Vampire Science
Summary: 9/10 The Doctor and his new companion Sam return to the new Doctor's birthplace to fight the undead, with the usual "help" from UNIT and some other San Franscisco residents. Based on the TV show that never was.
It's not a coincidence that I got the TV Movie soundtrack and Vampire Science the same day. However, I hadn't intended to read Vampire Science right away, but I just paged through the first chapter..and the next thing I knew I was done with it. And so, while I was reading this book, naturally, the TV Movie soundtrack would fill in as the soundtrack for the novel. Especially a novel that shares the environment and attitude of the TV Movie.
If someone had told me that VS was a enhanced novelization for the TV series that would have followed on from the TV Movie, I could almost believe it. It had its own "kisses to the past", with Vampires and UNIT, but didn't dwell on the past. It even had a pre-credits sequence with the first chapter!
The plot was also very visual, and fixed in one specific location -- unlike some novels that seem to move all over space and time. This means that when they have a scene that would have required FX if it was on television -- such as one where the Doctor gives a tour of the TARDIS, I can picture the scene in my mind using Paul McGann and the sets from the TV Movie.
This was also exactly the right approach to take. I got a feeling of "that's it, we've dwelt enough on this being a New Doctor and a New Companion" -- something that novels have to do very quickly if the 8th Doctor is ever going to establish his own identity.
It had a Doctor-as-romantic-lead with lots of female supporting characters -- from the head of the American UNIT Adrienne Kramer, Carolyn the Not-Grace, Sam the Not-Ace, and Joanna, the head of the female vampires, and clear romantic tension on several occasions with the Doctor [Carolyn and Harris].
Accusations that Vampire Science make "Time Rift" canonical are of course completely accurate -- it even makes a UNIT dating error! [Time Rift takes place in the near future / early 21st century in the video, but took place pre-1997 in Vampire Science] [And ironically enough, it probably took place for the same reasons as in Mawdryn Undead's replacement of Ian with the Brigadier, when Grace was replaced by Carolyn! ]
I've made some observations on Sam based on the character outline and comments from Kate, Jon, and other people on the net [and in print]. However, this was the first time I had encountered the character. This book wasn't really about her -- the plot and characterization focused more on Carolyn and Joanna -- so it's hard to say we know much more about Sam than when we started. I think one of the problems that Kate and Jon have is they so much want to make her "real" -- her scene with Harris discussing being "PC" -- that she fails to be "real". Her best scenes are those where she argues with the Doctor about whether he should save -- or kill -- the vampires. Fortunately, I didn't feel that she was at all Ace-like, but I think it'll take a novel that truly focuses on her character to get her to live beyond her outline.
Carolyn -- the "not-Grace" -- is, while clearly based on Grace, turns out to be a different character than Grace. The plot needed a character like Carolyn around, and unless you were to move the story and replace the character with Liz Shaw, there aren't many other characters who would fit the bill. [And Liz is problematic if you want to be friendly with the PROBE series] The switch to having the Doctor's original encounter with Carolyn being in her student years was wise -- it allowed for one of Carolyn's points of characterization be living her life based on one incident twenty years in her past, and her contrast with both Sam and Joanna more vivid than it might have been with Grace.
One of the other reasons why I felt like Vampire Science "felt" like it could have been a hypothetical New Who story is that it built up a potential US UNIT cast -- something that the TV series would certainly have done. Adrienne Kramer, in particular, is clearly set up to make a return appearance at any time [and working for UNIT, anywhere!] [A natural pairing, of course, is with Brigadier Bambera at UNIT UK] In this regard, Vampire Science succeeds where the TV movie failed -- we know how "Doctor Who" works as a series after reading this novel.
The other characters also work well -- the stunted adolecence of the younger vampires are definitely "modern" type vampires -- mostly Vampire:The Masquerade, with a little Anne Rice, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer for good measure -- but it also puts it strongly in a Doctor Who context, with minor [and underplayed] references to State of Decay and Gallifreyan history. Most importantly, none of the vampires were monsters. They may have been enemies, or opponents, but they were treated sympathetically, like the Silurians, Sea Devils, and the Ice Warriors. The conflict with the humans is inevitable -- because they need blood -- but like the conflicts with the Silurians and the Sea Devils, the Doctor tries -- and sometime fails -- to find another way.
So, I guess that leaves the Doctor.
We're still getting to know this Doctor; and with this novel we actually can start to get to know him. He's definitely not a Dark Doctor at all, but bright and shiny. The authors tend to bring this to extremes -- sometimes you expect this Doctor to have the TARDIS filled with cartoon bunny rabbits and puppy dogs. Sometimes this works -- the butterfly scene in particular -- but it's something that runs the risk of becoming far more extreme than what we've seen from the Doctor in the past. This will be a difficult Doctor to work, especially if the writers aren't keeping track of the other novels -- it needs to move beyond the TV Movie for the character, there isn't enough there for every novel to draw upon -- and it shouldn't just take points like this Doctor's enthusiasm and make it the whole of the character. [The TARDIS train set, however, was inspired..] I was happy to see the Doctor work to keep Carolyn and James together -- their relationship could have been a casuality of the adventure, but it made this Doctor finding "little" things important -- like perfectly fitting shoes, and brilliant sunsets -- more a part of this character.
Both of the two eight Doctor books [VS and Dying Days] I've read so far have been very promising -- hopefully, as the series settles in, we can go beyond these two novels...Sam, in particular, needs to have something dedicated to her character.
My outside links have links to Kate Orman's site, the Time Rift site, and Bookpages , where you can order this book.