Story: This review was written after a long hiatus from Doctor Who books, and a journey through misery, so go easy on me.
The sixth Doctor decides to take his geeky teen companion, Grant Markham, on a tragical history tour of his past by bringinhg the child back to his homeworld of Agora. This was a mistake.
The book begins with the Doctor imprisoned, and after three weeks of torture, his morale is quite low. You see, Agora isn’t your normal Earth colony world. It is also a Cyber-breeding ground. The Cybermen have been coming to Agora every 3 years to pick up 500 new “recruits” who are then “converted” and added to the Cyber-army. So the “overseers” of this operation have been warned about the Doctor by the Cybermen, and given instructions to be implemented should the Time Lord show up. And show up he does. So now he’s in prison, awaiting the arrrival of this planet’s true masters, and they’ll take it from there.
Review: So here are my stock questions: will the Cybermen prevail? Will the Doctor prevail? Will Grant Markham be able to use Cyber-technology to clear up his acne? And lastly, but most importantly, did I like it? Yes. This was a good book. The sixth Doctor is in his prime. He is so sure of his beliefs and his actions, even though they risk alienating (is there anyone more alien than the Doctor?) himself from the Agorans, and Grant. He is quite guilt-ridden with the knowledge of his possible future as the Valeyard, and is even considering killing himself to prevent this future from ever taking place. Sure, the amount of lives saved by stopping the Cybermen is quite significant, as 500 at a pop are basically “killed” every three years. But without the Cybermen keeping this sad little colony afloat, I doubt if they could survive at all without them. As far as WHO-tragedies are concerned, this one is pretty small potatoes. I know putting a stop to an oppressive existance is worth sticking your neck out for, even if this colony’s days are imminently numbered regardless of the outcome. This is one of those times when the Doctor would just get the hell out of this situation and leave the planet to whatever fate befalls it, but he can’t. There are always complications.
So I give this book an 8 out of 10. I’m still searching for perfection myself, but I know Cyber-conversion isn’t the way to find it.
Year: 1995
Author: Steve Lyons
Publisher: Virgin
