From: Sean Gaffney Subject: Grave Matter: Review by the Happy Guy Date: 26 May 2000 00:00:00 GMT Message-ID: <8gljtk$t9i$1@nnrp1.deja.com> X-Http-Proxy: 1.1 x61.deja.com:80 (Squid/1.1.22) for client 207.171.147.110 Organization: Deja.com - Before you buy. X-Article-Creation-Date: Fri May 26 10:33:23 2000 GMT X-MyDeja-Info: XMYDJUIDhotaru_chan Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho X-Http-User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.0; Windows 95; DigExt) It's funny that I should turn this review out so quickly, because by all reports that's exactly what Justin did when writing the book. A classic case of last-minute hole-filling, something Justin's had experience with before with the Shock books. Still, doesn't mean it has to LOOK rushed and harried... SPOILERS!!! And for the most part it doesn't, though it gets off to a slow start. Grave Matter doesn't try to be anything more than it is, a Hammer Horror-ish Who plot with elements of scientists running amuck and tampering in God's domain. (How ironically topical.) And of course, it wouldn't be Justin if it didn't have one or two totally gobsmacking plot twists. PLOT: As I said, straightforward. The Doctor and Peri land in a situation, try to figure out bits of it, get caught up in the villainous schemes, and eventually the Doctor saves the day while Peri gets possessed. Along the way, though, there are a few nice twists that made me drop my jaw a bit, such as Peri's conversation with Madge near the end. (Yes, I know I said spoilers above, but that's just for politeness' sake, I ain't gonna spoil you. ^_^) THE DOCTOR: Variable, to be honest. He starts out incredibly GeneriDoc, with little Colin bits being grafted on to remind us who we're watching. (The 'old men' comment to Mike is a prime example, and made me wince.) But once we get to Sheldon's Folly and the Doctor finds out what's going on, there's no question at all about who we're dealing with, and ColDoc's characterization becomes impeccable. PERI: No problems here, very much the Peri of the TV series with a little added texture. She whines, she stumbles, she gets taken over by the alien menace... but she's not annoying, as Peri could sometimes be, so that's a plus. VILLAIN: The Denarians, I guess. Spores from beyond, they pretty much fulfill their function. Logan's a nice evil mastermind till we learn the truth, and Dave Madsen is... well, pathetic, really. OTHERS: Not a lot to speak of here. Sir Edward is really the only three-dimensional one. Even Janet and Christopher don't get a lot to do beyond the bounds of their character outline. STYLE: Well, it's hardly The Turn of the Screw, but it trundles along nicely. This book reads very fast, which is a plus as it helps you avoid noticing the scars where it's been quickly pasted together. And I also liked the 'Or Is It...?" type ending as well. OVERALL: It might disappoint people coming right after the amazingly different Verdigris, but Grave Matter does what it was written hurriedly to do: provide a decent, exciting Doctor Who story. Recommended. 8/10. --SG --next up, The Space Age, about which I know very little... Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.