Customer Reviews

Demontage (Doctor Who Series)

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

 

 

I hate to be the voice of doom here, but this could have been better. Not that there's anything wrong as such -- the story is snappy, the characters are well done -- and, unlike the last Eighth Doctor novel I reviewed, the Doctor is actually a prominent character in this one. My only fault is that the first eighty pages could have been tightened up more, moving some of the background material into a later point in the book. The run-up just takes too long. Other than that, largely unimpeachable.

I'll agree with the person down below who says that the title is fairly clever . . . I didn't even know that "de-montage" was a real word until this book, which just goes to show you that it's always possible to learn from anything, no matter what the source.

Granted, it would have been nice to have some actual demons in this story, given the title but I don't want to come across as being overly nit-picky. I actually would like to comment about the cover before we go too much further . . . most of the covers for the BBC line have been fairly standard, nothing much to write home about. This one at first glance makes you think you're in for a werewolf story of sorts until you look closer at it and realize that the cover isn't the Doctor, but a painting of the Doctor with claw marks in it. Nice use of detail and good use of an otherwise bored looking Paul McGann.

Meanwhile, back to the story. In a rare light hearted moment for the TARDIS crew, the team stops off on a casino world while Fitz and the Doctor indulge in a bet to see who can make the most money over the course of a week. Which already shows the changing dynamic between the crew members . . . while the Doctor would often take Sam places to show her stuff, it was rarely for something so whimsical. It's a subtle touch, even as the story gets some comedy moments out of the fact that as good as Fitz might think he is, Sam's got a few years of travelling and evading danger under her belt, while all he wants is a good cigarette.

Of course, this is not the entire plot or else whimsical would turn into boring really quickly. The casino is set in a neutral zone between people and the Canvines, a race of dog-like aliens. There was war once but now an uneasy peace has settled in, even if not everyone is thrilled over that. This is all very nice until there's a murder on the station, with one good witness who disappears. Meanwhile an assassin appears to be stalking the corridors and what does this all have to do with the art exhibition that's opening up?

Richards' has all the elements in place for a good story and it's to his credit that it reads as quite assured. There's not really a misstep or a false note, the setting is well thought out and he enjoys throwing the occasional curveball at the reader, such as making the Canvines opera lovers and not really all that war-like. I don't know if he's really all that good at conveying exactly what makes Martinique the artist so awesome but maybe he's just making fun of how pretentious it all seems. People get killed or almost get killed, there's twists as we go along and it all ends rather nicely.

Thing is, it's not terribly exciting. I mean, it's entertaining enough but it lacks a certain kind of spark. Maybe because of all the secondary characters, while he does a good job of filling the world with enough people that it doesn't feel like a four person stage play but many of them just aren't very memorable. When people vanish for thirty pages and I have to remind myself who they are when they reappear (in a book I read in like three days) that probably isn't a good sign. So this hamstrings the book slightly and while it doesn't wreck it, it tends to hold it down to "good" as opposed to "great". It doesn't help that a few of the subplots seem just there to kill time and aren't all that compelling.

The ending is a bit dodgy too, with someone you thought was dead coming back and then not doing all that much except to explain all the bits of the plot that nobody has figured out yet with a final twist that seems to be missing a few links in the logic chain.

But, as I said, none of this really sinks the story thanks to Richards' ability to keep the plot moving. You may not be able to remember any of the characters when the book is over but at least something tends to be happening on nearly every page. What could have potentially been awesome gets downgraded to "merely pleasant". Like a replica of a fine painting, it has all the components of greatness but it's just not quite there.

I can't point to any part of DEMONTAGE and declare that this is the moment in which the author made the massive mistake that tainted the book. Neither can I reveal any portion of the story that is unbelievably wonderful and demands that this be named the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. The book ends up being somewhere in the banal center of these two extremes, being more boring than breathtaking.

On the plus side, the addition of Fitz to the TARDIS crew is definitely paying off. Even the Doctor seems to be reacting well to the change in lineup, verbally bouncing off of and teasing Fitz in a way that simply wouldn't work with Sam. And the added bonus is that with two companions, there is less space that can be devoted to Sam. This can only be a good thing.

The high number of secondary characters in the book means that there is a certain diluting effect -- most of them have hardly any depth at all. Instead of two or three characters getting the lion's share of the action, the roles are spread uniformly thin. So rather than getting a small number of well-developed characters, we get a large number of people who have names, short character descriptions and very little else. I kept trying to keep the two antique dealers separated in my mind until about half way through when I just gave up. I'm not sure if the attempt was to make a Robert Holmes type double-team of humourous villains, but the result was to end up with the same character given two names. The same also goes for the art exhibition curator and her financial partner; two characters who for all intents and purposes could have been filled by the role of one.

The plot is undemanding and the comparisons to THE NIGHTMARE OF EDEN are all quite valid and don't need to be repeated here. There are some portions here and there where one can feel the story creeping up to the side of intrigue and interest, but right at the last moment it turns back to the banality. The revelation about how the creatures are manifesting themselves would be icing on the cake of a more engrossing story, but without anything else supporting it, it just seems to fall flat. The details concerning this revelation are also a bit confused towards the end and I don't believe that the connection between the creatures and their manifestation was explained coherently.

In any case, this isn't a terribly bad story and neither is it especially good. There are a few highlights but overall it's fairly forgettable.

The name say it all is it

De-Montage or Demon-tage

A very clever book. Well written with lots of suprises.

All of the characters shine thru.

Thank you Justin Richards

The Docotor and his companions go to the casino world of Vega. Fritz is mistaked for a hitman by a spy . Sam is in trouble too. To make things worse there there the opera and a very strange art exhibit. Eventully the Doctor solves evenyones problems. The book starts out a little slow,then gradually the pace picks up . A great first adventure for Fitz outside of his own time!!A fun book for any whovian or a sci-fi reader!!!

Although I feel that this was a well-written book, I must say I was disappointed with the horrendous monsters featured in it. I mean, monsters made from oil paint? Come on!! The idea is just plain rediculous; it may have worked if the author found a plausible way of explaining them, but he failed horribly. This was one of three 8th Doctor books I bought, and after reading the others, I find myself extremely disappointed. The Doctor, throughout his entire history, has been a brilliant excentric. This new Doctor is, well, too normal for my tastes. He doesn't have the bizarre quality of past Doctors which made those personas truly wonderful to watch and read about.

The Vega Station. The 8th Doctor and his 2 companions are in a promped problem. There is a hitman on the loose,meaning a artist who condemmended his own murder! Sam is in trouble. She's been involved with the key witness to a murder,and the witness has vanished completely. She's in her element. Fitz is in trouble. He's been hired by BigDog Carouso.Hired as assisant to a assaination,he is in his element. The Doctor is in trouble. He is the one to sort out Sam and Fitz's problems and the president's saftey. The Doctor is in his element.