tremendous step down from Business (I haven't read Scales). While Business Unusual was an enjoyable, if not deep, romp, Instruments goes from place to place to place, without much happening at all. Then, the ending wraps everything up in a 20-page rush to conclusion.
This book features the Sixth Doctor and Mel, but it also includes Evelyn, a character from a series of Doctor Who audios produced by Big Finish Productions (run by Russell). It basically involves a psychic war between two sides, with the Doctor and friends getting caught in the middle.
Gary spends a lot of time setting up all of the characters (there are a lot of them in this one). He also spends a lot of time telling what happened to these characters in the first two books, which got a bit annoying. I haven't read Business in awhile and like I said, I haven't read Scales. It was nice to get a little context on the characters, but unfortunately this comes in huge infodumps that just grated. Then, when you add Evelyn, it just makes it worse. Now her character needs to be explained for the reader who doesn't listen to the audios.
What it all amounts to is a huge number of pages where nothing much happens. There's a lot of setting, and not much action. By "action," I don't mean explosions and chases and such, I mean that nothing happens at all. I'm all for characterization, but sometimes authors can take that too far. This is one of those times. It was almost page 200 (out of 284) before the Doctor really got involved in anything. That has been BBC Books' problem for quite awhile now, the ineffective Doctor. In this one, he is instrumental in the resolution, but it takes forever for him to get to that point.
I will say that the characterization of Mel and Evelyn is really good. I have heard one of the audios with Evelyn in it, and the character certainly matched. I could hear Maggie Stables playing this Evelyn. The Doctor isn't quite so good, but he is passable. This is a much more restrained Sixth Doctor then we got in the series, but that's a good thing. He has received a much better characterization in books and audios then he ever got on TV due to BBC politics.
Sadly, the rest of the characters don't get that benefit. Most of them are fairly one-note. There is one setting and two characters that are presented, and then they disappear until the end of the novel, where they come out of nowhere. The European characters get a bit better, but they still suffer from being flat.
The ending brings this waste to an unsatisfying conclusion. It comes from nowhere, being hurriedly wrapped up after pages and pages of characterization. After so long being uninvolved, the Doctor suddenly has a good idea of what's happening without much to lead him there. Mel and Evelyn are sent off on an unbelievable mission that is just there to put them in danger. The setting and characters I referred to earlier all of a sudden appear, and a character makes the ultimate sacrifice. Unfortunately, we don't have anything invested in this sacrifice or the character, because we have so little exposure to it. It just happens this way to prevent the Doctor from having to make that sacrifice.
Unless you're a completist, I would recommend you avoid this book. It's a shame that Russell has fallen so much, because I used to really like his stuff (Business Unusual was fun, Legacy was really good). Now, he's 0 for his last 3 (Placebo Effect, the horrendous Divided Loyalties and now Instruments of Darkness).
Recommended:
No
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Member: David Roy
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