Independence Day (Doctor Who Series) [Mass Market Paperback]

Peter Darvill-Evans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2000 | Series: Doctor Who (BBC Paperback)

The TARDIS lands on the planet Mendeb, where Ace meets a merchant adventurer named Kedin. She falls for him, seduces him -- and then discovers him to be a slave trader. When, horrified, she tries to flee, he feeds her the will-sapping spore drug that turns independent citizens into obedient slaves, and sells her. The Doctor is on a mission to liberate the Mendeb slaves and lead them in revolt against the emperor Vathran -- but can they survive without the support of their generous employers? Meanwhile, Ace finds herself sold into the henads of Kedin's arch-enemy Vathran, where she learns the reason for Kedin's slave trading -- Vathran has imprisoned Kedin's family and is threatening to have them put to death.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 285 pages
• Publisher: BBC Pubns (October 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 056353804X
• ISBN-13: 978-0563538042
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,174,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay story--pointless ending, March 20, 2001

By 

Ed Matuskey "game player" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Independence Day (Doctor Who Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

A Doctor who is caught up in events that quickly spiral out of his control, and an Ace who can handle herself quite well, thank you very much--some great characterizations, even if I didn't much care for parts of the story.

The book starts with a flashback to the 2nd Doc/Jamie days, where the Doctor carries off a piece of technology he liked the looks of. Years later, 7th Doc and Ace find it, and realize that it was actually rather important, and go to put it back. By then, however, history has taken a hand, and they end up seperated in the midst of a civil war. Classic novelized Doctor Who, this is a wonderful setup and series of events.

But there are some elements that are thrown in, seemingly at random, that sour the whole thing. A perfect example: at one point in the story, Ace gains total control of the space station everyone is using. Before she can take advantage, however, she's conked on the head and shipped out, and the matter never comes up again. Why tease us with the possibilities such a situation opens up, if you're not going to pursue any of them?

Another point of irritation: the whole basis for the story (taking something that isn't his, and bringing it back) turns out to not really matter, once things get going. The loss of the device isn't what created the current conflict, and once they're in the thick of things, the Doctor and Ace seem to forget the whole thing. As plot hooks go I suppose it's all right, but it was still annoying to see what I thought was an important plot element be abandoned mid-stream.

And then there's the ending. I don't want to give anything away, but suffice to say that the author throws in a hideous tragedy, for no good reason other than he could, letting the book end on an unsatisfying somber note. This seems to happen with a lot of Doctor Who novels--the (for example) killing off of a character just to provoke a reaction, when it doesn't really do much for the story. It's a cheap gimmick, and I expect more from my Doctor Who novels. Life is random and sometimes pointless--our stories shouldn't be!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Civil war and a messianic Doctor, October 17, 2000

By 

"grrreg" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Independence Day (Doctor Who Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book sees an adventure for the seventh Doctor and Ace. Ace, in exploring the TARDIS, turns up an item acquired by the second Doctor, which the current incarnation decides he should have left in place. The TARDIS takes the two back to the space station from which the item originated, and headlong into adventure.

This book is written by Peter Darvill-Evans, who had been the editor for the Doctor Who line of books published by Virgin. Ace is much more independent than she is sometimes portrayed, and in fact the two are separated for much of the book. As the story progresses, one or the other is dominating proceedings.

What I found particularly good is the examination of the impact of the Doctor on the people he is helping. Their position is so low that they find his actions miraculous, and he is fairly quickly cast in the role of a messiah. While this is not too far away from the way some people follow the Doctor, I don't recall it having been explored to the same extent as in this book. The Doctor finds his choices constrained by the sheer number of people directly relying upon him, and some of the things he would have preferred to do (like finding Ace) must be put on hold as he deals with the urgent needs of those who are his followers.

'Independence Day' is a welcome change from the dominance of Mike Tucker (with and without Robert Perry) in producing seventh Doctor and Ace books - not because Mr Tucker does it badly (quite the opposite) but sometimes a different view is refreshing.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars No fireworks here, April 13, 2003

By 

bonsai chicken (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Independence Day (Doctor Who Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Doctor arrives at a twin planet system to return an item he borrowed many years ago and is caught up in a burgeoning slave trade. Ace, venturing off on her own, is sold into servitude herself, and the Doctor finds himself a reluctant messiah to the exploited underclass as he tries to find and rescue her.

Most of the narrative switches back and forth between political goings-on among the society's dignitaries, or the rebels' interminable wanderings in the desert, neither of which is particularly interesting. The Doctor is portrayed as some kind of superman, bending the barrels of shotguns in half and displaying immunity to anything the bad guys might throw at him. While his race does possess abilities and resistance beyond those of humans, this is a bit much. There is very little of the Doctor we know in personality either; indeed, there's very little of his character at all. Likewise Ace, who spends almost the entire time in a drug induced haze, which is a shame because the bits where she is in her own mind are the only relatively enjoyable segments.

In addition to being dull, this novel is written in such a way that anyone over the age of twelve or so is going to feel they're being talked down to. However, I wouldn't recommend it to any age. If you're craving an adventure that features the seventh Doctor and Ace, there are far better ones out there.