Saturday, January 2, 2021

The Shadows of Avalon by: Paul Cornell

 

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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