Independence Day by: Peter Darvill-Evans

 

Peter Darvill-Evans is a writer who should understand what makes Doctor Who work.  He edited most of the Virgin New Adventures and Virgin Missing Adventures, contributed Deceit as a test to see if he could constrain himself to the requirements.  Yet, he didn’t write for Virgin after Deceit, but BBC Books would contract him for a Seventh Doctor Past Doctor Adventure, bringing him back to Doctor Who with some fanfare.  Independence Day is a novel with a plot that should work on every level, Darvill-Evans plays around with a mix of science fiction and historical fiction with a binary planet system where a space station hangs while the society below doesn’t have the technology to make a space station.  Invaders arrive, capture and drug the locals, ready to bring them into slavery.  This should be the perfect setup for a story, and from one of the minds involved in bringing the Virgin New Adventures together means the Seventh Doctor and Ace should be great, but Independence Day falls flat at almost every turn in the tale.  The odd trend of including the Second Doctor and Jamie McCrimmon in books for small cameos in prologues with a prologue which really isn’t necessary for the setup, if this were a television story it might be mentioned in passing near the beginning.  Sure Darvill-Evans has a handle on their characterization, but once we move into the Seventh Doctor and Ace, there’s less of a spark in the writing making the reader long for more of the prologue.

 

There isn’t any direction in how Darvill-Evans characterizes the Doctor and Ace here which is one of the problems with the book.  Now I wasn’t expecting anything to be referencing the Virgin New Adventures development or characterization, but the blurb on the back says this is a long time after Survival implying that a lot of time has passed while the Doctor is barely recognizable as the Seventh Doctor and Ace is barely recognizable as Ace.  The Seventh Doctor is the Doctor, the one helping out wherever he can which is great and the scenes where he takes control of the situation, analyzing what drugs are in the soup and rallying the people behind him are there, but you never get the sense that he is in control of the situation.  He doesn’t really have a plan, despite the implication that the situation which the prologue lays out as something the Doctor meant to come back to, but he doesn’t actually know anything that’s been going on throughout the book.  It comes across more as a generic Doctor, perhaps closer to the Fourth Doctor, but the expectation was that Darvill-Evans would write for the Seventh Doctor, so for the Seventh Doctor Independence Day becomes.

 

Ace is perhaps treated somehow worse.  Now for the first third of the novel she’s fine, portrayed as if we were still around Season 25 or 26, but fine.  There’s some great little moments where we get inside her head and see how she’s reacting to travels with the Doctor and how their relationship is changing, one of the few things that makes this feel like a Seventh Doctor book, but then she’s just kind of pushed aside and forgotten about.  Well not forgotten about, but hypnotized and brainwashed and possibly assaulted.  Darvill-Evans’s biggest issue in Deceit was perhaps the portrayal of sex and LGBT characters, something I didn’t mention in my original review due to ignorance and the folly of youth, and that hasn’t actually improved here.  Ace, spending much of the book in essentially a trance where the either becomes really docile or really aggressive depending on the scene ends up having sex with a character and the vibes of that scene are off.  It feels like it bleeds into some issues with consent and once again Darvill-Evans makes the reader in a very odd position as this is a very weird book to read.  His prose is also incredibly dense, making the 280 page novel feel all the longer.  This is not in a larger wordcount, but in a stylistic manner where there is the sense of little movement.  The chapters are also incredibly long when they really don’t need to be, contributing to the pacing issues.

 

Overall, Independence Day is a novel that should at least work as a decent Doctor Who story but it falls flat through some generally poor characterization and a plot which treads stories that we’ve seen before and done better elsewhere.  There’s also Darvill-Evans’ issues with Ace and her subplot which contributes to a book which already suffered from pacing issues.  4/10.

The Great Hunt by: Robert Jordan: Permanent Wounds (Chapters 47 to 50)

 

““It has to be there at the Last Battle,” Mat said, licking his lips.  “Nothing says it can’t be used before then.”  He pulled the Horn free of its lashings and looked at them anxiously.  “Nothing says it can’t.”…Mat’s hand shook as he raised the Horn of Valere to his lips.  It was a clear note, golden as the Horn was golden.  The trees around them seemed to resonate with it, and the ground under their feet, the sky overhead.  That one long sound encompassed everything.  Out of nowhere, a fog began to rise.” – The Great Hunt, p. 658-659.

 

Mat Cauthon has been one of the characters who hasn’t gotten his time to shine, being sidelined with the curse of the ruby dagger infecting him early enough in The Eye of the World that he hasn’t actually done much except represent the superstition of Rand being able to channel.  It’s always been Mat who is resistant to Rand throughout The Great Hunt (and the one who comes to the conclusion he could actually be the Dragon Reborn) and the one who outside of Rand is most suspicious of Aes Sedai.  He’s the one Perrin has to hide the Wolfbrother nature from, and the one who gives the most pushback anytime anything magical happens.  So him being the one to take the Horn of Valere and actually blow it is the first sign of any actual growth.  Now, there will be much more of that and more discussion of Mat when I get to The Dragon Reborn, but this is an immediate step in the right direction for Mat and his character.  This ties him to the Horn of Valere, meaning that he will have to be the one to blow it at the Last Battle.  He calls upon the heroes of ages past, mythic figures who actually existed and have been mentioned throughout the previous two novels.

 

The heroes actually have to rally behind the Dragon as the Dragon is tied to the Horn, as well as Mat being now bound to blowing it at the Last Battle: “I have fought by your side times beyond number, Lews Therin, and faced you as many more.  The Wheel spins us out for its purposes, not ours, to serve the Pattern.  I know you, if you do not know yourself.  We will drive these invaders out for you…Have you the banner?” – The Great Hunt, p. 661.  This is what gets Rand to take out the Dragon Banner and fly it for the first time in the series, making it clear that Rand is the Dragon Reborn, once again.  While Jordan’s prose makes it clear throughout The Great Hunt that Rand is the Dragon Reborn, as a character he has plausible deniability that it might be somebody else and the idea is that he could be used.  Perrin is the one to actually carry the Dragon Banner here, and once the battle is over is the only one left with Rand and Moiraine (who comes right after the battle is over).  He is the one who still shares the burden with Rand, not Mat.  Mat is in pain and off to be healed, but Perrin is the one actually wrapped in the Pattern.  He’s the one who the Whitecloaks fear (and are sending to word that he is the Darkfriend that put the Dark One’s face in the sky) and communicates with wolves.  There is a small fight with Ba’alzamon which leaves Rand injured.  He is healed but this happens when he awakens “He raised his hands to run them over his face, and stopped, staring at his palms in shcok.  There was a heron branded across his left palm, too, now, to match the one on his right, every line, clean and true.  Once the heron to mark his path; Twice the heron to name him true. “No!”” – The Great Hunt, p. 674.  This is the moment where Rand can no longer deny his fate.  Verin and Moiraine neither can heal the herons so it is something which further cements the fact that Rand is destined to do this.  ““You must choose, Rand,” Moiraine said. “The world will be broken whether you break it or not.  Tarmon Gai’don will come, and that alone will tear the world apart.  Will you still try to hide from what you are, and leave the world to the Last Battle undefended?  Choose.”  They were all watching him, all waiting.  Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.  He made his choice.” – The Great Hunt, p. 679.

 

Duplicity ends up being a theme of this ending.  Ba’alzamon who has been claiming to be the Dark One is revealed not to be the Dark One here, Moiraine convincing Rand that it won’t be that easy.  Ba’alzamon, while a sufficient threat, does not match the world ending threat of the Dark One who remains completely off-page at this point.  He’s really Ishamael, the Forsaken seen in the prologue of The Eye of the World so there is that deep connection to the Dragon.  There is also the matter of either Moiraine or Verin lying.  When she first appeared Verin claimed Moiraine sent her, but here Moiraine claims she did nothing, starting off the question of which Aes Sedai do we trust.  One of them is clearly of the Black Ajah due to the Oaths that Aes Sedai cannot lie except the evil ones and one of them is lying.  And finally there’s the question of who found and healed Rand, something neither Moiraine or Verin know.  In between the battle and Rand awakening, there is a chapter from Min’s perspective, where she and the others find the injured Rand and are confronted by a woman, ““Not Rand al’ Thor,” saida  musical voice from the door.  “Lews Therin Telamon.  The Dragon Reborn.”  Min stared.  She was the most beautiful woman Min had ever seen, with pale, smooth skin, and long, black hair, and eyes as dark as night.  Her dress was a white that would make snow seem dingy, belted in silver.  All her jewelry was silver.” – The Great Hunt, p. 670-671.  From this description it is clear she is Selene who has been following and tempting Rand throughout the novel, but here’s where we get the reveal where she states “I am called Lanfear, girl…Lews Therin was and is mine, girl.  Tend him well for me until I come for him” – The Great Hunt, p. 671.  This duplicity begins something very odd about Selene/Lanfear, and that’s her motives.  She is motivated by love for Lews Therin (and by extension Rand, whom she sees as Lews Therin), so much so that she has turned to the Dark One as a Forsaken.  As a character she is motivated by getting her man to love her which at least here is oddly regressive, though there is just as much manipulation and seeking of power implied here.  She’s essentially in the role of Lady Macbeth, though at least for now, without the breakdown of the later half of Macbeth.

 

But with those reveals, The Great Hunt comes to a close.  I called The Eye of the World as a book all about death and rebirth, while The Great Hunt follows  more standard hero’s journey segment, that of ignoring the call.  It’s all about Rand attempting to deny that he is the Dragon Reborn and only accepts it tentatively right at the end of the book.  It’s also about Nynaeve finding her own acceptance among the Aes Sedai, using the Tower as a means to an end to help protect Rand while Egwene has to accept that she is still a child.  Mat is confronted with a world that’s bigger than he is and Perrin accepts that he can actually use fantastic powers.  This is still setting the stage for the point where the acceptance of those roles are meant to be taken up.

The Great Hunt by: Robert Jordan: Betrayal and Redemption (Chapters 44 to 46)

 

“As far as I’m concerned, you are worse than a murderer, worse than a Darkfriend.  I can’t think of anything worse than you.  The fact that I have to wear this thing on my wrist, to be the same as you for even an hour, sickens me.  So if you think there is anything I’ll balk at oing to you, think again.  You don’t want to be seen? Good.  Neither do we.  No one really looks at a damane, though.  As long as you keep your head down the way a Leashed dOne is supposed to, no one will even notice you.  But you ha better do the best you can to make sure the rest of us aren’t noticed, either.  If we are, you surely will be seen, and if that is not enough to hold you, I promise you I’ll make you curse the first kiss your mother ever gave your father.” – The Great Hunt, p. 627.

 

That, ladies and gentlemen, is perhaps why Nynaeve al’Maera is one of the best characters in The Wheel of Time.  Her sense of justice and passion in stopping the Seanchan and rescuing Egwene is admirable and the sheer stubbornness and will to do what must be done.  Other fantasy stories may have had Rand sweep in to save Egwene, and indeed Rand’s party notices Egwene when they arrive, but it’s Nynaeve’s cunning plan which actually ends up working.  The important revelation here is also the duplicity on which the Seanchan Empire is built upon.  You see, other than the slavery the whole idea that the damane can only be those who can channel, putting the collar on Seta, a sul’dam is supposed to kill her.  It doesn’t, obviously, because like the damane, the sul’dam can channel.  It’s Egwene who comes to this conclusion, realizing that the damane are just those with the innate ability, but those that can be taught to channel, even just a very little bit, can be leashed and they are the sul’dam.  Egwene’s rage is also important as once she’s free, she channels the power in retribution, not having taken the Oaths binding an Aes Sedai (this would break the one about using the Power to harm others): “Before anyone else could move, Egwene snatched the pitcher from her wasahstand and smashed it into Renna’s midriff.  The pitcher shattered, and the sul’dam lost all her breath in a gurgling gasp and doubled over.  As she fell, Egwene leaped on her with a snarl, shoving her flat, grabbing for the collar she had worn where it still lay on the floor, snapping it around the other woman’s neck.” – The Great Hunt, p. 647.  Egwene leaves Renna collared as well as Seta, causing an opportunity for the Seanchan to realize just what their system of slavery can do, something future books will have to address.

 

Now while this rescue is happening there are two (technically three) plotlines going along.  The least important is Bayle Domon preparing to sail and waiting for Nynaeve, Elayne, and Min to bring Egwene to get away, but that doesn’t do much except show how honorable Domon is as a person.  When explosions rock the harbor Domon declares they will stay and wait.  The second plot is that of the Whitecloaks.  Now the Whitecloaks have been on the edge of The Great Hunt, but there’s something here where the events of The Eye of the World, mainly Perrin’s killing of Whitecloaks in his rage at the death of a wolf is revealed to be here.  Geofram Bornhold recognized Perrin and the city so the Whitecloaks have an idea that he is there.  The language here is important, it’s Perrin who is the Darkfriend.  They don’t actually know Rand exists or can channel.  This is a grudge which is becoming more than personal.  The Whitecloaks are preparing for battle.  Preparing for battle is essentially what happens here.

 

Rand, Mat, Perrin, and Hurin have their plot essentially looking and finding the Horn of Valere, but upon finding the Horn and the dagger, Ingtar says this ““The Horn of Valere.”  There was sheer aw in Ingtar’s voice.  He touched the Horn hesitantly, tracing a finger along the silver script inlaid around the bell and mouthing the translation, then pulled his hand back with a shiver of excitement.  “It is.  By the Light, it is!  I am saved!”” – The Great Hunt, p. 635.  Now this would be rather innocuous, but the idea of being saved reads incredibly odd, because while the Horn is necessary for the Last Battle, it’s never implied Ingtar’s life was tied to finding it.  This is the exclamation of a man who was in grave danger.  That grave danger is revealed when the party is overrun right at the end, kicking off the climax of The Great Hunt, as Ingtar is a Darkfriend and he sacrifices himself so the others.  He wanted the Horn as a return to the Light, and this is treated as a redemption, a noble sacrifice.  His reasons for joining the Shadow and becoming a Darkfriend are explained thusly “Humankind is being swept away everywhere.  Nations fail and vanish…We fight to hold the Borderlands, to keep them safe in their houses, and every year, despite all we do, the Blight advances…Why should we be destroyed for them, when we could make our own peace?  Better the Shadow, I thought, then useless oblivion.” – The Great Hunt, p. 653-654.  Ingtar is a man who fell to the despair of seeing the world crumbling around him, and the earlier flicker sequence at the Portal Stones is what brought him back to reality.  The sacrifice is noble, but it is interesting to note that while treated like a redemption, it isn’t necessarily the best one.  The reader hasn’t had time in Ingtar’s head, nor much time with Ingtar, but this death is important.  It marks that Rand can be betrayed by someone he grows to trust.  In The Eye of the World, when the Darkfriends were introduced as just around any corner, Jordan intended that to be any and every corner.  They are everywhere and while one ends in noble sacrifice, they all won’t.  The possibility of redemption, however, is a major theme in The Wheel of Time and Ingtar is the first one to attempt a redemption, through his own blood and sacrifice.

The Stockbridge Horror written and drawn by: Steve Parkhouse with additional art by: Mick Austin, Paul Neary, and Steve Craddock

 

The Stockbridge Horror is written and drawn by Steve Parkhouse with additional pencils, inks and lettering by Mick Austin, additional inks by Paul Neary and additional lettering by Steve Craddock.  It was released in Doctor Who Monthly issues 70-75 (October 1982 - March 1983) and is reprinted in its original form in Doctor Who: The Tides of Time by Panini Books.

 

Dave Gibbons’ impression on the Doctor Who Monthly comic is something that is immediately felt when looking at the story immediately after he left.  The Stockbridge Horror has Steve Parkhouse doing most of the artwork while the lettering is done by Mick Austin and Steve Craddock.  It feels very much like a transitory art style, with the lettering style changing from issue to issue, making a less consistent look for the story in terms of some of the art.  Parkhouse’s style also feels more shaded with an almost scratchy style in places which is distinct from Gibbons but somehow almost looks sloppy in places for my eye.  Though this is something after an issue or two becomes less of an issue as it becomes more consistent with itself.  Really, it’s just some of the lettering that feels off by the end due to the spacing of the text being inconsistent between issues.  This makes some of the flow of the comic feel off and is clearly a sign of some issues with transitioning into a new artist, Mick Austin who would work on the comic until November 1983 starting with the inks here before taking over as artist in the next story, Lunar Lagoon.

 

The actual plot of The Stockbridge Horror makes the title feel like a misnomer as only the first two issues take place in Stockbridge and the horror is something implied to be from the beginning of the universe.  This does continue Parkhouse’s trend of expanding the scope of the comic stories which has been a lot of fun, while the actual title doesn’t give too much away.  The story opens with the striking image of the TARDIS’ impression being discovered buried under a quarry for millions of years and the burned body of a man, implied to be the Doctor, is found near Wells’ Wood.  This setup is incredibly intriguing, but is where this story’s largest flaw comes in, inconsistency.  The plotline is soon dropped once the Doctor gets involved in the plot as he is staying in Stockbridge without an explanation as to why the TARDIS is stuck, implied in the end to having the timelines rewritten.  The Doctor ends up being on his own for most of the story, being brought in front of Time Lords due to the horror being his fault and widespread destruction of Wells’ Wood.  The imagery is stunning overall, but there isn’t quite a lot with everything going on to make the story as fleshed out as it could have been.  Shayde comes to save the Doctor again and his appearance during the middle installments of the story is fun and makes the horror itself feel bigger than humanity without actually involving any human beings, but he then goes.  It kind of feels like the Doctor is being sidelined in his own comic strip as he is pulled around by the Time Lords, though he does have a hand in wrapping everything up.

 

Overall, The Stockbridge Horror may be a comic strip with some issues but it continues to be leagues above much of the Fourth Doctor’s comic run.  The Fifth Doctor is characterized well and Parkhouse continues the theme of continuing a narrative between stories making this run its own long-running story which is now stretching over a year.  It makes things feel more in line with the television series, and in some aspects more interesting, despite this being a misnomer of a story.  7/10.

The Great Hunt by: Robert Jordan: Trauma and Egwene al'Vere Part 2 (Chapters 41 to 43)

 

“If she could have probed with the One Power, she would have, but Renna would have known that immediately.  As the bracelet closed around Renna’s wrist a look came onto the sul’dam’s face that made Egwene’s heart sink.  “You have been channeling.” Renna’s voice was deceptively mild; there was a spark of anger in her eyes.  “You know that is forbidden except when we are complete.”  Egwene wet her lips.  “Perhaps I have been too lenient with you.  Perhaps you believe that because you are valuable now, you will be allowed license.  I think I made a mistake in letting you keep your own name.  I had a kitten called Tuli when I was a child.  From now on, your name is Tuli.  You will go now, Min.  Your visiting day with Tuli is ended.”” – The Great Hunt, p. 600-601.

 

And with that Egwene al’Vere has lost her name.  She has been stripped of what has made her, her, and has now become simply an object for Renna to control.  Now much of this section is Nynaeve, Elayne, and Min hiring Bayle Domon to try and save Egwene, and that entire chapter is important in seeing the trauma and punishment from the outside, being from Min’s point of view.  Min hears the terrifying screams and has to dig her nails into her palms to stop her from turning around, already showing there’s that bond between these women.  Egwene is already trying to find her own resistance, but the renaming, and being renamed after a cat, puts her right in what Renna sees as her place.  Egwene’s trauma is something which she still has to escape from, as we are getting right close to the climax of The Great Hunt and her capture and escape is quickly becoming the thrust.  She has slowly been losing herself and the idea that she is a pet is one where she will be further brutalized.  She is losing a lot of what has made her, her.  The idea that there has been leniency with Egwene is also interesting, as she has been given basically only a taste of being free, something that is stripped away at the first opportunity.  There isn’t something from Renna’s perspective, but this is all a calculated move.  This is planned to make Egwene lose whatever she has.  There are points where Egwene is losing who she could be.

 

While Rand and company don’t actually know Egwene is in danger, their rush towards Tomon Head is used to increase the danger.  They are travelling through the storm and while Rand is being tempted to use saidin again while Verin knows the danger of the Seanchan.  Rand is troubled by visions where Ba’alzamon, yes he’s been popping up in this book again as he isn’t dead, and he has been trying to burn Rand.  This actually is what gets Rand to channel saidin once more in this section, and while it doesn’t get followed up upon, there is the implication that the Seanchan will know.  Nynaeve is also the one who is able to get things together to go and save Egwene, while that doesn’t actually happen, it’s important to know that she understands just the danger is there and the means are being made.  This is the rush to Tomon Head while Egwene endures what can essentially break her.  The end is imminent.

The Turing Test by: Paul Leonard

 

The Eighth Doctor on Earth arc has been continually proving that it was just the shake up the Eighth Doctor Adventures.  Paul Leonard provides the best installment thus far with The Turing Test, setting the Doctor right near the end of World War II, Alan Turing having cracked the German codes and Bletchley getting ready for the end of the war when other code signals its way through.  The Doctor comes to investigate and get to the bottom of aliens infiltrating a situation already thick with espionage.  This description may be a standard Doctor Who story, but Paul Leonard’s book is told from a first person perspective, formatted as three different documents, put together potentially by the Doctor to explain just what he was doing in World War II.  The first half of the book is from Turing’s perspective and it is some of the most emotional writing in the range.  Leonard does not shy away from showing Turing’s homosexuality and the problems that caused for the man.  While it isn’t outright said he is in love with the Doctor, the lyrical prose is only something one would use with a romantic partner and the Doctor clearly is returning those affections, even if he doesn’t quite know who he is at the moment.  The Doctor is convinced Turing might be able to fix the TARDIS, which is still just an empty police box standing in the corner of an inn.  People immediately flag the Doctor as an outsider and a danger, possibly a homosexual, as a time where that is illegal, Turing eventually being chemically castrated for his homosexuality and committing suicide with a poisoned apple.  Getting inside Turing’s head is absolutely fascinating, as we see a man being incredibly careful in some things to ensure, but that burden is something that leaks right out.

 

The other two sections of the book are from the perspectives of Graham Greene and Joseph Heller (author of Catch-22).  Greene in particular has scathing derision towards Turing and what he believes to be complete degeneracy, and deserving, which makes such a tonal shift that the reader is just shocked.  You’ve already fallen in love at this point with Turing and being told from after his suicide at this point, as well as with the section from Heller’s point of view which tries to find meaning in Turing’s suicide.  There’s discussion of the symbolism present in Turing’s suicide, the apple implying a knowledge of Christianity’s idea of the fall of man which leaves the reader speechless.  This also allows us to go away from the European front of the war, meaning that there is an explanation to what the aliens are without Turing there, as the Doctor essentially has to abandon him to history because he still knows who he is and what happens and happens.  The aliens here also aren’t evil per say, but they are infiltrators which is almost worst and there is this angelic imagery, all tying back to Turing’s sexuality which makes for a fitting end.  This is one of the very few Leonard books which does not fall flat at the ending, but focuses in right on the characters.

 

Overall, The Turing Test is a book which needs to be experienced for its beautiful characterization of the Doctor and Alan Turing.  There is a relationship that needs to be read to be understood.  There isn’t a sugar coating and the Doctor falls in love and has to let history play its course, while still trying to understand just what it means to be the Doctor.  There’s a brief return to the manipulations but only because it’s a necessary diversion.  It’s a contender for the best of the EDAs.  10/10.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by: Gregory Maguire

 

Most people who experience Wicked are most familiar with the hit Broadway musical, indeed it was my first exposure to the material and the theater as a whole.  There is this inherent assumption that the musical is at least semi-faithful to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, but outside of the subject matter and most of the characters, it’s quite a different beast entirely.  This is mainly down to the perspective of the two works, the musical following Glinda after the death of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, while the novel is all on the other side, following Elphaba and essentially her family before her birth.  The first fifth of the novel chronicles Elphaba’s conception and birth, as well as her early childhood where the reader can get an insight into what her family was like.  The book, through rambling sections and diversions becomes a treatise on morality and what being wicked actually means, but while the musical gives a more definitive answer Maguire makes the critical decision to leave it ambiguous to if Elphaba was good in the end.  There’s also ambiguity if she survived her accidental melting, ending with lines which have appeared previously asking: “And there the wicked old witch stayed for a good long time.  And did she ever come out? Not yet.”.  This little call and response implies that Elphaba might be alive in the end, but still broken as the final section of the book is one which sees her distraught and broken about losing everyone she ever loved.  The final section faces her a situation which is what it seems on face value, not some grand conspiracy of genocide or murders, but a little girl accidentally killed her sister and wishes to make amends, and that is her downfall.

 

Maguire’s text is perhaps just as witty as the musical’s script, delving into philosophy, psychology, and politics, examining the nature of wickedness at the core and shifting the perspective off what the reader may expect.  The source is not the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, only definitively taking Elphaba’s green skin from that film, but L. Frank Baum’s original novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz which is already a darker children’s novel and some of the sequels which get even darker.  This makes the adult leap to Wicked, which includes sex, several affairs, sexual assault, and an implied polyamorous relationship, all not intended to be read by children which is perhaps why people struggle with this novel.  Underneath it all the wit is there, the most interesting things coming where the musical neglected to go, such as Madame Morrible’s continual stalking of Elphaba, Elphaba’s estranged son, the fact that Elphaba and her sister were both from different fathers and not her father, and the musings on the nature of religion.  Elphaba’s father instead of being governor of Munchkinland as in the musical, is a religious official and throughout Elphaba’s disbelief in the soul becomes a driving factor, turning her to righteous causes against the bigotry and frankly outdated ways of Oz.  Doctor Dillamond, in the musical made mute and the representation of Elphaba’s anger, serves the same purpose in the novel but is murdered halfway through and that is what sets Elphaba, as well as Galinda off.  Galinda changes her name not in a spur of the moment decision, but a genuine act of reverence to a Goat she cared for.  Glinda is still flighty and never goes against being a socialite, but there is a depth to her (again the musical is from her perspective), and there isn’t that final meeting between the two.

 

There is something so different about the book is that the rest of the characters are intentionally awful, Nessarose being the spoiled child that she is and ruling with an iron fist, loving the idea that she is the Wicked Witch of the East, a third sibling who follows the religious nature of the parents.  Fiyero being an actual prince and less flighty (there’s another male character who ends up being not important) and his affair and son by Elphaba, Liir, is perhaps some of the most emotional points of the novel.  Overall, Wicked is one of those books that perhaps meanders and isn’t for everybody, but it is something of an experience.  It needs to be read as a biography with not a definitive end with resolution because like many lives, it’s one left unfinished.  8/10.

Colony in Space by: Malcolm Hulke and directed by: Michael Briant

 

Colony in Space stars Jon Pertwee as the Doctor, Katy Manning as Jo Grant, and Roger Delgado as the Master.  It was written by: Malcolm Hulke and directed by: Michael Briant with Terrance Dicks as Script Editor and Barry Letts as Producer.  It was originally broadcast on Saturdays from 10 April to 15 May 1971 on BBC1.

 

Every classic Doctor Who fan has heard the quote usually attributed to writer Malcolm Hulke, about moving to an Earthbound format leaves only alien invasion and mas scientist stories.  Barry Letts agreed with Hulke, and with Season 8 was determined to have at least one story be set in outer space, and given to Hulke to write.  By the end of June 1970, Hulke was commissioned for “Colony” which would be inspired by the Wild West, but instead in space, taking the Doctor and Jo away from the Earth while leaving the Brigadier and UNIT behind on Earth.  Very little of Hulke’s original brief would actually be changed in the scriptwriting process, except the title being amended to Colony in Space.  Interestingly it would be novelized under Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon, a much more interesting title that was never perceived of.  Like any script by Malcolm Hulke, Colony in Space is incredibly politically charged with three major factions all vying for power on this planet, Uxareius, where there is a seemingly primitive race of telepathic aliens guarding a doomsday weapon which the Master eventually wishes to take control of.  A group of colonists from Earth are attempting to start a new, communal life, away from the hyper capitalist and corporatist throws of companies like IMC, using some of the primitives to help establish themselves, but never as outright slaves (though the subtext is kind of there).  By the time the Doctor and Jo are sent there, with the Time Lords taking control of the TARDIS, the Interplanetary Mining Corporation has already bought the mineral rights to the planet and are terrorizing the colonists.

 

Readers will notice that this story is incredibly politically charged, and the colonialism and capitalism critiques shine through, with the capitalism critique in particular shining through.  The colonialism critique suffers quite a bit with the primitives being presented as mute and only their leader being able to speak.  They are here to fulfill the role of the Doctor Who monster and unlike the Silurians their society is much more one note which is a shame as Hulke is known for doing much better with those sorts of things.  Slavery of the primitives isn’t outright stated, but the colonists do use them to help with menial tasks and farming, though it isn’t presented as outright subjugating them and is implied the primitives working with the colonists might want to be helping them out.  It’s also surprising as this is a six episode story, something which should have had enough time to have the primitives rise up, but as the story progresses they are used simply to be an alien threat to the Master, guarding the doomsday weapon, and being an outright villain.  It isn’t quite the good look.  The more interesting villain, of course, isn’t the primitive leader or even the Master, but Morris Perry’s Captain Dent.  Dent is the perfect example of an evil and cruel capitalist, he is ruthless and driven only by profit and Perry plays it deliciously evil.  Interestingly, the character was originally to be played by Susan Jameson, until the higher ups at the BBC told director Michael Briant and producer Barry Letts that that would be inappropriate to show a woman as such a ruthless villain.

 

The pace of Colony in Space is perhaps what works the most against it, being far too long with the ideas not lending themselves to six episodes.  If this were a four episode serial it would be nearly perfect and a classic, but as it stands despite some brilliant performances and a very nice directorial debut from Michael Briant, it cannot meet those heights.  The Master appearing as an Adjudicator is an interesting idea, something Hulke will return to later and do better in Frontier in Space, and this sets up quite a bit about Hulke’s vision of the future which will be the future that the Pertwee era almost always goes to.  While the three previous serials of Season 8 have been good enough for Jo Grant, it’s actually Colony in Space where she is a highlight.  As this is the first time she travels in the TARDIS, Episode One’s first twelve minutes are dedicated to exploring how Jo feels about space and time travel, which she doesn’t immediately like.  Katy Manning puts such emotion into the role and all the subtleties of the performance are there.  Manning and Pertwee play off each other wonderfully, the Doctor being played as excited to finally getting off the Earth, though annoyed once again that he is forced back to Earth by the end while Jo is just happy to be getting out alive (especially after being nearly killed by the Master in the Master’s TARDIS).

 

Overall, while the fan consensus on Colony in Space places it amongst the weaker Jon Pertwee serials is most definitely undeserved for the script that Hulke provides with plenty of intrigue, it is still a story with quite a few problems that present themselves.  The performances are a highlight though the best way to get through it would be an episode or two a night instead of marathoning it all at once, but it’s at the very least a good story.  6/10.

The Great Hunt by: Robert Jordan: Trauma and Egwene al'Vere, Part 1 (Chapters 38 to 40)

 

“Cloak flapping like a sail, Egwene braced against the wind and tugged at what felt like a collar of smooth metal.  It would not budge; under her frantic fingers, it felt all of one piece, though she knew it had to have some kind of clasp.  The silvery coils the woman had carried now trailed over Egwene’s shoulder, their other end joining a bright bracelet on the woman’s left wrist.  Balling her fist tightly, Egwene staggered and fell to her knees herself, head ringing.  It felt as if a large man had struck her in the face.” – The Great Hunt, p. 565.

 

This and the subsequent essay are going to be a deep dive into Robert Jordan’s portrayal of trauma inflicted on one Egwene al’Vere, a topic which will find itself returned to in subsequent books and essays.  This essay (and the subsequent essay, labeled Part 2) will be discussing slavery, torture, and the resulting loss of free will associated with that.  The above quote is the main event, Egwene al’Vere being leashed with an a’dam and essentially sold into slavery by Liandrin, who lied to Egwene and Nynaeve to get them out of the White Tower so they believed that Rand was in trouble.  Min and Elayne find themselves coming along, Nynaeve and Elayne escaping (and immediately beginning to plan Egwene’s rescue), but the real power is the exploration of the sul’dam/damane relationship.

 

Egwene begins the section in the White Tower, practicing the One Power silently while Min is watching.  This is a small look into normal life at the White Tower, it being about three months since they arrived in the White Tower, which actually does bring some of the timeline into focus with the four month gap between Cairhien and Rand arriving in Toman Head by Portal Stone, so when Liandrin tells Egwene and Nynaeve to meet them because Rand is in danger the reader doesn’t question it.  Min also is partly responsible, due to her viewing that Rand is in danger.  There is some interesting dialogue between Nynaeve and Egwene about the danger of Min or Elayne discovering Rand can channel through carefully chosen words, though it’s heavily implied that Min already knows due to her viewings and Elayne is too naïve to work it out.  What you have here forming is what will be this great relationship between the four women as the eventual rescuing of Egwene and into further books.  Liandrin takes the girls through the Ways where her first moments of being of evil here.  When discussing Elayne and Min tagging along she says this “I had made arrangements for you to be taken care of, but as you are here, you are here.  Four can make this journey as well as two.” – The Great Hunt, p. 554.  Later, when Liandrin takes them through the Ways to Toman Head, she implies she has control over the Black Wind, “If the Black Wind appears, I will deal with it…Moiraine does not know so much as she thinks.” – The Great Hunt, p. 560.

 

Egwene, as soon as she is leashed, is given both an explanation for why the leashes came about and begins her dehumanization into the role of slave.  The reason for the a’dam are essentially fear of those who could channel, with the Breaking of the World creating a fear of both women and men who could channel, the first woman to make an a’dam leashed herself and begun the Seanchan culture of slavery “Deanin made more a’dam, the first sul’dam were found, and women captured who called themselves Aes Sedai discovered that they were in fact only marath’damane, Those Who Must Be Leashed.  It is said when she herself as leached, Deanin’s screams shook the Towers of Midnight, but of course she, too, was a marath’damane, and marath’damane cannot be allowed to run free.  Perhaps you will be one of those who ha sthe ability to make a’dam.  If so, you will be pampered, you may rest assured.” – The Great Hunt, p. 573.  Jordan here is commenting on quite a bit of slavery, including the myth that a pampered slave isn’t really a slave at all, Jordan being a historian on the Civil War as well as an author (his earlier works were historical fiction about the Civil War).  The idea of Egwene being a pampered slave is still putting her into the position of slave, and the idea of being pampered is just to get her to obey her master.  The men who are leashed who can channel die screaming, while Renna, the sul’dam in charge of Egwene here, is exceptionally cruel.

 

Egwene, perhaps for the first time, shows her own perseverance through the trauma of being leashed as a slave, attempting to lash out at any opportunity.  “Egwene was shocked to discover an urge to do as Renna commanded.  She had not channeled, or even touched saidar in two days’ the desire to fill herself with the One Power made her shiver. “I” – in half a heartbeat she discarded “will not”’ the weals were not there still burning too sharply for her to be quite that foolish – “cannot,” she finished instead. “It is too far, and I’ve never doen anything like that before.”…Suddenly the invisible switches were bak, striking at her everywhere.  Yelling she tried to hit Renna, but the sul’dam casually knocked her fist away, and Egwene felt as if Renna had hit her arm with a stick.” – The Great Hunt, p. 574.  There is the resistance but she is beaten, something put even into stark contrast with how dark the Seanchan are, Egwene being leashed as the cover of the Part 2 young adult reprint for The Great Hunt, making for something so dark almost presentable which is a shame.  This is a sequence which is dark and only the beginning of Egwene’s trauma, even if she is still fighting (she does save Min who cannot channel, so she was meant to be killed as an extra), and a rescue party is on the way.