Subject:      Warchild - review by the happy guy
From:         gaffney@iconn.net (Sean Gaffney)
Date:         1996/01/31
Message-Id:   <4emjah$c2g@news.iconn.net>
Organization: i-Conn
Newsgroups:   rec.arts.drwho

OK, in record time, I have read Andrew Cartmel's latest, WARCHILD.
And herein I pass sentence...

(SPOILERS!)  Well, actually, there aren't any, but I get jumpy.

Well, I had mixed feelings about this book.  WARHEAD and WARLOCK
were both okay, but they seemed a little...cold.  As if Andrew was so
determined to write his own book that he forgot it was a Doctor Who novel.
But WARCHILD put my doubts to rest as, despite not having much of the
Doctor, it is easily the best of the three.

Plot - Well...I kept thinking of this book as being a big buildup.  I didn't realize
that the buildup was in fact the book itself until the very end.  Things progress
quickly, but it all has a "Chapter One" feel.  Andrew also appears to want to
try and cram as many influences of Stephen King as possible in this book, with
CUJO, THE DEAD ZONE, and CARRIE being the most obvious.

The Doctor - virtually absent, as you might expect.  He exists to set the ball
rolling, then sits back and watches it roll.  What else did you expect?

Benny - Since she spends the book with the Doctor, she is also mostly absent.
She seems to be more grumpy here than in other books.

Chris - Ditto and ditto.  Though a bald Buddhist monk is truly one of the funniest
character twists I've ever seen.  I've also now firmly decided that Chris is the
most difficult companion to write.

Roz - Very Ace-like, and she gets the brunt of the book, shooting things and making
smart remarks.  Getting a bit less prickly as the books go on.

Creed - Well, this is his book, really.  Creed and his family are the focus, and
this is where the book really comes into its own.  All of the characters in Creed's
family are very well drawn, and particularly with Ricky, Andrew manages to capture
teen angst very well.  He also gets the USA pretty well defined, for a Brit. :-)

Style of book - The main plus.  This book is beautifully written, and I can spot a
bit of Kate Orman-influence.  But this is a Cartmel book, and so you find lots of
social thrusting and such.  Unlike WARLOCK, though, it fits in very well.  I enjoyed
the *writing* of this book, which I don't usually say.  You know me, I like to be
entertained, and it doesn't have to be literature! (Down, Heinlein Avenger, Down!)
But this book has scads of...*well-written prose*.  Good stuff.

Overall - If you hated WARHEAD and WARLOCK, then don't read it.  But I really
enjoyed this book, lack of Doctor or not.

8.5/10

Next - The Man in the Velvet Mask.  I'm on page 30, and this book looks *DARK*.
I mean, makes-Cracker-look-like-Mr.-Blobby-dark.  Hoo boy.

--Sean Gaffney
--"AAAAIIIIIGGGGGHHHH!" - Sean, slightly depressed on not being in the quote file