WRITTEN BY
Alastair Reynolds, a British sci-fi writer. This is his only Doctor Who novel, but I imagine his other work must be pretty high-quality stuff.
PLOT
In order to escape Earth, the Master transmits a mayday to time and space that is picked up by the Sild, a hivelike species once exiled by him and the Doctor onboard the Time Lord ark of horrors known as the Consolidator.
Now, the Sild strike back from the end of the universe, capturing every incarnation of the Master to form a supercomputer to give them power over the Time Vortex itself...
ANALYSIS
As you can see, it's a pretty complex plot, with Moffat-worthy timey-wimey, and combines every formula of the Pertwee era: mad scientist, alien invasion, a trip to the future. It's grandiose in storytelling, but all the while still feels like a Third Doctor story with a 70s feel, in particular when we follow the Doctor and the Master(who is basically his companion in this story) in the far future, their polite rivalry perfectly captured by Reynolds. The scope and excellent characterisation made for a very compelling read.
CHARACTERS
Most of the original cast get a good showing, though I would've liked to have seen more of Benton and Yates(they're relegated to being just regular, boring soldiers). But the Brigadier and Jo are lovely, especially Jo, who gets to investigate the oil rig that's running secret government operations(shades of Ambassadors Of Death here).
But what really defines this novel is how well Reynolds understands the Third Doctor and the Master, who honestly are better here than they ever really were even in the serials. Unlike most writers, Reynolds approaches the Master as a character with strengths and weaknesses, not just a villain to twirl his moustache(even if Delgado twirled it like no other).
I do not exaggerate when I say that this is the best characterisation the Master has had since The End Of Time(which is my favourite Master story of all time by the way).
There aren't many characters original to the book, though I quite liked the snappy Edwina McCrimmon(picture a middle-aged, bitey Amy Pond).
NOTES
*Amongst the Master's incarnations is a boyish fellow dressed in a regular suit. Probably has good drum-playing hands too. Notably, the Delgado incarnation attacks him first.
*I love that the Delgado love in this book is so strong that he declares himself above all of his other incarnations put together. And I do believe he'd say that.
*The Master confirms in this story that Blinovitch was but a myth designed to keep people from tampering with time.
*I do enjoy the little peek into the Doctor's past and how he and the Master were largely responsible for the menace they face here, from their old Gallifreyan days(and no, the Doctor didn't have a daft man crush on him).
*Whilst I'm sure the Master is teasing the Doctor(and I love the ambiguity of his escape from the end of the universe back to Earth), I adooore the idea of his TARDIS being the Doctor's from the future.
CONTINUITY ADVISOR
1) The Doctor notes that the Infinite Cocoon couldn't fit either an Ice Warrior or a Judoon.
2) The Master is held in an excessively secure prison(leagues above what we saw on TV) after he was captured in The Daemons and returns there at the end of the story to fit in with the events of The Sea Devils.
3) In a moment of desperation, the Doctor threatens the Praxilions with a bomb, declaring that they must obey him, thus originating the Anthony Ainley incarnation's famous catchphrase.
4) Whilst in the Time Vortex, the Master is momentarily turned good as a result of breaking off some outside influence, which seems to vaguely reference the drum beat from the RTD era.
BEST QUOTE
"You mean, I can expect to be at war with my other selves, for the rest of time? I relish the prospect. I have always been the strongest of them. You saw it yourself." - The Delgado Master.
CONCLUSION
As far as Master stories go, this is up there with the very best. It gets the character as a whole, it nails the original performance and expands on it to the point where I would consider this better than any of Delgado's actual episodes.
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