Subject:      *B* Lungbarrow - Review by the Happy Guy
From:         gaffney@iconn.net (Sean Gaffney)
Date:         1997/03/18
Message-Id:   <5gm0up$614@news.iconn.net>
Newsgroups:   rec.arts.drwho
[More Headers]

Well, here we are at last.

SPOILERS! for Lungbarrow...

It's a bit difficult to review this one.  My reviews tend to be written
immediately after finishing the book for the first time, whereas Marc's
stuff demands rereading to get the gist of it.  So there's a bit of a
gap.  Nevertheless, Lungbarrow is a cool book.  The final Seventh
Doctor NA, it purports to reveal everything, but...doesn't, not really.

PLOT:  It's Marc Platt.  This isn't going to be Keeping Up Appearances.
Incredibly weird and complex, with enough Gallifreyan backstory to
keep the DWAS in fits for years to come.  There was also very little
death in this book, something which surprised me.

THE DOCTOR:  One final fling, in a rather un-Doctor like appearance.
He plays a companion role through a lot of this book, asking what's
going on.  He also seems genuinely shocked about his origins.  Thank
god he jetissoned most of it.

CHRIS:  All grown up, as the book says.  This is a mature Chris that
we've only occasionally seen in the books, and he's finally trying to
recover from the psychich shock of Sleepy and TRWND.  It also
leads into a nice setup with the Benny NAs, as he'll be wandering the
cosmos too.

DOROTHEE:  Y'know, with an egume.  Also asks a *lot* of questions,
but luckily the angst is focused on others.  I love the scene where
she offers to enroll.  I think this is the book where she finally realizes
just how much the Doctor means to her.

LEELA:  Wow.  Still recognisably the warrior, but fitting in...as best she
can with Gallifrey.  Plus, for once, she knows what's going on.  And
the curse is broken at last.  Never knew Andred had it in him.  A great
reintroduction that makes up for the end of Invasion of Time.  This
is the way companions should be written bakc in, not as pointless
sacrifices to plot.  Wibble.

ROMANA:  Getting sneaky.  Wonder where she got that from.  Anyway,
it's refreshing to see a Seventh Doctor-ish manipulator as President,
especially when you figure out what she's been negotiating.

SUSAN:  Well, there's one mystery kind of solved.  I'm impressed that
she survived on her own for a year.  And of course, this confirms that
she can grow old and die with David...oh, wait, John Peel's messing
with that.  Never mind... :-)

OTHERS:  I would like to see more of Innocet.  A filial sort of relationship
that the Doctor desperately needs.  The other cousins were OK, I
suppose.

STYLE:  A little less weird than Time's Crucible, but only a little.  Marc
knows how to use words to their best effect, and it shows.

An excellent book.  Really excellent.  And I loved the line about Skaro.
I can just imagine John and Jon arguing back and forth about retconning
Skaro, suddenly they see Lungbarrow, and Marc's already done it.  D'oh!

And the Cliff Richard bit was hysterical.

10/10.

Next:  The Dark Path, as David "Why Use One Word When Ten Will Do?"
McIntee tries to give some backstory to the Master.

--Sean Gaffney
--I can't believe no one died.  That really threw me...