Then I got angrier after
I read Death and Diplomacy as while
it is nowhere near perfect. I mean the
supporting characters are rather boring as the plot is really meant to be
character drama for Benny, and the three plots aren’t well integrated with each
other, but Stone actually pulls of creating compelling character drama and a
good lead in to the fiftieth Virgin New Adventure. The plot involves the TARDIS splitting the
crew up into three groups while in a different galaxy some wars are being
fought as part of a mysterious figure’s master plan, Benny meets and develops
lustful feelings for space pirate Jason Kane and Chris and Roz get up to
something that might be important to the plot.
Yeah when I said that this story was a character study, I wasn’t kidding
as a lot of the plot is just about the characters. The opening scenes of three warring factions
meeting in a ballroom is great and so are the scenes with the extradimensional
beings are good enough for a lot of the novel, the plot with the Doctor is
really boring until he is reunited with Benny.
It is good however so we see a master plan that of course isn’t the
Doctor. We know this because Chris and
Roz note that nothing has gone wrong with the plan. It’s a lovely analysis of the character which
really works for the novel. Speaking of
Chris and Roz their plot doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it does make a lot of
fun to read as Stone has this fascination with how humanity has evolved by the
thirtieth century. Roz of course has a
lot of things going for her in the novel.
Benny and Jason are
really the two characters who shine in this novel as the story is about how
they have fallen almost in love with each other. Jason was abducted by aliens and for fifteen
years has been acting as a space pirate trying to survive. Imagine his shock when he sees Benny, a human
whom he latches on to immediately. Of
course he tries to pull it off that he isn’t in love with her, but she
misinterprets a lot of what has been going on in Jason’s mind and actions as
love. The epilogue actually sees them
engaged and Happy Endings will
concern their wedding. They’re an
interesting match as Benny of course acts very much like Benny always acts and
Jason is a pervert pure and simple. The villains are actually evil hamsters so
that adds to a lot of the humor in this book.
To summarize, Death and Diplomacy is an oddity as
second time is the charm for Dave Stone after a failure writing Sky Pirates! The book has a lot going for it as the plot
is extremely weak even if the twist that the villains are evil hamsters and it’s
of course nice to see the Doctor not part of a master plan for once, but the
book is really nothing to write home about.
It serves its purpose and nothing more.
70/100
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