While Lawrence Miles seemed to be the author to bring in
when the Eighth Doctor Adventures wanted to usher in an era of changes with Alien
Bodies and Interference being the big game changer novels, though
with his leaving of Doctor Who (for the first time), the task came to
Paul Cornell with The Shadows of Avalon.
The Shadows of Avalon boldy proclaims on its back cover that this
is the end of an era and the beginning of another, though unlike other ‘event’
books, this one waits until the very end to bring the changes right into the
resolution of the novel. That revelation
involving the ultimate destiny of Compassion, changing her from an agent of the
Remote into something far more powerful, yet surprisingly more human in the
end. While I will not spoil that
particular change for those who haven’t read the book, I will say that the
final scenes with her are absolutely brilliant.
In the background of the novel is a rather important subplot involving a
couple of Time Lord assassins sent to kill the Doctor and Compassion on the
orders of Time Lord President Romanavoratrelundar. Romana has regenerated and this third
incarnation is ready to fight the War in Heaven, becoming more of an ice queen
than Mary Tamm’s Romana ever was.
Attributing her bloodlust to becoming the President, this Romana feels like
a sane version of Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She only appears in the bookends of the
novel, but when she does appear she steals the scene. Making Romana a villain also goes a long way
to show how companions can change once they leave the Doctor.
Companions changing is a major theme in the novel as
Paul Cornell picks up with the Brigadier post rejuvenation in Happy Endings,
exploring just what it means to have an artificially extended life. Doris Lethbridge-Stewart is dead, and
Alistair cannot cope. He’s begun to see
visions of her whenever he is alone, and they are slowly finding their way into
every point of his life. In the hands of
a lesser author this would be the result of some alien interference, however,
Cornell plays it as simply a symptom of the character’s grief and aging
mind. The grief is used to make the
Brigadier throw himself back into working for UNIT as a nuclear bomb disappears
into the mists of Avalon, a realm ruled by the fae and the Queen Regent,
Mab. Cornell draws on Celtic mythology
for the main plot, wrapping science fiction concepts into the fantasy as the entire
realm is powered by the psychic energy of a sleeping king. The book undergoes several genre
transformations, all showing the Brigadier’s journey of grief. This book starts out as an Arthurian legend
(though one distinct from the Avalon mentioned in Battlefield and Happy
Endings) with political intrigue in the court of Mab as the Doctor and the Brigadier
become trapped in Avalon with a dead TARDIS, before turning into a war story as
UNIT intervenes to keep the peace, but of course this fails quite quickly, and
finally a political thriller as the Doctor has to escape the Time Lord
assassins. The Brigadier and the Doctor
have some of their best interactions, being most at odds with one another in
this book as the Brigadier makes several damaging, yet very human,
mistakes. They don’t even see each other
at the end of the book with the Brigadier staying behind in Avalon while the
Doctor just leaves him. This is a
conscious decision made to keep these characters apart.
The Doctor, Fitz, and Compassion here feel for the
first real time to be working as a team.
The Doctor, in stark contrast to his previous incarnation, has a plan to
stop something horrible happening to his friends and failing at almost every
moment. The time he spends at Court is
absolutely brilliant as he fits in with the fantasy setting and his flighty
nature makes everything worth it.
Cornell even slips in a Lungbarrow reference with the looms being
name checked as a definite origin as well as being womb born. Fitz is also excellent here as the human who
nobody seems to care about. The Shadows
of Avalon deals with big players as the War in Heaven looms and Faction
Paradox is implied to be in the background while Fitz is really just trying to
survive in a world that is much bigger than himself. He feels like Fitz again and maybe, just
maybe he’ll find his way back.
Compassion is really the standout here as she finally breaks down. Gone is the ice queen and in her place is
someone who is witty and sarcastic and friendly. Compassion has to give in to what has been
happening in her head, something that takes her beyond her origins into something
that cannot be changed back. This
becomes the book where she is the one involved.
Overall, The Shadows of Avalon is a Paul
Cornell book, meaning that it packs an emotional punch and elevates the
characters into a story. It takes a
lesser loved VNA’s premise (in this case Cat’s Cradle: Witch Mark) and
makes it work with the Eighth Doctor, developing the companions and setting
things up to the future while still telling a complete story. An emotional roller coaster from start to
finish it hits all the right boxes. 10/10.
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