A transition for Doctor Who, but a good one!
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Like the later New Adventure 'Warlock' this book would have been just as good had it not involved the TARDIS crew at all, because it is an involving story with well-written characters. The use of made-up jargon is not excessive and is mostly understandable in context without the glossary. In any case it adds some realism to this futuristic dystopia. The chapters are long but nicely divided into segments, each headed up by transit station and thus easy to follow. Each segment interlinks with a manageable quota of characters binding the whole thing together.
In summary I found this to be an enjoyable and pleasant read, and actually one of the better new adventures. I preferred it even to Nightshade and Human Nature. The doctor is interesting, unpredictable and surprising (one might even say 'alien!') with some memorable (and therefore not so transient!) dialogue. And what a companion Kadiatu would have made for the doctor if she had stayed with him and continued to be so well written.
One word of warning: You won't like this if you think Doctor Who should all lovely and sugar-coated or if your name is Mary Whitehouse. Sure there are limits to what a kids TV show can get away with, but the whole point of these books was to explore Doctor Who within an adult framework as so many fans are adults, and it works, and this book works well in that context. For example, the doctor randomly getting drunk to celebrate the birthday of the universe is the sort of seemingly silly unexpected thing I could easily imagine Sylvester McCoy, Patrick Troughton, Colin or Tom Baker doing were Doctor Who an adult show. It's good to incorporate some hasher realities from time to time and variety is what made this series so enduring.
Oh and IMO this beats that very odd 289 pages of `where's-the-plot?' drivel and silly names Ben Aaronovitch later penned and called `The Also People'! Although to be fair, that salvaged some respect with the clever and witty dialogues between the doctor, his companions and Kadiatu. These two books are so different that I've never heard of anyone liking both!
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I hope this is simply a transitional stage in Doctor Who...
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In all honesty I would say that this is the weakest of the Doctor Who Virgin New Adventures series so far. The storyline is nonsensical, the characterisations limp, the themes jumbled and the dialogue gibberish.
Ben Aaronovitch has hitherto been responsible for some of the sharpest and most exciting 'Who' in years during his involvement in the Seventh Doctor's era, however he appears to have lost his muse somewhat and this drivel is disappointing testimony to that loss.
Arriving on Earth somewhere in our future The Doctor encounters a series of anarchic and screwed-up characters and sees his new assistant Bernice (Benny) become possessed and homicidal. More than that I cannot recall, as the narrative left me cold and eager to finish (I absolutely refuse to leave any book no matter how awful, unfinished!)
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