Subject:      The Scales of Injustice:  Review by the Happy Guy
From:         gaffney@iconn.net (Sean Gaffney)
Date:         1996/07/25
Message-Id:   <4t6hqd$cta@news.iconn.net>
Organization: i-Conn
Newsgroups:   rec.arts.drwho

Review time again, sorry about the delay.  This was a
tough one, in many ways.

SPOILERS for "The Scales of Injustice"...

Y'know, I really wanted to beging this review with an old SCTV
bit:  "I loved it.  It was much better than Cat-People.  I'm
going to read it again and again."  Unfortunately, though the
second statement is true...

Now, although there are many different people who review stuff
here on rec.arts.drwho, and a whole lot who are better and
funnier at it than me (David, Steve, Greg, Shannon...etc.), I
have, rather egotistically, come to think of myself as the radw
reviewer.  This means that I review every NA, MA, and Virgin
"other" that comes down the pike.  However, with this title
carries much responsibility.

F'rinstance, what opinions should I be giving?  Should I review
the book keeping in mind whether others will read it, or shall
I give my own personal opinion?  Usually giving both is not that
hard.  But...

The Scales of Injustice is Gary Russell's best book so far.
The prose is excellent, the moralistic approach is in character,
and the characterization of the regulars is deep and touching.

Nevertheless, for reasons I'll mention later, I *dragged* my
way through this novel.

What to do...well, let's do my normal review bits.

Plot:  I hate conspiracy plots.  With a passion.  That does not
change the fact that the plot is very well thought-out, blithely
executed, and as twisty and turny as a Mara.  There were times
where I could read Gary's thoughts as he wrote the next bit...
(that's good, btw)

The Doctor:  See below.  Plus, he seemed underused.  He may
have been there a lot, but most of the time he observed.  In
Season 7, Pertwee wouldn't have been trapped for 4 episodes
without escaping *once*.

Liz:  Very well done.  Gary ignores Prisoners of the Sun (which
seemed more like a fever dream, anyway) and gives Liz a
real motivation for leaving.  The last few pages put a lump
in your throat.

UNIT:  The Brig is the tragedy of the piece, and it's done with
all the pain Gary could muster.  Good ties to Downtime.  Yates
is excellent, but best of all is Benton.  Who gets a speech!
With whole paragraphs of exposition!  Wow!

Villains (so to speak):  I did have a little more trouble
getting into the heads of these Silurians, as opposed to Malcolm
Hulke's book.  But they're pretty well done.  The description
of the Myrka as terrifying was the best joke in the book.

Style:  Similar at times to Who Killed Kennedy (this is *not*
a good thing), Gary's prose flows much better than his other
two.  I'd like to see more, now.  Perhaps a different Doctor.
He does a good Malcolm Hulke, too.  Where were the interior
illustrations?  (I know, talk to Andy Lane...)

Why Sean Is Waffling:  You gotta understand, I love Jon Pertwee.
The man was a brilliant showman, and his appearance at a con I
went to was a delight.  But if I ranked the Doctors, the third
would be at the bottom.  He irritates me, and worse, he bores
me.  That's probably the fault of Barry and Terrance rather
than Jon.  However, it means a struggle getting through a
MA.  I took a long time to finish Chris Bulis' book, too. (I'd
rather not go into The Ghosts of N-Space right now, thank you).

So that was one problem.  Then, as I mantioned, I hate conspiracy
books.  It was one of the reasons I couldn't finish Who Killed
Kennedy.  (The other being that the protagonist was a complete
a**hole.)  Thus, a major part of this book was just not my thing
at all.  But, a lot of people loved WKK, just as a huge amount
of people love the third Doctor.  So, here's the solution to
my dilemma.

For Pertwee enthusiasts, X-Files fans, and people looking for
a good read:  9/10.

For me:  6/10.

PS:  You'll notice I didn't mention the Introduction.  You're
right, I didn't.

And Corporal Bell changes her name after 2 pages. ;-)

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