DW Original Fiction Book of the Month: May - The Coming of The Terraphiles

[Rob McCow]

‘There are dark tides runing through the universe...’

Miggea – a star on the very edge of reality. The cusp between this universe and the next. A point where space-time has worn thin, and is in danger of collapsing... And the venue for the grand finals of the competition to win the fabled Arrow of Law.

The Doctor and Amy have joined the Terraphiles – a group obsessed with all aspects of Earth’s history, and dedicated to re-enacting ancient sporting events. They are determined to win the Arrow. But just getting to Miggea proves tricky. Reality is collapsing, ships are disappearing, and Captain Cornelius and his pirates are looking for easy pickings.

Even when they arrive, the Doctor and Amy’s troubles won’t be over. They have to find out who is so desperate to get the Arrow of Law that they will kill for it. And uncover the traitor on their own team. And win the contest fair and square.

And, of course, they need to save the universe from total destruction.

A thrilling, all-new adventure featuring the Doctor and Amy, as played by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in the spectacular hit series from BBC Television written by the acclaimed science fiction and fantasy author Michael Moorcock

So, going from the very old (Nightshade) to the brand new this month!

I'd particularly like to hear people's opinions on this one. Michael Moorcock is an acclaimed SF author, but how does he handle an established brand like Doctor Who?

There is also the potential for crossover with Moorcock's other works. He is an author who likes to write in one vast, consistent universe. He has written main critically acclaimed SF books, such as Mother London, The Dancers At The End Of Time and Behold The Man. So the idea of him writing a Doctor Who story is potentially quite exciting - but will the reality hold up to the promise?

Also, The Coming of The Terraphiles is handily still widely available, either in print form, e-book or audio book.

[Jon Masters]

Just managed to reserve a copy from the library - hopefully will be here by the end of the week !

[Rob McCow]

And of course, also available in libraries for no cost. Don't forget your public library!

[SiHart]

I finished this week, and I wish I could be positive about it, but sadly I found it something of a slog to get through.

It's a shame because the premise of Earth having fans in the far future, but them getting the details wrong is rather good, and in theory a cross between Wodehouse and Robin Hood and Pirates and Sci-Fi ideas should bring something quite nicely Who-ey, but it just didn't quite gel for me. It felt as if the Doctor and Amy (if it was them, they weren't very well characterised) were shoe-horned into this story and that didn't fit it very well.

It got better towards the end, as the threat of the end of the multiverse was revealed and the planet Miggea was really well described, but it was hard work to actually care by then.

It's a shame as this should have been great.

Anyone else read it?

[Jon Masters]

Picked it up from the library on Saturday but have only read the first dozen pages or so - not looking hopeful so far......

[Paul Monk]

The thing with getting someone of Michael Moorcock's fame and stature to write a Doctor Who book is that unless they're a big fan they're always just going to write something similar to their other work which may not necessarily fit in with Doctor Who. And of course no editor will tell them that its rubbish and that they need to make changes because ITS MICHAEL MOORCOCK FOR FLIPS SAKE!

[Rob McCow]

30 pages in so far!

If there's one thing Moorcock seems to like, it's describing decadent future cultures. So here we get Lord Barrington-Carrington (almost) and the Terraphiles enjoying a game of Whackit, based on 20th century Earth cricket. The Doctor and Amy appear to be enjoying the match too, although there's some muttering about the end of all Universes. Meanwhile, Captain Cornelius is questing for an ingot of Newtonium and having hard luck.

I don't think the characterisation of the regulars is too bad so far, they haven't said or done anything that I couldn't imagine them doing on TV. It might not be 100% Doctor & Amy authentic, but it's not bad.


(Anyone want to suggest a book for next month?)

[Paul Monk]

I have to admit I know next to nothing about Moorcock's work. He's one of those authors who body of work is so immense I wouldn't have a clue where to start. (Although I do own a couple of Elric novels)

[Rob McCow]

Well, I've reached pp243 and the general feeling is Nyeurgh. I really thought it would be a lot better than this!

[Rob McCow]

So... 'wacky' characters in incomprehensible situations play bizarre and uninvolving games while threatened by something or other that might destroy the Multiverse. All solved by firing an arrow into a black hole.

The concept of 'Whackit' was an amusing two or three line joke, but to string it out to chapters and chapters of people playing a game that is beyond understanding is abysmal. Then there was the 'Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut' gag, again great for a couple of lines but we didn't need a whole chapter of it!

It was as though the daft prelude to the real action went on and on until the story collapsed in on itself. There was no threat or real action, nothing at all to hook the reader. Fair play for trying to get Doctor Who to tell a different type of story, but the type of story chosen was a gibbering fantasy-science wreck.

I've read a couple of other Michael Moorcock books and while this is clearly by the same author, his other books didn't nearly stink so much. In fact they were pretty good!

I am really sorry for making people read this! It's the worst book I've read since Eoin Colfer's addition to the Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy range.

[Jon Masters]

I am really sorry for making people read this! It's the worst book I've read since Eoin Colfer's addition to the Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy range.

I have to confess that I gave up after about 20 pages, despite trying 3 times to get a reasonable distance each time. I can't say what it was like as a DW book, because I didn't get far enough, but as an 'anykind' of book it was frankly dire and rambling, and , I suspect if not written by MM, would have been on the reject pile a long time ago.

I had read some of his early fantasy stuff before, and thought that was passable, but have also some of his later stuff (esp when he tried linking characters as The Eternal Champion) a tedious bore.

[kevinwho]

I gotta say, Si and Rob hit the nail on the head with their comments. I just finished dragging my way painfully through this dross, and I'm hard pressed to think of a worse book in any Who range.

It's a shame no one had the will to edit this tripe. It so easily could have been a lousy 126-page book if only they had removed the filler and the completely failed attempts to be funny.

I will say that as the book moved on it did get slightly better as the ratio of stupid to plot decreased a bit, but the best part unfortunately was that it did eventually end.

What a waste.

[Stuart Wallis]

I can only agree with all of the comments made so far.