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Article 72 of 137

Subject:      Human Nature and Original Sin reviews (SPOILERS)
From:         gaffney@pcnet.com (Sean Gaffney)
Date:         1995/06/30
Message-Id:   <3svo9t$i5i@pcnet1.pcnet.com>
Newsgroups:   rec.arts.drwho
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Well, I need to post some reviews.  I will, however, try to make
them more coherent this time.

SPOILERS!!!!!!! (really.)

OK, now, I'm giving these both 10s, but both for different reasons.
They turn out to be very similar books, despite the fact that they have
nothing to do with one another.  Confused?  Read on.

Human Nature.  Well, I suspected that this would be a quiet book, and
despite the incredible amount of action, I feel justified in that.  This is a
book that you have to read slowly, taking everything in.  Every character
has a purpose, especially the very well-characterised villains.  The Doctor
(or Smith, or both) has/ve never beeen better written, and Benny, as you
would expect, shines.

This is one of those books where you have to go back and read it again,
_immediately_, to get what's going on.  Like my other current fave, Falls
the Shadow, the levels just aren't all able to be taken in (um...I know that's
grammatically wrong somehow...) in one sitting.

10/10.

Now, when I poured through Original Sin in one and a half days, I at first
thought that there could not be two more different books (well, maybe
Gareth Roberts and Andrew Cartmel).  However, Ihave revised my opinion.

First, and here's the spoiler, despite Tim's message...

THE CYBERMEN ARE NOT IN ORIGINAL SIN!

Ahem.  However, one of our old fave raves is, and he was one of the
Cybermen's chief human accomplices...that's right, Tobias Vaughn.

(Small sidebar.  For those who read the book, as well as saw the tape of
The Invasion...I REALLY wanted a robot Packer in Original Sin.  Think about
how many lives could have been saved if Packer had been put in charge
of Vaughn's new plot. He would never have been able to carry off the downfall
of the Empire.    Personally, I think the reason that Zoe and Isobel scream at the
end of Episode 2 is that Vaughn shows them his character development for the
next six episodes...)

Anyway, Vaughn's death, though greatly exaggerated, kis nonetheless still
wearing on him, and I admire Andy's portrayal of a personality which has
gone on for one mind too long.  The other characters are good, and the
new companions show great promise.  Chris will hopefully not become a male
Mel, and Roslyn will hopefully not become a female Ace.  They are very well
delineated here, and I look forward to more of them.

There is a beautiful scene with the Doctor and Pryce a man who went through
deranged and came out the other side, that makes me want the comparison of
these two books.  Human Nature is quiet and philosophical, with action to move
the plot along.  Original Sin is all action moving the plot along but this scene, and
a few others, make it just as powerful.  Kudos.

10/10.

Well, have I been smarmy enough?  I tire of these happy reviews too, but trust
me, I've really liked the last few!  Anyway, after I post MA reviews, I hope to post
reviews of those books that I _don't_ like (The PIt, Parasite, Apocalypse, Genesys,
and Witch Mark).

Till then, and I still can't find my copy of Human Nature, o I thought about getting
a quote from Andy's book, but I wouldn't want Paul to feel betrayed, so...

--Sean Gaffney
--"You git!  I thought you were dead!  Git git git!" - Benny, No Future
--"Joel, this movie really isn't very good, is it?" (The understatement of the eon)
--Crow T. Robot, on _Castle of Fu Manchu_

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