Customer Reviews

The City of the Dead (Doctor Who)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

'The magician had a problem. There was a fish-hook in his heart.' The opening words from the latest Eighth Doctor Adventure, The City Of The Dead by debuting author Lloyd Rose, set the tone of the novel immediately and there is a real sense that something great is happening with this novel. After grave disappointment with last months entry into the series Rose's novel is without doubt an unqualified success.

Arriving in New Orleans, the Doctor, with his companions Fitz and Anji, is immediately thrust into a murder investigation of a dealer in morbid artefacts, where a unique charm carved from human bone has been stolen too. To say anymore about the plot, would spoil what is a superb novel.

The quality of Lloyd Rose's writing shines through immediately as she brings a different tone and style to the EDA's which works perfectly. There is a freshness about her writing which brings the text to life in a very vivid way. Her depiction of New Orleans is very striking too, and by bringing her setting alive in this way, she conveys the city's vivaciousness wonderfully well, mixing the fascination with the occult and the sense of the decay in equal proportions.

Lloyd Rose characterises the Doctor well here, with the character haunted by memories of things that he can't remember, and it is this haunting which makes the novel so memorable in part. Ever since The Ancestor Cell the Doctor has suffered from memory loss due to the certain acts he committed within that novel, and this has continued through the books published during the last year. And although it looks like he won't recover them anytime soon, Rose really manages to convey well the Doctor's fear of who he is and who he was. One of the most memorable scenes amongst many is the conclusion to chapter eight, which must rank as one of the best chapter endings in any Doctor Who book.

Rose handles the Doctor's companions well here, with both of them being important to the plot as a whole. Particularly impressive is her handling of Anji who comes across very well throughout this novel, with the strong characterisation she's been given in the majority of her previous appearances being built on here, especially in relation to the subplot involving her and a local police detective which shows she might just be starting to put Dave's death behind her. Fitz is once more undeniably Fitz, and he continues to prove himself one of the most interesting male companions that have featured in Doctor Who.

Lloyd Rose's own characters are a strange set of individuals but they are well written and their presence makes them and the book as a whole more interesting. Whether it's Detective Jonas Rust, Teddy Acree, Jack Dupre or Laura Ridgepath they are all characterised well and come across as three dimensional characters in their own right.

In a novel steeped in the unusual and supernatural, there are always going to be dark scenes and Rose handles these well ensuring that the trauma suffered isn't gratuitous, but believable and convincingly done. To balance the more horrific aspects of the novel, Rose demonstrates a nice line in dry humour which remains in the background through much of the novel. But make no mistake this is a dark novel, which builds throughout to it's shattering conclusion.

If I have any complaints about The City Of The Dead, it would be that because it has a fairly small cast of characters, there aren't many candidates who could be the books main villain, but despite this predictability Rose still has a few surprises left with the plot afterwards.

The City Of The Dead is a stunning novel. Powerfully written, sharply characterised it has a huge amount going for it and comes across as a highly entertaining novel. On the basis of this novel, Lloyd Rose is a very talented writer, and it seems that this opinion is also held by those within the upper echelons of the BBC's Doctor Who section, as she's already been commissioned to write another EDA for next year 'Camera Obscura' and I for one, can't wait to read the next book from this stunning new author.

One of the most gorgeous "Doctor Who" novels written in years, who cares if the climactic chapter of "The City of the Dead" doesn't make all that much sense? This debut novel is by Lloyd Rose, whose pre-DW resume includes an episode of "Homicide: Life on the Streets", one of the most highly-regarded US TV series of the past decade. Any writer with that sort of credit (even if that episode was from the show's waning final season) deserves a shot at improving the DW universe. Rose takes the ball and runs so far with it, you'd think she played running back for the New Orleans Saints.

The story is a New Orleans murder mystery, and of course one of the leads is a homicide detective. However, to the book's credit, he's a thoroughly original character, and not a thinly-disguised Andre Braugher or Richard Belzer. The biggest revelation is that magic is real, here. Yes, there has been magic in DW stories before -- demons, spells, even lousy scientific techno-babble explanations. But "City" essentially reinvents the wheel: for the first half of the book, characters talk about magic, but we never see evidence that it's real. You can believe the book isn't even science fiction. Then, the floodgates open, and Rose separates the pretenders (the "wanna-blessed-be's", as they were one called on Buffy, a show which obviously influences this novel a great deal) from the powerful mages. An effective setup creates a more intense finale than usual.

The Doctor is the triumph of this book, of this year, of the entire BBC Eight Doctor series. Finally, an author gets so deftly inside his head that she singlehandedly puts the print Doctor right up there with all his living, breathing TV counterparts. This Doctor thinks, worries, misses the point: doesn't know the difference between Creole and Cajun, and finds menace in a salt-shaker (this last bit perhaps the funniest meta-reference in any "Doctor Who" format). Anji, dating again, and Fitz, more than ever like Xander Harris, are equally well-portrayed, but unfortunately vanish over the final third of the book.

The last chapter is a special-effects light show, with revelation poured upon revelation and honestly, after one insufficient read, a bit of a muddle. I'm sure it all makes sense -- indeed the rest of this book was so strong that I'll just take the ending on faith. Meanwhile, it's a sure bet that Rose's next "Doctor Who" book will be better than this one, an eleven out of ten.

I'm always happy when a new writer enters the Doctor Who range. New voices tend to bring a breath of fresh air and a new perspective to the characters and stories that we know so well. Lloyd Rose's debut is particularly impressive, invoking memories of several other fantastic first-time novelists who went on to consistently be the stars of the line. It's not a flawless work, as it suffers from a few minor problems that can easily put down to first-time jitters. But it's enthusiastic enough and so professionally written than one can forgive it its slight imperfections and enjoy it for the wonderful piece of writing that it is.

Although, on the cover, the words "Doctor Who" dwarf the title of the book, it is the city in question that nearly swamps out the Doctor. The New Orleans of this story is vividly portrayed and nicely detailed without feeling belabored. Rose provides us with just enough to inspire the imagination, yet one never feels as though she is merely showing off her knowledge of the city. It's a difficult and narrow line to walk, but in CITY OF THE DEAD it looks positively easy. This is not a case of an author setting a story in whatever city she happened to randomly hit on a dartboard; New Orleans is integral to this story. The city of aboveground tombs, magic shops and cult followers adds flavor and atmosphere while grounding the story firmly in the "real" world. Despite the unworldly events of the later part of the book, the story never loses sight of its essential realistic quality. Given the fairly liberal use of magic throughout, this is quite an accomplishment.

At times this feels like a thriller, with a lurking and desperate murderer who practices magic and hides in the shadows. Because of this, a handful of characters don't get as much development as they could have done. Rose shows that given time, she can create some memorable and excellent characters, but several of them just aren't given all that much space. This is understandable, since the whodunit aspect of the story relies on there being a large enough group of suspects. Despite the inherent problems with writing for such a great number of characters in a relatively small amount of space, this isn't a particular problem here. One just wishes that all of the characters had been given as much to work with.

Although there are a few minor problems with the resolution to the mystery, the effect is quite masterful for the lead up to the unmasking. The unveiling of the magician mastermind came as a genuine shock, and probably should have been foreshadowed a little better up to that point. Even so, the investigation is quite intriguing. If you're not careful, you'll find yourself staying up far later at night reading just to see what happens next.

The prose in this book simply sparkles. There are several memorable passages that will be staying with you long after the book has been placed back on the shelf. Several dream sequences suck the reader in, without falling into over-the-top melodrama as happens all too often when dealing with unreal or hallucinogenic writing. A lot of mention has been made about the strong use of magic with only one or two explanations in the narrative of how it relates to scientific rationality. Almost everything that has been said on the matter is correct, yet the magical forces don't feel at all out of place for a Doctor Who novel. The use of magic is added so seamlessly that by the end of the book one suddenly has the impression that surely there must have been several other such stories in the past. It's executed so effortlessly, that one almost doesn't feel the need to give it undue notice. It isn't a book "about" magic any more than THE TURING TEST was a book "about" science. Magic and science are merely the tools used to tell the story. They add a certain flavor and texture to the story, but there is certainly quite a lot more going on here than just a ghost story with a few magicians in it.

CITY OF THE DEAD isn't a perfect novel, of course. There are a few sections (mostly in the first half) where characters move around to satisfy the plot at the expensive of any motivations they may have had themselves. The ending, in particular, is slightly vague and confusing. Yet it is still written strongly enough that many of these problems aren't quite as serious as they would ordinarily be. One gets quite caught up in the action, so much so that any imperfections rarely impeded my enjoyment of the book itself.

Despite the relatively minor flaws that I mentioned, CITY OF THE DEAD is quite a good book. It stands as one of the better Eighth Doctor Adventures and takes its place among the best Doctor Who novels written by a first-timer. I find myself greatly looking forward to Lloyd Rose's next, more experienced work.

I've reviewed three Barbara Hambly novels that take place in New Orleans, and one of my favourite things about them is the sense of place evoked. Lloyd Rose does a similarly impressive job of capturing the New Orleans setting in City of the Dead. The atmosphere is simply riveting, and she makes you feel like you're down there with the Doctor, experiencing everything about the city: the architecture, the society, the magic. It really makes me want to take a vacation there.

Speaking of magic, that's what this book is about. In Doctor Who stories, real magic is a rare thing. There's always some "scientific" explanation. That's been a comfort to many Doctor Who fans who don't want their series "tainted" with magic. Rose does leave them an out at the beginning, talking about "energy" and the like. But when you boil the plot down, it's about magic. There are spirits, elementals, arcane forces, and charms. This fan doesn't mind that much.

The regulars stand out in this novel. For the first time in a long time, the story is about the Doctor and he carries the plot. He has been well-characterized in previous novels, but it's been a long time since he's been the prime mover in a book. Sometimes he's on the periphery, and other times he's mainly reacting to events. He's come to New Orleans to investigate a bone charm that he found at the bottom of his wardrobe, even though he doesn't remember how it might have gotten there. His current amnesia makes that even harder. The person he asks to look at it ends up dead, and thus the plot begins. We really get inside the Doctor's thoughts in this one, and what a jumble they are.

Anji and Fitz are sidelined a bit in this book in order to emphasize the Doctor, but they do have some important stuff to do. They do a bit of the Doctor's legwork in the investigation. They both get some very good character moments, and Anji actually gets the beginning of a social life. She has been a very interesting character in the past, but there hasn't really been a lot done with her. In City of the Dead, she begins to come out of that. Fitz is normal Fitz, being worried about the Doctor and trying hard to figure out what is going on. He gets to make a couple of intuitive leaps, showing off his intelligence and quick thinking, but otherwise, he's basic Fitz by numbers. However, there is a scene at the end of the book between Fitz and Anji that is just so wonderful that even this minor complaint about him is overshadowed. It's brief, only about a page (if that), but it shines a new light on their relationship.

The original characters are very well done too, though Dupre is just a bit too comical to be believable. Rust is very interesting, as is Thales and Teddy Acree. Laura's a bit of a cipher, but she's not too bad. The cast is small, but that let's Rose concentrate on the characterization of the people who are in the book, and it's all the better for it. The plot is intriguing and takes a number of twists that I didn't really see coming.

Read this book for the atmosphere, the evocative prose, and the characters. Stay away from it if you're a Who fan that can't stand the thought of "magic" tainting your beloved series. Otherwise, though, revel in another great adventure of the Eighth Doctor. You'll be glad you did.

The Doctor has been having disturbing dreams. He arrives in present day New Orleans to stumble upon a murder, apparently committed to obtain a mysterious artifact -- an artifact which later turns up in the Doctor's own pocket. At the same time, an unknown force is threatening the TARDIS. Add in a homicide detective who has eyes on the Doctor's companion Anji, a melodramatic tour guide with mystical aspirations, a talented but very eccentric artist, and some water elementals and you've got THE CITY OF THE DEAD.

It's a bit of a mess, really.

The main story involves a magician with designs on using the Doctor in a ritual for reasons which are never made quite clear. The problem is that there are so many characters and subplots going that none of them get explored adequately. To confuse matters, there seems to have been a lapse in editing in the last quarter of the novel that results in some serious jump cuts. At the end of one chapter, the Doctor has the upper hand on the villain. At the beginning of the next, said villain is going about some other business elsewhere; then suddenly, he is back and has the Doctor on the ropes again. Was there something missing here? Also, a number of time issues throughout don't make sense.

Finally, the book suffers from awkward attempts to direct it toward a more adult audience. I'm more than happy to see DOCTOR WHO maturing with it's fans, but the "mature" happenings in this story come off as clumsy and even absurd.

The Doctor is still amnesiac, although thankfully he is not as much of a nonentity as he was in THE BURNING, the last DW novel I read. He is well-characterized, but that's really the only positive thing this author has accomplised.