Dave Stone is a writer who often has this air of being
ungodly clever with his books in an attempt to be funny and that’s kind of what
Heart of TARDIS entirely is. Prominently
displaying the Second and Fourth Doctors on the cover with some abstract
timeline and the TARDIS at the center, there really isn’t any cover which can
prepare a reader for the absolute trip one undergoes reading this book. Essentially Stone writes two novels which are
interconnected by the theme of time, Time Lord intervention, and an obsession
with the idea of continuity. The Second
Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria find themselves in a midwestern town in the USA
where they become suspects in a series of brutal murders while the Fourth Doctor
and Romana are taken away from their quest for the Key to Time by a Time Lord
agent of the High Council against an enemy threatening Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart,
UNIT, and the whole universe. Like every
other Stone novel which I have read, Heart of TARDIS is dense, boasting two
distinct plotlines that all nearly collide while the main enemy, Continuity and
the Jarakabeth, make their evil plans for the Doctor. Stone’s book is also fairly slow going in
terms of pace, it takes about 80 pages for the Fourth Doctor to actually get
involved in his plot while the Second Doctor had already been accused of the murders. The ending is also equally slow, ending
nearly 20 pages before the book actually concludes as Stone includes an appendix
essentially to attempt to squeeze as many jokes out of the premise.
As this is a book of two halves, that is how it should
be discussed, starting with the Second Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria’s half. This is the weak half of the book and is one
that is incredibly difficult to read, especially if like me your familiarity
with the pop culture phenomenon of The Simpsons is only through cultural
osmosis. Stone essentially sets half of
the book in Springfield from The Simpsons with several characters having
their serial numbers filed off in the style of E.L. James form the work of
Stephanie Meyer (which I have not read).
Bringing up an author like James is not a good sign for the book as Stone,
while cleverly building up ideas and commentary on those fans obsessed with
continuity, just gets lost in a plot for this Doctor which does not really
amount to anything outside of some explanations for what actually is going
on. The start of the plot, mainly the
scenes with the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria in the TARDIS, are actually really
good and the characters are well characterized, but as soon as they step out,
they somehow become generic.
This is infuriating as Stone opens the book thanking
those with whom he consulted to ensure the Second Doctor at least had a decent
characterization. Victoria is the one
who perhaps gets the best characterization, as Stone does nail the idea of her
being a little orphan girl alone in the universe, though this may be because
much of the book spends time in her headspace.
There are several attempts at fish out of water humor with Victoria throughout,
however, those actually come across more as creepy and Stone seems to revert
her back in places to the stereotypical screaming companion archetype which isn’t
actually accurate to her as a character.
There is at least one reference that actually works, and that’s doing a
chalkboard gag right in the epilogue with Jamie and his tendency to stab people
and monsters.
The Fourth Doctor and Romana’s plotline is actually
sublime. Stone clearly has a joy in
writing this particular TARDIS team, capturing the spirit of the Graham
Williams era while still stylistically having Stone’s style right at the forefront. The story, almost like The Banquo Legacy,
is told from an outsider’s perspective, Katherine Delbane, a woman living a normal
life, a boring life, and slowly being entangled with UNIT. The Brigadier and Sergeant Benton appear here
and their interactions with Delbane, the Doctor, and especially Romana, are absolutely
wonderful. Benton is clearly a character
whom Stone loves, as the lovable Sergeant is given quite a bit of backstory and
an interesting skillset as he’s the one at points to go and help save the day. The Brigadier and Benton reacting to Romana
is also an interesting reflection on the characterization of the ice queen as
Stone captures Tamm’s upper class airs and graces from The Ribos Operation,
although this is supposed to occur after The Stones of Blood. The actual villains are explained here as
well which feels purely like something out of Douglas Adams in City of Death. It’s also dripping with tension and the
standard Stone madness throughout the book making this half make up for the
lackluster other half it is sadly interspersed with.
Overall, Heart of TARDIS is one of those absolutely
dense Dave Stone books that is not going to be everybody’s cup of tea, but it
does somehow manage to have half of its page count be absolutely terrible while
the other is absolutely brilliant. The
brilliance and commentary on Doctor Who fans in particular here is also
enough to just allow the good to outweigh the bad, but other readers may end up
disagreeing depending on their tolerance for Stone and his style. As it stand’s it’s a decent read. 6/10.
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