Subject:      The English Way of Death - review by the Happy Guy
From:         gaffney@iconn.net (Sean Gaffney)
Date:         1996/03/23
Message-Id:   <4j1vbh$3s8@news.iconn.net>
Organization: i-Conn
Newsgroups:   rec.arts.drwho

OK, before I begin, let me just say that the following review has absolutely
*nothing* to do with Gareth Roberts the person, who is beloved by all, and is
famed for his saving of kittens and puppies and all around niceness.

Since Gary thinks I'm cruel and heartless, apparently, I thought I should
make that clear.

However, the same rule does not apply to Mr. Roberts' writing.

SPOILERS!

THE ENGLISH WAY OF DEATH.  Where to start?  How about my usual
rundown:

Plot:  Unexplained, with so many scientific explanations thrown in that I just
started skimming them.  The zombies have to be immolated, then they only
have to be beheaded, then they can just be shot.  AAAY!  I feel as if Tom Baker
should narrate the missing bits.  Not that I'd want it...

The Doctor:  Vague.  Since so little of the book is dialogue, we really don't
get an impression of the later Tom style.  Plus the fact that he spends most of
the book worried, or "unusually subdued".  Gareth:  please note your era.

Romana:  Always scintillating with the Doctor, get Romana alone and she
tends to be irritating.  This, admittedly, is well borne out by Gareth, but I don't
think he shares my opinion, so...

K9 - Functional.  Next...

Others:  Dull, two-dimensional, pointless characters.  I wonder if Gareth read
my review of CAT-PEOPLE and decided to pair up *everyone*.  However,
since Percy doesn't think much of Felicia until they're suddenly engaged, and
The Colonel and Harriet meet and fall in love in the last ten pages.  At least
we *knew* Gary's characters - these people manage to be annoying and
stultifyingly dull at the same time.

Villain:  Overblown, but then this is the Williams era.  Romana is amazingly
stupid in regards to this guy, letting him run free when anyone can see he's not
got butter on his toast from min one.

Writing:  The reason that THE ROMANCE OF CRIME was so well-written and
indicative of its era was that it was almost all dialogue.  It had the wham-bang
puns that Season 17 was famous for.  Why, then, does Gareth have more
descriptive passages than the average McIntee novel?  Just when we get a
few interesting conversations, the book grinds to a halt with place description,
the weather, and the omnipresent scientific explanations.

Overall:  This goes with PARASITE and TOY SOLDIERS as one of the books
I had to *force* myself to finish.  I hope you realize how much I sacrifice for this
newsgroup.  Actually, that's the problem:  I do enjoy eighty percent of these
books.  But with THE HIGHEST SCIENCE, TRAGEDY DAY, ZAMPER, and
especially THE ENGLISH WAY OF DEATH, Gareth has managed to be the
*ONLY* author (got that, Gary?) who I'm not looking forward to again.  Even
Penswick had some poeticness in his crap, like a good Yadalee post.  Gareth
is just conventionally dull, and that's what disappointed me most about this book.

I am also bothered by having to write this review a few days after the Russell
thread.  I am usually the Happy Guy, you know...Oh well:  April has DEATH AND
DIPLOMACY, and I really liked SKY PIRATES!.  Plus, after a bad start with
SHADOWMIND, Chris Bulis has become a really good MA writer.  So hopefully
I'll feel better.

But for now...

3/10.

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