TYPE: New Series
FEATURING: Tenth Doctor
AUTHOR: Lance Parkin
PAGE COUNT: 248
SYNOPSIS:
At the heart of the ruined city of Arcopolis is the Fortress. It's a brutal structure placed here by on of the sides in a devastating intergalactic war that's long ended. Fifteen years ago, the entire population of the planet was killed in an instant by the weapon housed deep in the heart of the Fortress. Now only the ghosts remain.
The Doctor arrives, and determines the fight his way past the Fortress's automatic defenses and put the weapon beyond use. But he soon discovers he's not the only person in Arcopolis. What is the true nature of the weapon? Is the planet really haunted? Who are the Eyeless? And what will happen if they get to the weapon before the Doctor?
The Doctor has a fight on his hands. And this time he's all on his own.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
REVIEW:
Traveling alone, the Doctor arrives in a deserted city to destroy a weapon that could threaten the entire universe. What he didn't count on was a group of survivors and the arrival of alien scavengers.
I haven't read very many of the new series novels so far, and while I enjoyed Shining Darkness the most, I think this one has managed to surpass it. It has a darker and grittier edge to it than the other books; the Doctor is put through the wringer physically by his trek through the Fortress as well as several confrontations with the aliens, the Eyeless, on which they manage to land a few blows on him. The Doctor is famous for his running around, but on TV he's rarely been so battered and bruised.
The whole situation in the book is quite bleak. You have a city neglected and crumbling for fifteen years after the Fortress arrived and instantly wiped out 200 million people. However, a bare handful managed to survive, albeit accidentally. Their society now is one of survival: they stay out of the city and the temptation to use up what was left behind, and the woman have all had to bear many children in the hope of repopulating. The children aren't taught to read, and many rebel by going out into the city. It's a life without choices.
The central human character of the books is a girl named Alsa, who holds in a lot of anger at being forced into a life not of her own choosing, one where she's only expected to produce offspring and nothing more. Her anger becomes her motivation, and while the Doctor tires to reach her by telling her there are always choices, this backfire and she becomes almost the antagonist of the story. Instead of letting the Doctor destroy the weapon, she hopes to rob him of his choice, to force him to use it to restore the city so she can be free of the life she hates. But as her anger grows, so does her selfishness, as she no longer wants to help anyone else but herself. While monomaniacal villains can be dangerous, Alsa proves there is also danger and darkness lurking in an angry child.
Then there's the Eyeless, which are one of the most interesting alien species ever featured in any Doctor Who story. While humanoid, they appear to be made of glass (the Doctor surmises that while they are carbon-based, the carbon is actually more like diamonds), featureless and see-through. They are a race of scavengers, and while they are interested in collective technology, they also collect experiences and emotions. They hold knickknack within their bodies like badges, mementos of their exploration. While they originally arrive just to take the TARDIS, they soon become involved in the Doctor's mission and wish to possess the weapon as well. A telepathic race, this becomes their downfall in the end as they form a bond with Alsa and become too involved in her emotions. Consumed by selfishness and anger, the Doctor can no longer reason with them and must face destroying them instead.
The mysteries of the Fortess remain unsolved in the end. Who created it? Where did it come from? But the Doctor's familiarity with it suggest it could have been a weapon used in the Time War, and the Doctor merely isn't just interested in destroying it just so no onw else can ever use it again, but he may also be trying to clean up a terrible mistake from his past.
Another important aspect of the book is that the Doctor is companionless, since it's set after Season 4 when he had to return Donna home and erase her memory of him. In this case, it works, because a companion would have gotten in the way of the story and been a bit spare.
In conclusion, this was an excellent read and one of the best in the New Series line so far.
