Review: The Awakening (Public)
Doctor Who: The Awakening by Eric Pringle. PB, 144 pages, Target Books, 1985.
The (Fifth) Doctor promised Tegan a visit to her grandfather, but when they get there Tegan suspects there's been a mistake in the timing... The Doctor swears that the timing is correct, and then promply rushes out of the TARDIS to rescue a stranger. And what's up with that crack in the wall?
I didn't really expect to like this one after reading the cover blurb. It looked like it leaned more to the horror side of Doctor Who, and horror is the only genre that I don't read. I was happily surprised, and the opening section has a bit I particularly liked, "She knew it must be nonsense - that perhaps she ready was going mad - yet it seemed to her that the simple rules which governed daily living, basic things like the fact that today is reliably today and not tomorrow or yesterday, and that what is past and dead and gone really is so, no longer applied so firmly as they used to do." (p. 8) That, to me, sort of summarizes Doctor Who.
*Warning: SPOILERS* First off, just something I noticed, the issue of the man with the warped face wasn't satisfactorily resolved. Or maybe it was and I just didn't notice it.
Speaking of faces, here's another bit I particularly liked, this one near the end (hence under the spoiler-cut) describing the appearance of some of the apparitions: "There was no hatred in them, but nor was there any compassion; they were dead faces, with no expression at all."
The writing for this one seemed a bit better than novelizations in general. It's rare that I notice a DW novel solely for the pretty, quoteable writing, so I'll keep a lookout for more of Pringle's books. Of course, the story seemed strong too. The usual "creepiness-in-small-English-village" that is a bit of a staple of the Whoniverse, but the tie-ins with Tegan's grandfather, the viewpoint of Jane Hampden, and later Will Chandler's take on the 1900s gave it enough twist and personal interest to hold me. Plus, I'll admit I'm a sucker for the displaced-from-another-time stories, making me a ready-made Doctor Who fan.
The creature didn't particularly stand out in this one, but the effects it had certainly did. Despite the ensemble cast, I had a fairly good idea of who was where when throughout, and my interest was held enough to finish it without stopping. I'm curious as to whether the actual show was very good. This novelization certainly made the story sound interesting, but I've heard that many people find Tegan and Turlough some of the most annoying companions.
This whole thing was pretty good. I can't decide if it's really one of my overall favorites, but I definitely enjoyed it. Perhaps my low expectations are giving me an overly high opinion of it now, but only time will tell.
BBC Episode Guide: Details -- Some Spoilers
ETA: I just noticed from the episode guide that the last Classic Who book I reviewed, Warriors of the Deep, comes directly before this one. I also have the novelization of Frontios, which follows, so perhaps I'll read that as my next Five book instead of Planet of Fire.
The (Fifth) Doctor promised Tegan a visit to her grandfather, but when they get there Tegan suspects there's been a mistake in the timing... The Doctor swears that the timing is correct, and then promply rushes out of the TARDIS to rescue a stranger. And what's up with that crack in the wall?
I didn't really expect to like this one after reading the cover blurb. It looked like it leaned more to the horror side of Doctor Who, and horror is the only genre that I don't read. I was happily surprised, and the opening section has a bit I particularly liked, "She knew it must be nonsense - that perhaps she ready was going mad - yet it seemed to her that the simple rules which governed daily living, basic things like the fact that today is reliably today and not tomorrow or yesterday, and that what is past and dead and gone really is so, no longer applied so firmly as they used to do." (p. 8) That, to me, sort of summarizes Doctor Who.
*Warning: SPOILERS* First off, just something I noticed, the issue of the man with the warped face wasn't satisfactorily resolved. Or maybe it was and I just didn't notice it.
Speaking of faces, here's another bit I particularly liked, this one near the end (hence under the spoiler-cut) describing the appearance of some of the apparitions: "There was no hatred in them, but nor was there any compassion; they were dead faces, with no expression at all."
The writing for this one seemed a bit better than novelizations in general. It's rare that I notice a DW novel solely for the pretty, quoteable writing, so I'll keep a lookout for more of Pringle's books. Of course, the story seemed strong too. The usual "creepiness-in-small-English-village" that is a bit of a staple of the Whoniverse, but the tie-ins with Tegan's grandfather, the viewpoint of Jane Hampden, and later Will Chandler's take on the 1900s gave it enough twist and personal interest to hold me. Plus, I'll admit I'm a sucker for the displaced-from-another-time stories, making me a ready-made Doctor Who fan.
The creature didn't particularly stand out in this one, but the effects it had certainly did. Despite the ensemble cast, I had a fairly good idea of who was where when throughout, and my interest was held enough to finish it without stopping. I'm curious as to whether the actual show was very good. This novelization certainly made the story sound interesting, but I've heard that many people find Tegan and Turlough some of the most annoying companions.
This whole thing was pretty good. I can't decide if it's really one of my overall favorites, but I definitely enjoyed it. Perhaps my low expectations are giving me an overly high opinion of it now, but only time will tell.
BBC Episode Guide: Details -- Some Spoilers
ETA: I just noticed from the episode guide that the last Classic Who book I reviewed, Warriors of the Deep, comes directly before this one. I also have the novelization of Frontios, which follows, so perhaps I'll read that as my next Five book instead of Planet of Fire.