Option Lock
Justin Richards
Summary: 8/10 Option Lock is another traditional Doctor Who story in the eighth Doctor line; the world at the Edge of Destruction, and the Doctor and Sam can only save the world from atomic catastrophe.
Option Lock, like Kursaal before it, isn't a radical Doctor Who story. Unlike Alien Bodies, or the less successful Eight Doctors and War of the Daleks, there aren't lurking discussions or arguments to be had over these books. Like Kursaal, this is a good thing, as it provides a book that is and enjoyable Doctor Who story in a Nightshade type tradition.
Keeping the Doctor and Sam in a large English house is quite a traditional Doctor Who location; connecting it to larger global politics is quite like Day of the Daleks. This is a good setting to use for mood and setting, as we've seen time and again in the original series. On the downside of this, however, is that the Doctor doesn't always seem completely involved with the story when we shift out of the English house to the White House.
Sam is finally starting to settle into a character. She's principled, but not unlikable. She seems a little older in this novel than she has in the more recent ones; like Ace after Dragonfire, she's a more mature character once she's settled in. When she's portrayed as a real person -- not a collection of slogans and simplistic belief -- she's a much better character.
This Doctor is always going to be more generic that others; a mix of the fifth and fourth seems to be the standard mix that all of the authors are moving towards, with as much of "Paul McGann" as they can reasonably create.
The dating of this book seems problematic; it's clear that a new president has recently been elected in the United States (and it isn't Clinton). This isn't unprecedented in Doctor Who -- after all, we have the various UK governments mentioned during the UNIT era. But I'm wondering if there might start to be a "universe" issue here -- if we visit the US President again, will it be Dering? Or are we finally going to acknowledge that the Doctor's travels in time often have far reaching side effects & history may be different than it was when the Doctor was in an earlier incarnation. (I think this is something that the books should outright address at some point in the future, provided you can hang a story on it.)
Before I mention some spoilers, I'll wrap up my thoughts on the book. "Option Lock" isn't a revolutionary Docto Who novel, but as the second 8th Doctor novel in a row not to rely on old monsters and villains it helps to give the characters their own identity. It is definitely a good book for those that want one "just like it was on the telly", but don't want to read complete nostalgia trips.
Spoilers for the end....
We also get some interesting foreshadowing as far as Sam goes. Fortunately, they make her several years older and prove that they can't easily kill her off. [This also leads me to believe that this story doesn't take place in 1998, but something like 2005 or so.] She's "not prepared" to give a full answer with regards to whether she is still travelling with the Doctor. This, I would imagine, serves as some of the lead in to the upcoming series that will "change their relationship forever" -- but we'll still have to see about that.