Subject: Oh No It Isn't!: Review by the Happy Guy From: "Sean Gaffney" Date: 1998/05/13 Message-ID: <01bd7df9$ad4d60a0$b980abcf@default> Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho [More Headers] [Subscribe to rec.arts.drwho] Ah, is it May already? And to think I'm actually on time for once. Time to review the May books, starting with Paul Cornell's stroll into panto, Oh No... [A young woman in a modified Japanese sailor suit uniform carrying a VERY large two-pointed blade walkd up to Sean and whispers in his ear.] Um...what? [The woman whacks him in the head with the butt of her weapon and walks away.] Um...OK, it appears I let time slip away from me on this one...nevertheless, I guess I should include SPOILERS!!! Hmm. Been a year since this came out. Almost every single online Who reviewer has already submitted an opinion. Moreover, I've read them all. I love spoilers, and so I tend to read reviews of books I haven't read with abandon. Sullivan, Smith?, Vogel, Lee...all of them. This does leave a slight problem: can I write this review without stultifyingly saying what everyone has already said? Nope. So I'm not even gonna try. Onward. PLOT: Yes, there actually is one. And it's rather intriguing, actually. The panto has an explanation that, if not simple, at least does not cause you to screw up your face and go 'RIGHT.' BERNICE: I really enjoyed Benny in this book. She was a tad OTT, but that didn't really show as much, as everyone around her was so much worse. The novel might not be an ideal intro to the Bernice series (see below), but it's an excellent intro to Bernice herself. WOLSEY: Wow! Talk about a character come to life! Not only is Wolsey incredibly witty and suave, but you really feel for his plight, and the sacrifice he makes at the end is very poignant. DORAN: The first of a string of not-really love interests for Bernice. We don't really get much of a sense of him, as he spends most of the book panto'd. However, he seems like a nice enough chap, and I don't really mind Bernice spending time with him until she and Jason reunite. ^_^ STOKES: As someone remarked in another review, when Menlove Stokes is the voice of reason, you know you're in trouble. He actually manages to come across, at times in this book, as a reluctant hero. I wish the Benny NAs would do more with him - he's wonderfully eccentric. THE GREL: Fun villains, though very difficult to take seriously. Gotta love the good fact/bad fact bits. OTHERS: The academicians were not all that deeply drawn - but I rooted for them, so that's a good thing. And I'd like to see more of the tutor group as well. STYLE: Broad, of course - this is a comedy when it isn't being a total farce. But there's an undercurrent of danger to keep things from totally floating around. GRIPE: One gripe, and it's going to be jumping on the bandwagon a bit - this shouldn't have been the first in the series. Yes, in retrospect, it establishes a lot of the basic Benny NA plot - expedition gone wrong on distant planet, Benny sorts it out - but the fact that the book is such a departure from the NA form, in terms of its broad farce, means that there will be people coming into the series who will say 'Hey, I don't want to read books like this!' - as this group witnessed about 3 weeks ago. This would have been absolutely perfect as third or fourth - Dragon's Wrath or Beyond the Sun might have been a better starter. OVERALL: Despite that, and despite my taking a year to finish it (blame anime), this is a tremendously fun book to read. It has more puns than Dave Stone has double entendres, and a nice little serious core. If you don't like OTT, you might want to skip this one. But... 9/10. --Sean Gaffney --next up, Ghost Devices, if I don't get distracted again...