The Face-Eater (Doctor Who Series)

Rating:
Summary: The Face-Eater
Review: A solid Dr Who page-turner, that avoids mimicing what has gone before by showcasing a few interesting surprises in the last portion of the book.

The Doctor and Sam intercept a distress call from Proxima II, where the first community of human colonists (five thousand strong) has set up shop as workers, supervisors...and a few troublemakers. Because all these pioneers had been psychologically examined before selection, the worst thing that Supreme Executive of the overseer organization--Global Mining Corporation--had to worry about, previously, were a few disgruntled miners trying to set up a Union, or the odd bit of cantankerousness erupting at some of the seedier watering-holes.

But when the "Face-Eater" arrives and starts claiming victims, is he merely a human lunatic who managed to fool the psyche-profilers...or does the answer lie within Proxima II itself? The strange, furry little natives, with their stone formations--marked with glyphs that may contain a warning about the magnificent mountains beyond the colony--appear only to be capable of mimicing the words of humans, or the Doctor, who tries to bond with them. But things heat up; mimicry, on this planet of secrets, goes beyond the repetition game played by a few cute aliens. Distraught colonists experience visions of tragic incidents from their pasts, reliving the awful deaths of loved ones. And then there's the Face-Eater, chalking up victims who, suddenly, may not be so dead after all. Or are people being duplicated for some sinister purpose? The Doctor and Sam must apply themselves, before the colony, under a manic, paranoid leader with several gun-toting toadies who will do her bidding, tears the colony apart using brutal oppression to solve all her problems.

Readers who don't watch everyone carefully will likely be in for a few shocks; all readers who recognize the trappings of "killer loose on a colony-world" stories on sight, will recognize them here. But, this treatment of familiar ideas is fairly satisfying, creepy throughout most chapters, and ends up demonstrating just how well the Doctor and Sam have gotten to know each other. This would be their last adventure before Fitz joined them, and their ability to depend on each other, and only each other if it comes to that, is highlighted here.

Rating:
Summary: Pass this one up if Sam annoys you!!
Review: Let's face it, Samantha Jones has GOT to be the worse companion ever for the Doctor to be saddled with and this novel just homes that point in. She's so annoying that I found myself skimming over her parts and getting back to the Doctor. (If I hear one more bit about her being against eating meat and against violence one more time I'll scream!) No, in fact I refuse to buy any more DW books until Sam gets kicked out!! If you like Sam, then get this book. If you find her an insufferable moronic idiot, do yourself a favor and pass this one up. You'll save your blood pressure! Otherwise this story is rather standard fare, nothing really spectacular.

Rating:
Summary: Pass this one up if Sam annoys you!!
Review: Proxima II is the first human colony to be founded on another planet. There are five thousand inhabitants attempting to build a new home on this barren plant. When the Doctor and Sam arrive, they find that not everything is running smoothly; people are being murdered... Chaos reigns as the leader of the colony calls for strict martial law, and the police are brutally murdering people. Fears buried deep inside come to the surface, and even the Doctor is not immune... The native inhabitants can only mimic others, but they hold the key to unravelling the mystery that threatens the human population. Overall this was an enjoyable book, with many unexpected plot twists.

Rating:
Summary: The Page-Turner
Review: THE FACE-EATER is not terribly original or innovative and does not take the reader anywhere that Doctor Who hasn't (metaphorically) gone before. It doesn't blaze any new trails like ALIEN BODIES, it doesn't redefine a companion like SEEING I, nor does it push the envelope towards a beautiful breaking-point in the way that THE SCARLET EMPRESS did. It is, however, mesmerizing and spellbinding, and I sped through this in about half the time it usually takes me to read a BBC Doctor Who book because I simply couldn't put the book down.

The plot skips along quickly and isn't overly complicated while not being totally straightforward either. This is actually used to great effect by Simon Messingham. When the action slows down, interesting character development takes place as well as some fascinating reflections on the setting. In case you didn't know, this book is set on the planet that is the home to the first Earth colony outside the solar system. There are some excellent passages concerning how isolated these people are, how much they sacrificed to come this far and just what exactly is at stake in this situation.

The Doctor is relegated to the sidelines through most of the story, though for the small amount of time that he is present he has some appropriate lines and great scenes. There are some good moments for him here, the best being when he is tied to a chair and literally spends hours trying to convince his captor that he isn't a shape-shifter. The premise is simple enough, but the scene is wonderfully written and shows that Messingham really has the hang of this Doctor in a way that very few other EDA authors have demonstrated.

Sam, on the other hand, for the first portion of the book, is at her most annoying - worse than she's ever been. She whines, she moans and she complains. She's mean and she's witlessly sarcastic to people who she has no reason to be mean and witlessly sarcastic to. In short, it's everything we've come to know and loathe about her since she joined the Doctor. Fortunately, she tones it down in the middle and end of the book so that she actually becomes somewhat tolerable. I suspect that Messingham wanted to make her over-the-top in her assertiveness to compensate for the events of the previous book but was forced by reason of her love interest in this story to mellow her out a little. It would be far beyond the realms of possibility to believe that anyone could gain an admirer if he or she was continually carrying on in the manner Sam was at the start of this book.

Fortunately, what saves the opening of the book from being a complete Sam-infested failure is the great mystery that Messingham has set up. There's a suspected psychopath on the loose and people are mysteriously being killed. They're all fairly standard Doctor Who elements, but the execution is so superb that it all feels very fresh and new.

One of the highlights for me was watching the commander of the colony going slowly insane as the story progresses. From the very start she's nervous and unsure of her command. There is a conspiracy, she is convinced, that is intent on usurping her authority and destroying the civilization that she has worked so hard to build. Her paranoia gains more control of her mind and eventually she is reduced to setting up trip wires around her office with pieces of string tied around containers of pens in an attempt to find a fictitious intruder (who she imagines is a disgruntled worker out to sabotage her colony and can be identified by wearing, appropriately, a red arm band). The slow progression from slightly neurotic leader to full-blown lunatic is well handled and intriguing. Excellent, well-written stuff.

This is definitely a good book and comes highly recommended despite the painful Sam moments at the beginning. It's not earth-shattering or groundbreaking, but it accomplishes what it set out to do and that is to tell a wildly entertaining story.

Rating:
Summary: The Page-Turner
Review: THE FACE-EATER is not terribly original or innovative and does not take the reader anywhere that Doctor Who hasn't (metaphorically) gone before. It doesn't blaze any new trails like ALIEN BODIES, it doesn't redefine a companion like SEEING I, nor does it push the envelope towards a beautiful breaking-point in the way that THE SCARLET EMPRESS did. It is, however, mesmerizing and spellbinding, and I sped through this in about half the time it usually takes me to read a BBC Doctor Who book because I simply couldn't put the book down.

The plot skips along quickly and isn't overly complicated while not being totally straightforward either. This is actually used to great effect by Simon Messingham. When the action slows down, interesting character development takes place as well as some fascinating reflections on the setting. In case you didn't know, this book is set on the planet that is the home to the first Earth colony outside the solar system. There are some excellent passages concerning how isolated these people are, how much they sacrificed to come this far and just what exactly is at stake in this situation.

The Doctor is relegated to the sidelines through most of the story, though for the small amount of time that he is present he has some appropriate lines and great scenes. There are some good moments for him here, the best being when he is tied to a chair and literally spends hours trying to convince his captor that he isn't a shape-shifter. The premise is simple enough, but the scene is wonderfully written and shows that Messingham really has the hang of this Doctor in a way that very few other EDA authors have demonstrated.

Sam, on the other hand, for the first portion of the book, is at her most annoying - worse than she's ever been. She whines, she moans and she complains. She's mean and she's witlessly sarcastic to people who she has no reason to be mean and witlessly sarcastic to. In short, it's everything we've come to know and loathe about her since she joined the Doctor. Fortunately, she tones it down in the middle and end of the book so that she actually becomes somewhat tolerable. I suspect that Messingham wanted to make her over-the-top in her assertiveness to compensate for the events of the previous book but was forced by reason of her love interest in this story to mellow her out a little. It would be far beyond the realms of possibility to believe that anyone could gain an admirer if he or she was continually carrying on in the manner Sam was at the start of this book.

Fortunately, what saves the opening of the book from being a complete Sam-infested failure is the great mystery that Messingham has set up. There's a suspected psychopath on the loose and people are mysteriously being killed. They're all fairly standard Doctor Who elements, but the execution is so superb that it all feels very fresh and new.

One of the highlights for me was watching the commander of the colony going slowly insane as the story progresses. From the very start she's nervous and unsure of her command. There is a conspiracy, she is convinced, that is intent on usurping her authority and destroying the civilization that she has worked so hard to build. Her paranoia gains more control of her mind and eventually she is reduced to setting up trip wires around her office with pieces of string tied around containers of pens in an attempt to find a fictitious intruder (who she imagines is a disgruntled worker out to sabotage her colony and can be identified by wearing, appropriately, a red arm band). The slow progression from slightly neurotic leader to full-blown lunatic is well handled and intriguing. Excellent, well-written stuff.

This is definitely a good book and comes highly recommended despite the painful Sam moments at the beginning. It's not earth-shattering or groundbreaking, but it accomplishes what it set out to do and that is to tell a wildly entertaining story.