Christopher Bulis has one major flaw in his writing
style. He often sets up a story that on
paper sounds amazing, take the premise of Imperial Moon, Victorian space
age hidden from history due to the Doctor’s interference as well as a time
travel plot involving Turlough changing the future, and then doing absolutely nothing
with said premise of consequence. This
is no more apparent than in the failings of Imperial Moon, a book which
is bookended by some great scenes and interesting dilemmas, but the middle is some
of Bulis’ weakest prose. Bulis teases
the idea that Turlough is going to change history and cause a cataclysm of
events, but this is something that never happens. The book opens well enough with the Doctor
and Turlough finding a diary in the TARDIS, sent back in time by the Doctor’s
future self, creating a paradox in the process (they don’t actually find the diary
here as is implied), while the Doctor tells Turlough not to read ahead once
they appear in the events of the diary.
This of course is setting up Turlough to read the diary about one third
into the novel and by the end he ends up saving the day, which Bulis then
lampshades at the end congratulating Turlough for making a choice that somehow
didn’t create ripples. This becomes even
odder when the premise is that not only are there a group of Victorian spaceships
going to the moon, but also the moon is habitable while having its own
civilization of alien refugees who are under attack.
The civilization on the moon is a great plot on paper
with the idea calling on the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and the descriptions
of the spaceships come straight out of Jules Verne, all building up to a
conclusion that ends with the moon being destroyed, something that can be seen
right when the plot moves to the moon.
The alien invaders eventually are defeated, but then you realize there’s
still about 50 pages left in the book so there is going to be a third act
twist, which makes for some nice scenes involving Kamelion (who is in this book,
more on that in a moment), but it’s something which just goes on for far too
long without giving the reader anything.
The crew of the spaceships all come from stock Victorian characters:
there’s the fearless chauvinist captain, the brilliant but doddering old
professor, and the headstrong proto-feminist who ends up with the captain in the
end (after not really sharing much in common, it’s a very weird thing that
Bulis also lampshades), and our mutinous second in command who eventually goes
insane. These stock characters are fun
initially when seen through the eyes of the captain, whose diary is what is
read for several chapters and blithely commented on by the Doctor and Turlough,
and the aliens are equally stock until the twist is eventually revealed in the
end.
Somehow, Bulis manages to implement Kamelion into the
book excellently. As Kamelion is not a
character who has really any television premise, here Bulis uses him sparingly
at the beginning, in the middle, and right at the very end where he actually
contributes to the plot. Bulis understands
both the shape shifting abilities of Kamelion (which is how history is put back
on the right path without changing this timeline at all) as well as the uncanny
valley nature of the prop. There is this
scene at the beginning where Turlough is reflecting on what his travels have
been and why he keeps travelling with the Doctor, reacting to Tegan’s recent
exit in Resurrection of the Daleks and attempting to setup Turlough’s
exit in Planet of Fire (although there already has been a Fifth
Doctor/Turlough audio from Big Finish and more were known to be on the
way). Kamelion is written as a robot,
with no emotions nor a real understanding of the experience of emotions, though
understanding what they mean to people. Instead
of being a clone of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Kamelion is
there to offer emotional support without having the emotions itself, it gives Turlough
the opportunity to vent and show some of his own character.
Overall, Imperial Moon is a book which could
have been great, it has a brilliant premise, and stock characters which could
have been fun if Bulis did any deconstruction of those sorts of stories. As it stands there are some good things to
enjoy, but they are few and far between as Bulis’ incredibly dry prose doesn’t
make the book an easy or enjoyable read.
5/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment