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DECEMBER 2008
1. THE EYES OF A CHILD
2. UNLESS
Lance Parkin has really
carved out a niche for himself in the Doctor Who world
as one of the
principal purveyors of the ‘event’ novel. Take, for example, Cold
Fusion, The Infinity Doctors, and The Gallifrey Chronicles to name
just a few. Each are brilliant, imag-inative and wholly enthralling novels
in their own right, but each is also of greater significance to the Whoniverse.
The Eyeless, on the other
hand, is a novel written to tie-in with and complement the new television
series, and as such it couldn’t reasonably be expected to push the
envelope in
the same sort of ways that many of Parkin’s
previous novels have. Indeed, any semblance
of continuity would
doubtless be frowned upon by both editors and publishers alike, not to
mention those readers unfamiliar with the ‘classic’ television series and
its various offshoots.
All
the same, in the months
leading up to its
release, I found myself getting very excited
indeed about The
Eyeless even in spite of the
restrictions that I felt would inevitably
come to
bear on the author. Event novel or otherwise, Parkin is one of the most respected
Doctor Who novelists out there - not to mention one of my personal
favourites - and here he is, writing for the tenth Doctor!
But
there is a little more to it than that. Never before have I
been able to follow the writing of novel so closely - thanks to
Parkin’s online blog (which is a fascinating read, particularly
for
aspiring writers), I have been able to keep tabs on The
Eyeless since day
one. You might think that this would spoil
the magic somewhat, but I
found that it did the exact opposite,
serving only to increase the
anticipation (a bit like watching pre-release web documentaries about the
making of some blockbuster movie).
And last but not least, The
Eyeless is the first novel in the range to feature the Doctor
travelling alone – another quality that really seemed to set it apart as
being something
a bit special. And special
it most certainly is.
The plot is riveting, and
much more daring than I would have thought possible for a novel in
this range. The Doctor has tracked down one the most powerful weapons deployed in the Time War to
a dead planet with the intention of putting it permanently out of
commission. This weapon has apparently wiped out everybody who lived on
the planet, together with everybody who had ever heard of them - about as
ultimate and as thorough a weapon as one could conceive of. The trouble is, the weapon didn’t
quite wipe everybody out. And
those that are left, do not
necessarily want it destroyed…
“There was a flash as
bright as the sun for the merest moment,
annihilation so profound
it stretched deep into the past and far into the future.
Then Gallifrey was gone.”
The Eyeless is also
afforded a little extra weight owing to the implications of the above
quotation, which I gather Parkin fought to keep in as “it is smack in
the middle of what The Eyeless is about”. If, as implied, the weapon
housed
in the Fortress was indeed the same type of weapon that destroyed the Doctor’s world
(the second time around!), it really gives
a depth to the Doctor's
dilemma in this story beyond the obvious ‘weapons are bad’.
And whilst we’re on the
subject, it has to be said that Parkin writes for the tenth Doctor so very
beautifully. Not only does he have the character’s speech patterns and
mannerisms nailed (for which Steve Tribe can take some credit, I
understand), but he also captures the loneliness of the character
exquisitely. Here the Doctor will often look up to explain some-thing, only
to realise that he is alone (a bit like he did in Partners in Crime on
television, but in print we see it more from his point of view, which
really makes it sting that little bit more).
“Oh, you know… I stole an
infinitely powerful super-weapon,
exchanged text messages
with the dead, had an ethics debate with a
psychotic teenage girl
and a fight in pitch blackness with an army of glass men.
An average sort of
Saturday, really.”
And thankfully Parkin does not follow up
the above by dropping a makeshift companion into the next scene to
accompany the Doctor for the rest of the story. Instead, despite the
funda-mental structural
headaches that this must have caused him, he maintains the notion of the lone Doctor throughout,
and I for one am very glad that he
did so. It works superbly and gives the novel a very distinctive feel.
That said, Parkin does allow himself a slight measure of fun in at least
teasing the Doctor with a few potential new friends or even travelling
companions… only to have them knock him out with rocks or something
equally amusing! Young Alsa is particularly good example
of this, as she swings
wildly from being a potential companion to a credible threat and then back
again. It is really entertaining stuff that will keep even adult readers
guessing through-out.
The eponymous Eyeless
themselves are also a captivating bunch, and extra credit has to be given
as I cannot think of another race like them that has ever appeared in
Doctor Who. Utterly, utterly alien and chilling in the most instinctive of
ways, the Eyeless are a race that I would love to see grace our television
screens one day, budget permitting. They were certainly not what I was expecting though, as for
its tenth anniversary last month I re-read (and reviewed) The Infinity
Doctors, which features a character that had had both of his eyes forcibly
removed. ‘Eye-less’, I thought. I wonder…
In summary then, I fully
expect that The Eyeless will go on to be hailed as one of the most
popular of the new series novels, perhaps even the most popular to date.
All the same, I feel a little disenchanted with it on some level;
sentiments that I’m unable to adequately
explain given how much it impressed me, and that are most likely
indicative of my great esteem for Parkin’s preceding works, rather than of
any pitfalls of The Eyeless (of which I can’t point to
one). As such I would certainly encourage readers new and old to rush out
and purchase a copy of this one, and I cannot help but wonder what those new to Parkin, who are
able to approach it without prejudice, will make of it. Indeed, I envy
them.
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