The plot is a story of
two warring factions on two planets where a doomsday weapon is being
built. Yes this is the titular device of
death and I’m going to come out and say it, this story is almost a total rip
off from Genesis of the Daleks, with
the device meaning the total ending of two races. It’s really a plotline that I cannot stand
being ripped off as it doesn’t really add much to the already existing story except
what may be considered a happier ending with the prospect that the Daleks will
have an enemy that will wipe them off the face of the universe. The prologue and epilogue are the most
interesting sections of the novel. They
both feature the Time Lords reflecting on events and how the Doctor is handling
his tasks of interference and are breezes to read through. Bulis is masterful at writing the prose for
these sections, it’s just a complete shame that the middle of the novel in
between these five pages, is utter crap.
Bulis doesn’t tell an interesting story with the time he’s got and is
reliant on quite a bit of subtle fan service as a way to get the plot across to
the audience.
Bulis suffers the most
when writing the main cast as he splits them up for a large portion of the
novel, and when they are together in the same scene, the relationship feels far
off from the relationships that we saw on television between these
characters. Harry Sullivan doesn’t
suffer at all as a character as Bulis just quotes lines from Robot and The Ark in Space for half the time while the other half is relying
on the fact that he is a doctor in the military and will do anything to save a
life. It’s honestly a good portrayal,
but Justin Richards actually did it much better when writing System Shock. Sarah Jane Smith, a character who was
extremely developed in her television stories even in these early days of her
travels, here is portrayed as a one dimensional stock character which I just
cannot get past. Elisabeth Sladen always
portrayed the character perfectly on television would be ashamed to see the
character changed like this in prose.
The Doctor doesn’t fare much better as he loses his memory as if he was
the Eighth Doctor and doesn’t do a whole lot when it comes to advancing the
plot for this story. Now there are a few
moments when Tom Baker’s style seeps through, but it isn’t enough to save the
character.
To summarize, A Device of Death wants us to all die of
boredom while it goes on for two hundred fifty pages about robots and doomsday
weapons. It is by far the absolute worst
of the Virgin Missing Adventures at 5/100.
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