Doctor Who: The Silent Stars Go By [Kindle Edition]

There have been literally hundreds of DOCTOR WHO novels, but with the new millennium incarnation of the TV series, BBC Books (inevitably) renovated its line to match. The publishing "reboot" features three kinds of book: the main line of compact hardcovers sans dust jacket, technically marketed at YA readers, but written at a general audience level; a number of series *specifically* for younger readers, including annuals, Quick Reads and the 2in1 volumes of novellas; and what I guess might be called the "adult" line: mainstream hardcovers presumably written at a higher literary level.

The first book in that series, by science fantasy Master Michael Moorcock, THE COMING OF THE TERRAPHILES was, despite Moorcock's longtime and well documented affection for the show, a vastly disappointing affair, to put it mildly; rather than step into the DOCTOR WHO universe and continuity, he seemed to be appropriating the characters and some of the concepts to fit within his peculiar and legendary multi-verse. They bore little but surface resemblance to the authentic characters and more heartbreaking still, the book itself was a rambling, talky, discursive bit of twee high comedy, as if the setting were a drawing room in space.

But this second book by Dan Abnett, THE SILENT STARS GO BY, seems an aggressive attempt to reclaim the "adult" line's integrity. Abnett, though certainly a major player, does not represent the kind of high profile by-line Moorcock does, but clearly, this time, the editors were more concerned about getting it right than having a brand name on the package.

Abnett's book is really no more "adult" than the primary line of books, save for the fact that it's somewhat longer. Mostly, it's just a ripping good WHO yarn, featuring Matt Smith's incarnation of the Doctor, plus married companions Amelia Pond and Rory Williams. He has the characters, their voices, their internalization, exactly right; his prose is facile (he likes a good, showy effect) but also witty, and also -- and I don't mean this to diminish its sophistication -- easy to read. The flow appears effortless.

This is not to say it breaks any new ground -- as I say, this book is *not* a literary experiment, it's DOCTOR WHO served straight up, with suspense, cool monsters and expertly timed comedy. And it spins variations on a few familiar science fiction tropes (among them the backwoods colony of settlers descended from space travelers, who view artifacts of their ancestors' technology in a reinterpretive, religious context.) But I think that's exactly what was called for to save the line of books.

Flaws? Sometimes THE SILENT STARS GO BY is (despite its highly poetic title) cleverly quippy to a fault, and Abnett works the wisecracks a bit too hard. (When the original play version of THE ODD COUPLE was in out of town tryouts, a colleague asked director Mike Nichols how it was going. "Pretty good," said Nichols. "We're taking out the jokes." Meaning, of course, they were getting rid of distracting excess, that moved off the point of character and story. Here and there Abnett could do with similar restraint.) But all in all, that's a minor quibble.

The book is a brisk, fun read, it truly does come off as a credible DOCTOR WHO episode (and in comparison to the weak 6th season entries, a superior one at that) ... and it can (and will) be enjoyed by young readers as well as adults. Geronimo ...

The concept of a winter-world is an oldie in sci-fi terms, but it's a goodie. And it's to this setting we turn for Dan Abnett's new Doctor Who romp - featuring old adversaries the Ice Warriors!
When it comes to action, there's no better writer than Dan Abnett and paired with the inimitable delivery of Michael Maloney, The Silent Stars Go By does well to conjure up the scenes of a treacherously cold lost world that has forgotten its original heritage.

This might be officially touted as an 11th Doctor adventure, but Maloney clearly had Tom Baker in mind when narrating the Doctor's lines, and it actually works a treat - the likeness is spot on, plays in some wonderfully humorous lines and is at its best in the brilliant confrontation with the Ice Lord in Part 5. Full of menace and rich in the history of the show - it's a classic Doctor/baddie confrontation and written with perfect suspense.

That said, for all that this adventure has its high octane moments, it's not without its lulls too. At six hours long, parts of the tale can feel rather wordy and there's a lot of exploratory stuff mid-way; part three in particular feels rather padded out. Equally though, the extended running time gives the story room to build a proper sense of setting, giving it a richness of texture you rarely get in the TV episodes.

Amy and Rory feel rather periphery to the action, but this is all the more to allow the Doctor more time to be brilliant himself - the effect is of giving The Silent Stars Go By the flavour of a classic series adventure, or indeed classic sci-fi; those golden greats of the 60s pulp fiction era.

The descriptions of the ice warriors themselves are brilliant - they're given genuine menace and gravity; their monstrous, hulking size really coming across. Likewise, the other enemies of the piece - the trans-humans - are fantastically realised; horrible Necron-esque creations of fused flesh and metal. On the other end of the scale, there's the large supporting cast of west-country-accented natives who serve a rather good job of filling in the mystique of the post-Earth world.

I must admit that what attracted me to this book was The Ice Warriors on the cover. I just love the tardis in the snow flanked by Ice Warriors with broadswords! That said I found this book to be an engaging read, well written with a healthy respect for the show, but (more importantly) NOT dogged with super-continuity/history.
As a long time enthusiast I loved the 'old' series of BBC Dr. Who books from the 1990s which featured the 8th Doctor as well as all the past doctors which were aimed at a more adult readership which were unceremoniously dropped when the new show came out - it was like a slap in the face to all the people who had helped keep the show alive in the hiatus. Well if this book is anything to go by then that may have begun to be redressed.
Although Amy & Rory have their parts to play in this book the doctor comes to the fore and has a nice exchange with the Ice Warriors, where some of their history is explored and the Doctor's faux-pas in getting his time eras wrong certainly brought a smile to my face.
Although I find the characters of Amy & Rory on TV quite irritating they are (thankfully) underplayed in this book and therefore for me, more believable. I think therefore this book should appeal to new and long-time enthusiasts alike as a wonderful consolidation of old & new.
I like also that the cover has a timeless quality about it by not having images of the current doctor & companions which also reflects the latter policy of the books in the '90s, to allow the book to retain it's appeal once the actors decide to move on... indeed it appears that in the TV Xmas special Matt Smith will be going solo - Hurrah! It's been sometime coming but it appears Matt Smith has become a 'proper' Doctor! More excellent books like this one can only serve to underline this. Now, can we have an occasional past Doctor book please?