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Post by sailorhaumea on Apr 9, 2017 8:29:46 GMT
Odd that we've got an EDA thread but not one on these...
I've been reading the Virgin novels lately.
The Dark Path is an example of why David A. McIntee "gets" the Master. Bonus points for not actually using the words "Time Lord" anywhere in the novel itself.
The Timewyrm tetralogy, with the exception of the first book, is marvellous. I would rank them as Exodus > Revelation = Apocalypse > Genesys.
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Post by doctorkernow on Apr 9, 2017 12:25:19 GMT
Hello again.
I loved the Virgin New Adventures. When they were good they were very enjoyable. When they weren't they were awful. I was hooked from Exodus onwards.
As a student, I used to haunt my local Waterstones waiting for the next one to arrive.
Among the early releases, it was Love and War that really stuck in my mind. The scary and relentless Hoothi, the first sassy archaeologist Bernice and the disparate group of travellers. The Ace storyline was just the icing on a engrossing and deliciously thrilling cake.
Totally agree with you about The Dark Path. An interesting take on the Master that now probably has probably become like an Unbound story.
For many fans that it is all the New Adventures and EDAs are; an exercise in 'what if?'. For me during the interminable Wilderness years they were and still are the adventures McCoy had before the TV movie.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2017 13:51:44 GMT
The New Adventures were more or less considered canonised Doctor Who for the 1990s, an official continuation of the television series with tie-ins from Doctor Who Magazine and in various other bits of advertising merchandise. It's a really fascinating look into not only a series that was brave enough to forge ahead with new companions and a more mature subject matter, but also what was popular in the decade at the time. I don't think I'd know about Neuromancer and the astonishing impact of cyberpunk on science fiction if not for Kate Orman's SLEEPY. It's this wonderful little oubliette that's sadly often overlooked because of its penultimate chronological release and one of its greatest strengths.
Lungbarrow is the big divider, a story that was brave and inventive enough to dare into the Doctor's heritage and stands as an embodiment of the Virgin range. It was a set of novels that dared. Dared to be confronting, whimsical, traditional, musing, horrific, fannish, professional and everything in between. It dared to team the Doctor up with Sherlock Holmes, shove him in environments to rival Iain M. Banks, fear as to his morality and mortality, have its companion beautifully fall in love with a historical figure doomed to die, push him and his companions to the brink and back again. It disassembled the Doctor cell-by-cell, exposing his hypocrisy, his ruthlessness, his kindness, his weariness and his heroic hearts. I don't think we've ever gotten a more complete picture of an incarnation than we did during this period, outside of the maturing Eighth Doctor whose path strayed from butterflies and wonder to cinders and suicide.
The Missing Adventures were an interesting discovery as well. The first time I read Venusian Lullaby I was struck by how authentic to its era it was. It really felt like Doctor Who and the Crusaders, a well-kept novelisation of a classic serial from the monochrome Hartnell years that was gathering dust on unofficial VHS as a technological marvel that now only existed in telesnaps. The same from Killing Ground which took every perceivable weakness of a Sawardian tale and managed to turn it into one of the most compelling Cybermen stories in print. I feel the fact that eighteen years after the range's conclusion that Gareth Roberts's three additions to the adventures of the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K9 were revived for a new audience in an entirely different medium speaks volumes as to the longevity of their appeal.
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Post by ulyssessarcher on Apr 9, 2017 16:11:55 GMT
I liked Genesis, and Venusian Lullaby is one of my books that I have completely worn out.
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Post by charlesuirdhein on Apr 9, 2017 16:30:46 GMT
Lungbarrow is the big divider, a story that was brave and inventive enough to dare into the Doctor's heritage and stands as an embodiment of the Virgin range. It was a set of novels that dared. Dared to be confronting, whimsical, traditional, musing, horrific, fannish, professional and everything in between. It dared to team the Doctor up with Sherlock Holmes, shove him in environments to rival Iain M. Banks, fear as to his morality and mortality, have its companion beautifully fall in love with a historical figure doomed to die, push him and his companions to the brink and back again. It disassembled the Doctor cell-by-cell, exposing his hypocrisy, his ruthlessness, his kindness, his weariness and his heroic hearts. I don't think we've ever gotten a more complete picture of an incarnation than we did during this period, outside of the maturing Eighth Doctor whose path strayed from butterflies and wonder to cinders and suicide. Isn't it lovely that we're all here and discussing our love of a character/TV show like this? I mean I for one hold an almost polar opposite view to yourself on what the Virgin range did to the Doctor but I'm still warmed by the fact that we all contribute and discuss. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2017 1:28:18 GMT
Lungbarrow is the big divider, a story that was brave and inventive enough to dare into the Doctor's heritage and stands as an embodiment of the Virgin range. It was a set of novels that dared. Dared to be confronting, whimsical, traditional, musing, horrific, fannish, professional and everything in between. It dared to team the Doctor up with Sherlock Holmes, shove him in environments to rival Iain M. Banks, fear as to his morality and mortality, have its companion beautifully fall in love with a historical figure doomed to die, push him and his companions to the brink and back again. It disassembled the Doctor cell-by-cell, exposing his hypocrisy, his ruthlessness, his kindness, his weariness and his heroic hearts. I don't think we've ever gotten a more complete picture of an incarnation than we did during this period, outside of the maturing Eighth Doctor whose path strayed from butterflies and wonder to cinders and suicide. Isn't it lovely that we're all here and discussing our love of a character/TV show like this? I mean I for one hold an almost polar opposite view to yourself on what the Virgin range did to the Doctor but I'm still warmed by the fact that we all contribute and discuss. Yes, it's wonderful that forumgoers aren't sent out into the radiation cloud just because they think differently. There's so much more creativity and diversity of thought that pops up in a cozy little environment like this than there would otherwise. And it's nice to hear from the other side in a civil setting. You never know, they might change my mind.  |
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Post by doctorkernow on Apr 10, 2017 20:48:34 GMT
Hello again.
Sentient computers! Enjoyed Sleepy, named my wife's tablet Florence. Mine is called Orac after the plastic box of Christmas lights and tinsel,sorry portable computer, in Blakes 7.
As I have said before, Lungbarrow is Dr. Who meets Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake's classic fantasy series. I loved the ideas in Lungbarrow.
Bloodheat, sticks in the mind. It is an alternate history story where the Doctor has lost and Earth is very different. The sense of despair among the human survivors makes for grim reading.
My favourite has to be Human Nature. The relationships between Bernice and Alexander and McCoy's Doctor and Joan are beautifully written.
The enemies too are interesting. As is the evocation of pre-war England. Thoroughly engaging, I could not put it down.
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Post by relativetime on Apr 11, 2017 13:09:57 GMT
I very much enjoyed Blood Heat and Blood Harvest from the VNAs. I got pretty far into The Also People, but I had to stop when I realized the book was starting to fall apart - when I have the funds, I may look to repair it or otherwise buy a replacement. I really liked what I'd read, though! I still have a few on the backlog for this summer, including Love and War and Nightshade - I've listened to the audio adaptations for both, however.
On the VMA side, I just recently finished Evolution - which I liked - and I've read Goth Opera, State of Change, Time of Your Life, and The Sands of Time. Time of Your Life was the only one I did not like - I thought it was very disjointed and lacked any subtly in terms of character symbolism. I've got a lot more on the reading list for this summer as well and I've still got my eye on a few others to purchase.
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Post by constonks on Apr 11, 2017 15:01:21 GMT
Only 25 pages into Transit at the moment but I know I'm enjoying it - after all, the Doctor hasn't shown up yet and I'm still hooked. Normally I'm checking my watch impatiently in cases like that.
I've previously read the Timewyrm books, the Alt Universe Arc books, Nightshade, First Frontier and Lungbarrow. There was none I drastically disliked although Apocalypse and the Dimension Riders were definitely the weakest in their arcs. And I've got a lot more to read afterwards - my shelf is only missing a handful of them.
Favourite so far has probably been Nightshade but I did love Lungbarrow as well, even if its histories and statements make no sense anymore. It was very inventive and a good finale, in my mind - even if I've not read all of them.
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