The Doctor and Grant
Markham have come to Agora on a trip, but as it is close to the Cybermen’s
arrival the Doctor has been locked up while Grant is working for the
resistance. The opening scenes of the
novel in the cell are riveting as Lyons builds tension by having that glimmer
of hope that the Doctor can defeat the Cybermen before anyone dies. This of course isn’t the day for people to
survive these sorts of events as really let’s be honest the novel would be
rather boring. This comes down to the
cowardly Ben Taggart getting the Doctor out of the shackles, but the Cybermen
have already arrived and are missing one prisoner for conversion so of course
violence is breaking out all over the planet.
The resistance however has a plan for destroying the Cybermen as this is
their second attempt. Taggart was the
one who failed their first attempt, but the resistance was able to get some
Cybermen technology and have been developing Bronze Knights. The Bronze Knights are people who willingly
give themselves up to be coated in a bronze armor, have some of their emotions
removed and become soldiers for the resistance.
The Bronze Knight situation is basically an alternate take on the
creation of the Cybermen and the end of the novel reflects this with
uncertainty as how the Bronze Knights will proceed now that they exist. Lyons does an excellent job of introducing
them and makes it genius how they are connected to the Cybermen, but deny any similarities. They are just as violent, wanting to kill
anyone who may be hindering the cause of defeating the Cybermen which is a
really good idea to have developed for the story.
Grant Markham gets to
have development in this novel as other than simply being at the end of a book
for surprise companion reveal. He is all
for these Bronze Knights and even wants to become one as a way to help out and
differentiate himself from his deadbeat of a father. His father is a coward and Grant is terrified
that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Of course his actions in helping the Doctor prove that completely he
isn’t a coward and is fit to become the Doctor’s companion. The shame is that Killing Ground is the only other story for the character, so here’s
hoping that Big Finish will adapt the two Markham stories for audio and adapt
his exiting short story to give us some more of the character. The Sixth Doctor is also brilliantly portrayed
as we complete the story arc that Time of
Your Life started. In Time of Your Life, the Doctor was
actively attempting to avoid his fate at the hands of the Valeyard. In Killing
Ground however he has come to terms with it and is going to enjoy every
minute of his life that he has left.
He’s even ready to save the planet from the Cybermen even if it means radiation
using up the rest of his lives which is something that would happen. The Cybermen themselves are portrayed very
violently with scenes of gore which will make anyone squirm. There’s a subplot involving time travelers
that allows us to see a complete conversion in total detail. It’s a sequence filled with terror and body
horror as you see a human mind leave and the Cyber mind slowly take over. Lyons’s genius is that he doesn’t stop with
the conversion, but continues on for a few pages with following the newly
created Cyberman in one of the best scenes in any Doctor Who story.
To summarize, Killing Ground is a tour de force coming
two Missing Adventures after the excellent The
English Way of Death. It’s a story
that really shows how the Cybermen can be portrayed in a positive light with
some compelling prose with body horror and gore in an excellent way. Lyons is an excellent writer, keeping the
Doctor away from his companion allowing Grant to develop as a character and
keeping the pacing of the story rather quick.
It is in every sense of the word a perfect book and I recommend it to
anyone. 100/100
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