Subject:      The Death of Art:  Review by the Happy Guy
From:         gaffney@iconn.net (Sean Gaffney)
Date:         1996/08/22
Message-Id:   <4vgh8f$rtq@news.iconn.net>
Organization: i-Conn
Newsgroups:   rec.arts.drwho

Well, I said this review wouldn't be coming out for some time, and of
course I was lying.  No, that's not true, but I didn't think I'd get to the
book this quickly.  But I did.  Onward, to Mr. Bucher-Jones.

SPOILERS for The Death of Art...

Hmmm.  When I reviewed Christmas on a Rational Planet, I said that I was
annoyed that I'd read Dave Owen's review before the book, 'cause he said
a lot of the things I wanted to say.  This time, I've read the book before that
issue of DWM hits the states.  Unfortunately, this time round I wish I had
another person around to explain things to me.

This is a really weird book, both plot-wise and prose-wise.  I'm really puzzled
as to a review of its qualities, as I'm still puzzling them out myself.  It reminds
me a bt of my feelings after reading Time's Crucible.  They're not similar in
a plot-like way, but both books are very deep, ambiguous things, and it takes
a lot of cider to wash 'em down.

Anyway:

PLOT:  Remember I said that COARP had a complex plot?  Hah! This thing
doesn't let up for a second in presenting you with weird, inexplicable
happenings.  It also doesn't really explain them until the last minute.  It reminded
me a bit of The Man in the Velvet Mask, but then, so did the style.

THE DOCTOR:  You get the feeling Simon wanted to write Hartnell.  There are
a lot of First Doctorish qualities in his persona this time, and, as with certain
Cartmel books, he does sit a few chapters out.  However, unlike Cartmel's
books, he is very much in on the action at the end.  The only other thing I'd
mention is that his psychic headache, which prevents him from leaving the
TARDIS for great lengths of time, seems to go away halfway through.

ROZ:  Since the Doctor got ROTLD, it's Roz's turn to be tortured.  And she's
really ripped apart in this one, by freaky things.  She and Chris have about
two pages together, but there's still a few romance hints.  Ben, I'm ready to
hate you in November...

CHRIS:  Best Chris book since Sleepy.  He's significantly less perky here, and
his attempts to imitate the Doctor are far more successful than I would have
guessed.  I was impressed.

VILLAIN:  Um...which one?  The Quoth don't count.  Montague was totally
hatstand, but a little too OTT for my taste.  Tomas/Jean/Pierre/Henri/etc.
was far better:  a creepy ends vs. means guy who really projected sublime
menace very well.

OTHERS:  Emil was a nicely sympathetic portrayal of a man very much
influenced by his family, in more ways than one.  And Jarre reminds me a
lot of that guy from The Sandbaggers.

STYLE:  Nice mentions of Hercule Poirot, Slippery Jim DeGriz, and a few
nice jokes.  Overall, though, this is a very dark book.  Not as dark as
MITVM was, but still disturbing.  The ending was especially cool, especially
for us happy ending freaks.

OVERALL:  This is a book where after you've read it, you can either decide
to like it or hate it, and reasons for each.  I've decided to like it.  It's complex,
but hey.  It's got Chris and Roz down, if not the Doctor.  And it's just...very
good.  There you go.  One to reread a few times, if only to understand it.

8/10.

Next:  Twilight of the Gods.  Chris Bulis vs. the Second Doctor.  Can he pull it off?

--Sean Gaffney
--"You git!  I thought you were dead!  Git git git!" - Benny, No Future