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Doctor Who: Virgin New Adventures #58
Doctor Who: Eternity Weeps
"The flood is come! Oh God save us all; the day of judgement is come!"
Turkey, 2003: Bernice and Jason join two rival expeditions attempting to find Noah's Ark. While one team follows the Bible and its own beliefs, the other relies on a more exact science - but both paths lead to the same revelation. And, as the region moves ever closer to war, they uncover the key to a timeless mystery and a terrible secret.
The Seventh Doctor and Chris are called in to a situation fast getting out of control, as countless numbers flee a biological terror. The world is about to undergo a new genesis. While Chris gets himself a job with NASA, the Doctor must unravel the ties between Mount Ararat, the moon, and an ancient exodus.
Mankind faces apocalypse. But can the aid of a far older race, alongside companions past and present, prevent the planet being twisted into the image of a long-dead world?
Turkey, 2003: Bernice and Jason join two rival expeditions attempting to find Noah's Ark. While one team follows the Bible and its own beliefs, the other relies on a more exact science - but both paths lead to the same revelation. And, as the region moves ever closer to war, they uncover the key to a timeless mystery and a terrible secret.
The Seventh Doctor and Chris are called in to a situation fast getting out of control, as countless numbers flee a biological terror. The world is about to undergo a new genesis. While Chris gets himself a job with NASA, the Doctor must unravel the ties between Mount Ararat, the moon, and an ancient exodus.
Mankind faces apocalypse. But can the aid of a far older race, alongside companions past and present, prevent the planet being twisted into the image of a long-dead world?
246 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
1 person is currently reading
206 people want to read
About the author
Jim Mortimore
49 books19 followersJim Mortimore is a British science fiction writer, who has written several spin-off novels for popular television series, principally Doctor Who, but also Farscape and Babylon 5.
When BBC Books cancelled his Doctor Who novel Campaign, he had it published independently and gave the proceeds to a charity – the Bristol Area Down Syndrome Association. He is also the writer of the Big Finish Doctor Who audio play The Natural History of Fear and their Tomorrow People audio play Plague of Dreams. He has also done music for other Big Finish productions.
He released his first original novel in 2011, Skaldenland.
When BBC Books cancelled his Doctor Who novel Campaign, he had it published independently and gave the proceeds to a charity – the Bristol Area Down Syndrome Association. He is also the writer of the Big Finish Doctor Who audio play The Natural History of Fear and their Tomorrow People audio play Plague of Dreams. He has also done music for other Big Finish productions.
He released his first original novel in 2011, Skaldenland.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 22, 2023
By 1999, I was out of touch with Doctor Who, having watched some of the Tom Baker stories on Public Television back in the Eighties. But suddenly the very first episodes made it to TV where I am, and I became a fan of how it all started - the First Doctor, Ian & Barbara, and especially Susan. The whole granddaughter thing caught me by surprise (plus I had never seen a face like Carole Ann Ford’s). This got me buying Doctor Who novels that featured Susan; the Virgin Books run was already over, many of the books already gone from shelves, but I scored The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and from the BBC Books line, now up and running, I got The Witch Hunters.
I widened my interest, when I got a Third Doctor adventure (his debut) on videocassette, became fascinated both with the Doctor trapped on Earth, and Liz Shaw. So Doctor Who novels with Liz Shaw were allowed to affect the budget too, like The Wages of Sin, and a luckier find, The Eye of the Giant.
Of course it was only a matter of time, given how much fun I was having…soon I found myself getting any of the books, any Doctors, any Companions. I acquired, and read them, in no particular order. Under those conditions, Eternity Weeps was, I’m pretty sure, the first experience I had with Virgin Books’ sequential Seventh Doctor novels, that continued the then-current Doctor’s exploits while there was no TV show.
Eternity Weeps is an awful book to start with. You would not give this book, first, to someone as an introduction to the Doctor. Even for me, it was an unintentional gaff to jump into the Seventh Doctor’s continuity right, as laid out by the Virgin Books series, by starting here. This would be like starting someone with The Expanse, by giving them Book 8, I’m sure.
As I started re-reading this book, I realized that I had come out of it, decades ago, thinking it was fascinating, labyrinthine mush. Something about searching for Noah’s Ark on two different mountains getting brutally interrupted by competing armies and some terrorists, many deaths, the Moon suddenly mattering - with its own “Ark” - a terraforming killer virus designed to re-make Earth so aliens could move in, many many more deaths (even more hideous than by gunshot)…and lots of stuff included in the story that had to do with several books I had not read. Benny? Jason? Roz? Imorkal?? Chris? And, to top it all off, Doctor as late arrival, and then in and out of his own ‘New Adventure’. But then, what was I expecting…I had skipped past all the New Adventures that still featured the Doctor Who logo on the cover of the book (when I bought this book, I was not sure it actually was a Doctor Who novel)!
I don’t know why I had this book parked on the website at a 4-star rating - that was a gift to what I knew had been a very confusing, whirlwind read - but I’m glad I re-read it, because it all made more sense this time. But yeah…I’ve read all the books that came before it and whoah does that help!
Still, this is not a highly regarded Doctor Who novel. I don’t think the author himself wrote many that breed widespread adoration. The knocks would be - and they are on full display in Eternity Weeps - : too brutal, bloody, and violent; not the greatest prose style; big concepts piled on top of each other and chaotic in collective effect, barely hanging together; ham-fisted approach to wringing emotions from readers, at the sad moments; finally…does this guy know how to write the Doctor, any Doctor…?
Hmmm. It turns out I like Doctor Who novels by two authors - Christopher Bulis, and Jim Mortimore - more than most fans seem to. The Bulis thing is another affair, and when it comes to Mortimore I’m just going to deal with Eternity Weeps at this juncture - but I find the unrelenting cruelty of this story fascinating. Before things get cosmic, this book is frighteningly real-world in depiction of the evil that men do, for sick reasons or any reasons. And once the world is threatened with destruction, it’s true that big concepts drop like frigging anvils at rapid pace (how does Jason deal with what happens to him, and what he does?!). Then the Doctor…falters. World truly scheduled to end…well, scheduled to morph to support other life. When the acid-virus and the earthquakes seem to be unstoppable…well, was that an ending, or was that an ending! The Doctor definitely does NOT dance at the end, or chant “…and no one died!!”.
Somewhere along the line, before the show came back but after I had devoured boatloads of Doctor Who novels, the Seventh Doctor became my favourite Doctor (sorry, PT - you’re next…um, well, you’re Second!). And what can I say, I like this novel. I mean, it has to be said, big things happen in this buried and forgotten adventure. I did learn that if the summary on the back of one of these things mentions “old friends”, or “companions past and present”, as guaranteed to show up, that’s code for a surprise appearance from anyone who used to travel with the Doctor. In this case, I thought that just meant Benny was guest-starring - I had copped to the fact that she of course had been a Companion - but imagine my shock and delight when a certain other someone suddenly showed up! And then imagine my pain, when…oops. Spoilers, as The Doctor came to say. Later. Much later.
I widened my interest, when I got a Third Doctor adventure (his debut) on videocassette, became fascinated both with the Doctor trapped on Earth, and Liz Shaw. So Doctor Who novels with Liz Shaw were allowed to affect the budget too, like The Wages of Sin, and a luckier find, The Eye of the Giant.
Of course it was only a matter of time, given how much fun I was having…soon I found myself getting any of the books, any Doctors, any Companions. I acquired, and read them, in no particular order. Under those conditions, Eternity Weeps was, I’m pretty sure, the first experience I had with Virgin Books’ sequential Seventh Doctor novels, that continued the then-current Doctor’s exploits while there was no TV show.
Eternity Weeps is an awful book to start with. You would not give this book, first, to someone as an introduction to the Doctor. Even for me, it was an unintentional gaff to jump into the Seventh Doctor’s continuity right, as laid out by the Virgin Books series, by starting here. This would be like starting someone with The Expanse, by giving them Book 8, I’m sure.
As I started re-reading this book, I realized that I had come out of it, decades ago, thinking it was fascinating, labyrinthine mush. Something about searching for Noah’s Ark on two different mountains getting brutally interrupted by competing armies and some terrorists, many deaths, the Moon suddenly mattering - with its own “Ark” - a terraforming killer virus designed to re-make Earth so aliens could move in, many many more deaths (even more hideous than by gunshot)…and lots of stuff included in the story that had to do with several books I had not read. Benny? Jason? Roz? Imorkal?? Chris? And, to top it all off, Doctor as late arrival, and then in and out of his own ‘New Adventure’. But then, what was I expecting…I had skipped past all the New Adventures that still featured the Doctor Who logo on the cover of the book (when I bought this book, I was not sure it actually was a Doctor Who novel)!
I don’t know why I had this book parked on the website at a 4-star rating - that was a gift to what I knew had been a very confusing, whirlwind read - but I’m glad I re-read it, because it all made more sense this time. But yeah…I’ve read all the books that came before it and whoah does that help!
Still, this is not a highly regarded Doctor Who novel. I don’t think the author himself wrote many that breed widespread adoration. The knocks would be - and they are on full display in Eternity Weeps - : too brutal, bloody, and violent; not the greatest prose style; big concepts piled on top of each other and chaotic in collective effect, barely hanging together; ham-fisted approach to wringing emotions from readers, at the sad moments; finally…does this guy know how to write the Doctor, any Doctor…?
Hmmm. It turns out I like Doctor Who novels by two authors - Christopher Bulis, and Jim Mortimore - more than most fans seem to. The Bulis thing is another affair, and when it comes to Mortimore I’m just going to deal with Eternity Weeps at this juncture - but I find the unrelenting cruelty of this story fascinating. Before things get cosmic, this book is frighteningly real-world in depiction of the evil that men do, for sick reasons or any reasons. And once the world is threatened with destruction, it’s true that big concepts drop like frigging anvils at rapid pace (how does Jason deal with what happens to him, and what he does?!). Then the Doctor…falters. World truly scheduled to end…well, scheduled to morph to support other life. When the acid-virus and the earthquakes seem to be unstoppable…well, was that an ending, or was that an ending! The Doctor definitely does NOT dance at the end, or chant “…and no one died!!”.
Somewhere along the line, before the show came back but after I had devoured boatloads of Doctor Who novels, the Seventh Doctor became my favourite Doctor (sorry, PT - you’re next…um, well, you’re Second!). And what can I say, I like this novel. I mean, it has to be said, big things happen in this buried and forgotten adventure. I did learn that if the summary on the back of one of these things mentions “old friends”, or “companions past and present”, as guaranteed to show up, that’s code for a surprise appearance from anyone who used to travel with the Doctor. In this case, I thought that just meant Benny was guest-starring - I had copped to the fact that she of course had been a Companion - but imagine my shock and delight when a certain other someone suddenly showed up! And then imagine my pain, when…oops. Spoilers, as The Doctor came to say. Later. Much later.
December 17, 2022
Perhaps the most unpleasant VNA yet. Full disclosure, whilst I enjoyed Lucifer Rising, it was more down to Andy Lane's whimsical touches and rich diversity; And while I enjoyed Blood Heat, it was the sort of book you enjoy for it's scale and execution - the sort of book which must only be done once, and never again - or else it entirely spoils the effect and consequence.
The issue Mortimore has is that he doesn't know to quit an idea while he's ahead. His following book, Parasite has a lot of similarities to Eternity Weeps, but mostly feels like a dull slog through which you slowly tread; Accepting cruel and gruesome fates for beloved characters as numbly as the victims themselves. In some ways, this is still true of EW. Most of the characters die pretty quickly and in the same way, largely within the first 100 pages. It's also Mortimore's shortest Who novel (thus far, anyway) by a decent margin. You don't get time to grieve these victims, much like Benny and co., nor do you really get a chance to actually come to appreciate them. I found so many characters coming and going that I often got lost in who was meant to be who, exactly, and their dialogue - with the exception of Allen, perhaps the only distinct character within the text aside from the main cast, for whom I still felt very little when he died - muddles and offers little to no support entirely.
Mortimore declined the opportunity to contribute to Happy Endings, for reasons not entirely clear. Looking after reading Happy Endings, and again now, I seem to find conflicting reasons given (in print, anyway) to his omission. However, I think one of the more credible suggestions is his opposition to Bernice and Jason's relationship. And that's fair enough, whatever - but the idea that a critic of the relationship ought to be the one to separate the pair? It seems.... Troubling, at best.
And it seems to me that my worst fears were confirmed here. In itself, I disagree with Virgin's need to separate the couple ahead of the BSNAs for.... Some reason?, but more than this, this book robs Benny and Jason of any dignity whatsoever. Their relationship feels entirely rocky, and seems written as if this has always been the case. Yet if you read Happy Endings or Return of the Living Dad, you'll see a troubled (and who isn't?) But ultimately happy couple - there's a serious love of some sort to the pair, and, yes, their love seems quickly escalated, but it's unfair to posit that that results in a doomed relationship 10 out of 10 times. Here, Benny feels cold, cruel, snappy. Jason feels stupid, selfish, removable. They lack any of the character they hold in their prior encounters. This alone is enough to spoil the book for me, but couple this also with several other factors, and the book is a wasted vital spot at the end of the VNAs.
The books have had a clear sense of ending since Happy Endings. All throughout, even novels such as The Death of Art and Damaged Goods are more brooding, more introspective yet mature. I'll confess I'm not wholly ecstatic about either or their execution, but I'm willing to concede that they successfully weave a maturity of acceptance into their themes. The Doctor is no longer the calculative bitch he was with Ace and Benny. Chris has gained some experience of the world, but doesn't let it beat him in a poignant adult decision. Roz has become softer, more accepting, more noble and loving. So Vile a Sin, published after but set before EW understands this nicely - and we see a brilliant culmination of themes present since before even HE, in SLEEPY and Warchild, the genesis of the Psi-Powers Cycle. Bad Therapy, the prior novel, still pushes the envelope further on the theme of endings and acceptance, whilst also delivering intensely profound uttering on grief. Chris and the Doctor don't just grieve the loss of Roz, on a meta-textual level, they grieve the loss of a story. Soon the team part ways, and despite appearing again separately, the era is never the same; we won't quite see events again. The Doctor is creeping ever closer to his death, etc etc. And so, here we are, in the third-to-last Seventh Doctor VNA, and what does Mortimore offer us? Very little we haven't seen before. He doesn't even bother to attempt to change his usual messages in any way, to adapt them for a dying era. He simply offers a massacre, with very little progress for the characters. There's no payoff to seeing Chris bicker with Jason. There's no payoff to seeing Benny tortured once again. Torture is certainly difficult to pull off, but not impossible - Lance Parkin uses torture to effectively demonstrate the horror of the Nazis in Just War, and writers such as Kate Orman pick up on the consequence of this in later novels. In short, it has consequences.
But what do we actually see change here? Yes, literally, we see a divorce. But why? Why does this have to happen? Not even Benny can give an answer. I'm not saying everything must have a reason, but do the characters or audience actually get anything from the emotional grinder Mortimore puts them through? Certainly not Chris, nor the Doctor, who barely appears here. Imagine that: three books away from his swansong, and the Doctor is barely around to help! These are the last few times that Seven occupies the mantel of "current" Doctor, of a more mature and frank era, of a power no other Doctor may ever reach, and Mortimore instead chooses to put this aside to show us Benny and Jason bickering ceaselessly, or lamenting over needless death. Of course the death is useless - but, Jim Mortimore, you have to realise that this is typically the sign of a villain! We get no closure from any of this, and you can't guarantee that readers will read the BSNAs to even find it. That's not a fair expectation, least of all considering that that is, in all but name, a whole new series and era.
And this doesn't even begin to touch on the use of Liz Shaw and the brief appearance of "Imorkal". Liz appears in a way only to die, and the same for Imorkal. Yes, they have a plot relevance, but neither live to see its culmination - again, that's fine, and not a problem in itself, but what was the purpose of really overshadowing Chris and the Doctor's emotional journey in bringing back a much-loved companion... Only to kill her off in what couldn't be more than 30 pages? You could have substituted here with a general (UNIT, if you like) scientist on the moon with a different name and nothing would change. To me, coupled with her brutal death, that hardly seems to show any appreciation or depth of character/execution for Liz at all. Quite the opposite - it feels, ironically, gleeful at being unnecessarily cruel. Mortimore seems to do this a lot.
Ultimately, I think, the novel feels disappointing and miserable more than anything. Mortimore and I disagree on a lot of things, but I'm willing to appreciate an execution of style if done well, with some actual appreciation for what it does. There's nothing like that here. With Parasite - also a book at the end of another era - you can shrug it off, roll your eyes and assume we all have duds. Here, Mortimore totally lacks any mercy or appreciation for the slot his novel holds. Instead he offers us a front row seat as he enjoys hurting our main team once again. With one BSNA, a PDA and an EDA, I only hope he learns his lesson from this. Time suggests he won't, and, if anything, becomes a more bitter and horrid person. What a shame - to go from such a diverse and rich novel as Lucifer Rising, to this and beyond. As we look at a radical shift in the future of the Wilderness Years - a new Doctor, a new editorial team, a new direction in tone, in characters and more, we seem to leave behind resistant stragglers such as Mortimore who demand Doctor Who as rough and bloody. An absolute pity from start to finish. Do better.
Avoid on pain of misery. Nothing redeemable here. 0/10.
The issue Mortimore has is that he doesn't know to quit an idea while he's ahead. His following book, Parasite has a lot of similarities to Eternity Weeps, but mostly feels like a dull slog through which you slowly tread; Accepting cruel and gruesome fates for beloved characters as numbly as the victims themselves. In some ways, this is still true of EW. Most of the characters die pretty quickly and in the same way, largely within the first 100 pages. It's also Mortimore's shortest Who novel (thus far, anyway) by a decent margin. You don't get time to grieve these victims, much like Benny and co., nor do you really get a chance to actually come to appreciate them. I found so many characters coming and going that I often got lost in who was meant to be who, exactly, and their dialogue - with the exception of Allen, perhaps the only distinct character within the text aside from the main cast, for whom I still felt very little when he died - muddles and offers little to no support entirely.
Mortimore declined the opportunity to contribute to Happy Endings, for reasons not entirely clear. Looking after reading Happy Endings, and again now, I seem to find conflicting reasons given (in print, anyway) to his omission. However, I think one of the more credible suggestions is his opposition to Bernice and Jason's relationship. And that's fair enough, whatever - but the idea that a critic of the relationship ought to be the one to separate the pair? It seems.... Troubling, at best.
And it seems to me that my worst fears were confirmed here. In itself, I disagree with Virgin's need to separate the couple ahead of the BSNAs for.... Some reason?, but more than this, this book robs Benny and Jason of any dignity whatsoever. Their relationship feels entirely rocky, and seems written as if this has always been the case. Yet if you read Happy Endings or Return of the Living Dad, you'll see a troubled (and who isn't?) But ultimately happy couple - there's a serious love of some sort to the pair, and, yes, their love seems quickly escalated, but it's unfair to posit that that results in a doomed relationship 10 out of 10 times. Here, Benny feels cold, cruel, snappy. Jason feels stupid, selfish, removable. They lack any of the character they hold in their prior encounters. This alone is enough to spoil the book for me, but couple this also with several other factors, and the book is a wasted vital spot at the end of the VNAs.
The books have had a clear sense of ending since Happy Endings. All throughout, even novels such as The Death of Art and Damaged Goods are more brooding, more introspective yet mature. I'll confess I'm not wholly ecstatic about either or their execution, but I'm willing to concede that they successfully weave a maturity of acceptance into their themes. The Doctor is no longer the calculative bitch he was with Ace and Benny. Chris has gained some experience of the world, but doesn't let it beat him in a poignant adult decision. Roz has become softer, more accepting, more noble and loving. So Vile a Sin, published after but set before EW understands this nicely - and we see a brilliant culmination of themes present since before even HE, in SLEEPY and Warchild, the genesis of the Psi-Powers Cycle. Bad Therapy, the prior novel, still pushes the envelope further on the theme of endings and acceptance, whilst also delivering intensely profound uttering on grief. Chris and the Doctor don't just grieve the loss of Roz, on a meta-textual level, they grieve the loss of a story. Soon the team part ways, and despite appearing again separately, the era is never the same; we won't quite see events again. The Doctor is creeping ever closer to his death, etc etc. And so, here we are, in the third-to-last Seventh Doctor VNA, and what does Mortimore offer us? Very little we haven't seen before. He doesn't even bother to attempt to change his usual messages in any way, to adapt them for a dying era. He simply offers a massacre, with very little progress for the characters. There's no payoff to seeing Chris bicker with Jason. There's no payoff to seeing Benny tortured once again. Torture is certainly difficult to pull off, but not impossible - Lance Parkin uses torture to effectively demonstrate the horror of the Nazis in Just War, and writers such as Kate Orman pick up on the consequence of this in later novels. In short, it has consequences.
But what do we actually see change here? Yes, literally, we see a divorce. But why? Why does this have to happen? Not even Benny can give an answer. I'm not saying everything must have a reason, but do the characters or audience actually get anything from the emotional grinder Mortimore puts them through? Certainly not Chris, nor the Doctor, who barely appears here. Imagine that: three books away from his swansong, and the Doctor is barely around to help! These are the last few times that Seven occupies the mantel of "current" Doctor, of a more mature and frank era, of a power no other Doctor may ever reach, and Mortimore instead chooses to put this aside to show us Benny and Jason bickering ceaselessly, or lamenting over needless death. Of course the death is useless - but, Jim Mortimore, you have to realise that this is typically the sign of a villain! We get no closure from any of this, and you can't guarantee that readers will read the BSNAs to even find it. That's not a fair expectation, least of all considering that that is, in all but name, a whole new series and era.
And this doesn't even begin to touch on the use of Liz Shaw and the brief appearance of "Imorkal". Liz appears in a way only to die, and the same for Imorkal. Yes, they have a plot relevance, but neither live to see its culmination - again, that's fine, and not a problem in itself, but what was the purpose of really overshadowing Chris and the Doctor's emotional journey in bringing back a much-loved companion... Only to kill her off in what couldn't be more than 30 pages? You could have substituted here with a general (UNIT, if you like) scientist on the moon with a different name and nothing would change. To me, coupled with her brutal death, that hardly seems to show any appreciation or depth of character/execution for Liz at all. Quite the opposite - it feels, ironically, gleeful at being unnecessarily cruel. Mortimore seems to do this a lot.
Ultimately, I think, the novel feels disappointing and miserable more than anything. Mortimore and I disagree on a lot of things, but I'm willing to appreciate an execution of style if done well, with some actual appreciation for what it does. There's nothing like that here. With Parasite - also a book at the end of another era - you can shrug it off, roll your eyes and assume we all have duds. Here, Mortimore totally lacks any mercy or appreciation for the slot his novel holds. Instead he offers us a front row seat as he enjoys hurting our main team once again. With one BSNA, a PDA and an EDA, I only hope he learns his lesson from this. Time suggests he won't, and, if anything, becomes a more bitter and horrid person. What a shame - to go from such a diverse and rich novel as Lucifer Rising, to this and beyond. As we look at a radical shift in the future of the Wilderness Years - a new Doctor, a new editorial team, a new direction in tone, in characters and more, we seem to leave behind resistant stragglers such as Mortimore who demand Doctor Who as rough and bloody. An absolute pity from start to finish. Do better.
Avoid on pain of misery. Nothing redeemable here. 0/10.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2016
*sigh*
Well, it's just terrible. I finished it for the sake of it, so near the end of the series, and for the wrapping up of Benny/Jason and the launch of Benny's own series, but still. Still.
Oh god I just can't even ........ this is a very ungood book.
Well, it's just terrible. I finished it for the sake of it, so near the end of the series, and for the wrapping up of Benny/Jason and the launch of Benny's own series, but still. Still.
Oh god I just can't even ........ this is a very ungood book.
October 7, 2020
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH-nd deep breath...
Okay, now that’s out the way. Uh, yeah, this is a weird one and I have no idea what to really score this so I’m just gonna go with three stars because I... didn’t love it, but I don’t hate it either? Funnily enough, the last book I felt this conflicted on was Parasite.
Story-wise, it was nice to have it told in first person form, with the whole story told shared between Benny and Jason save a few pages here and there. Gives us an opportunity to see how each of them are doing and how things have been since they last saw the Doctor - which has apparently been a few years now. And, uh, yeah, things haven’t been great, and they pretty much get worse as the story goes on. As events unfold and everything falls into chaos, Benny and Jason’s relationship seems to be just as damaged. The beginning of their relationship in Death and Diplomacy felt very quick and convenient and the way things go here with them are much the same which... isn’t great. And occasionally just comes across as really out of character on Benny’s part.
In fact, Jason probably ends up coming out best of all the ‘mains’ in this story. He’s not perfect and we get plenty of show and tell on that count, but it feels a lot more in character than how Benny and later Chris and the Doctor end up coming across. I can sort of forgive Chris being a little off - at one point Jason even comments that they’ve maybe not paid enough attention to how Chris is dealing with recent events, but coming after Bad Therapy it just seems very off, though at the very least his relationship with the Doctor - for what very little time the Doctor is actually around for - seems better. He does end up as a bit one-note a lot of the time though which is disappointing after Bad Therapy. The Doctor, meanwhile, is mostly absent until the final act, and his behaviour and attitude just feel off, maybe more like he would’ve been far earlier in the New Adventures run.
Liz Shaw also shows up, basically just to suffer. Don’t worry, Liz, the Sarah Jane Adventures will save you in a single line of dialogue! But, uh, yeah, not totally sure what the point of that was. Ah, well.
So, yeah, reading over this it maybe looks like I hate it, but, I dunno, there’s still stuff to like here. Jason gets plenty to do, there’s a pretty badass bit with Benny and a paintbrush, there’s some really interesting concepts, and a strange comedy(?) bit featuring Bruce Springsteen. With only a few story changes, I might have even given this a low 4...
Okay, now that’s out the way. Uh, yeah, this is a weird one and I have no idea what to really score this so I’m just gonna go with three stars because I... didn’t love it, but I don’t hate it either? Funnily enough, the last book I felt this conflicted on was Parasite.
Story-wise, it was nice to have it told in first person form, with the whole story told shared between Benny and Jason save a few pages here and there. Gives us an opportunity to see how each of them are doing and how things have been since they last saw the Doctor - which has apparently been a few years now. And, uh, yeah, things haven’t been great, and they pretty much get worse as the story goes on. As events unfold and everything falls into chaos, Benny and Jason’s relationship seems to be just as damaged. The beginning of their relationship in Death and Diplomacy felt very quick and convenient and the way things go here with them are much the same which... isn’t great. And occasionally just comes across as really out of character on Benny’s part.
In fact, Jason probably ends up coming out best of all the ‘mains’ in this story. He’s not perfect and we get plenty of show and tell on that count, but it feels a lot more in character than how Benny and later Chris and the Doctor end up coming across. I can sort of forgive Chris being a little off - at one point Jason even comments that they’ve maybe not paid enough attention to how Chris is dealing with recent events, but coming after Bad Therapy it just seems very off, though at the very least his relationship with the Doctor - for what very little time the Doctor is actually around for - seems better. He does end up as a bit one-note a lot of the time though which is disappointing after Bad Therapy. The Doctor, meanwhile, is mostly absent until the final act, and his behaviour and attitude just feel off, maybe more like he would’ve been far earlier in the New Adventures run.
Liz Shaw also shows up, basically just to suffer. Don’t worry, Liz, the Sarah Jane Adventures will save you in a single line of dialogue! But, uh, yeah, not totally sure what the point of that was. Ah, well.
So, yeah, reading over this it maybe looks like I hate it, but, I dunno, there’s still stuff to like here. Jason gets plenty to do, there’s a pretty badass bit with Benny and a paintbrush, there’s some really interesting concepts, and a strange comedy(?) bit featuring Bruce Springsteen. With only a few story changes, I might have even given this a low 4...
September 5, 2022
I'm sorry but this is a pretty poor book.
Let me start by saying that I am a BIG fan of the Virgin Benny New Adventures. They are some of my favourite books. So, a Dr Who VNA set at the end of the range, with the Dr absent for most of the time and focusing on Benny and Jason SHOULD be my kind of book but...it just isn't. Nothing works.
First of all, the setting and plot is as dull as dishwater. Of all the places her first "prototype" adventure could be set, they choose 20th Century Turkey and spend endless pages prattling on about the excavation. This would be boring in any book but for a Dr Who book, it's a baffling decision. Yes, I know she's an archaeologist but it's not exactly gripping to read.
The characterisation is shocking aswell. The supporting characters are boring, and unengaging. And Benny is really irritating. She isn't fully developed as the main character yet and I'm amazed that based on this, she was chosen to continue the range. She comes across as petty, childish, sexist and unpleasant. The characterization particularly jars with the style of the narrative as a whole. On the one hand we are presented with a semi realistic Turkey in all it's late 20th century glory. On the other hand Benny genuinely thinks she can actually punch her husband in the face whenever she wants if he annoys her. That is supposed to be funny, I think? But it comes across as weird.
The whole sub plot (main plot?) of Benny and Jason's marriage collapsing is far less interesting than it sounds because it feels too forced.
I've just come off reading Bad Therapy - which is FANTASTIC! All the supporting characters feel real, you care about new characters, the Dr and Chris are dealing with GENUINE emotions (spoilers - I'm sure you know what I mean), the threat level and suspense is high and there's a damn good story told really well. To go from THAT to THIS is such a disappointment.
The actual Benny NAs are sometimes good, often fantastic. This is like the failed first attempt. Safe to avoid, skip this and move onto the next one.
Let me start by saying that I am a BIG fan of the Virgin Benny New Adventures. They are some of my favourite books. So, a Dr Who VNA set at the end of the range, with the Dr absent for most of the time and focusing on Benny and Jason SHOULD be my kind of book but...it just isn't. Nothing works.
First of all, the setting and plot is as dull as dishwater. Of all the places her first "prototype" adventure could be set, they choose 20th Century Turkey and spend endless pages prattling on about the excavation. This would be boring in any book but for a Dr Who book, it's a baffling decision. Yes, I know she's an archaeologist but it's not exactly gripping to read.
The characterisation is shocking aswell. The supporting characters are boring, and unengaging. And Benny is really irritating. She isn't fully developed as the main character yet and I'm amazed that based on this, she was chosen to continue the range. She comes across as petty, childish, sexist and unpleasant. The characterization particularly jars with the style of the narrative as a whole. On the one hand we are presented with a semi realistic Turkey in all it's late 20th century glory. On the other hand Benny genuinely thinks she can actually punch her husband in the face whenever she wants if he annoys her. That is supposed to be funny, I think? But it comes across as weird.
The whole sub plot (main plot?) of Benny and Jason's marriage collapsing is far less interesting than it sounds because it feels too forced.
I've just come off reading Bad Therapy - which is FANTASTIC! All the supporting characters feel real, you care about new characters, the Dr and Chris are dealing with GENUINE emotions (spoilers - I'm sure you know what I mean), the threat level and suspense is high and there's a damn good story told really well. To go from THAT to THIS is such a disappointment.
The actual Benny NAs are sometimes good, often fantastic. This is like the failed first attempt. Safe to avoid, skip this and move onto the next one.
August 21, 2024
This is not so much a Doctor Who novel but rather a kind of back-door pilot for the Bernice Summerfield series. Which makes it all the more strange how deeply unpleasant it is.
Whilst there are definitely some dark chapters, Benny's adventures more often than not have a sense of fun and are enjoyable. But this is angst-filled, grimdark slaughter. And yes, Doctor Who does world destroying threats but there is usually hope and some kind of elasticity back to normality. Nope, just horror piled on horror until the Doctor needs to kill one species and also much of humanity to save what is left.
Here is a sample text to give a flavour of the story:
He smiled and the skin of his jaw slid quietly away in a runnel of blood and fumes. He was a Level Five Nightmare, bleeding acid out of every visible surface, obviously terminal. I don't know how he could stand, let alone speak. But speak he did, in a very bad American accent. 'Gimme a ride, buddy?'
He began to laugh and cough blood.
His finger tightened on the gun's trigger.
Chris stepped in front of me and punched [character name] hard. He did it without thinking, his fist a blur in the night. [character name]'s face made a noise like a bag of crisps splitting open. Chris's arm went right through his head, out and back, before I could draw a breath.
This is less Doctor Who to me and more 2000AD. Not want I am interested in
Whilst there are definitely some dark chapters, Benny's adventures more often than not have a sense of fun and are enjoyable. But this is angst-filled, grimdark slaughter. And yes, Doctor Who does world destroying threats but there is usually hope and some kind of elasticity back to normality. Nope, just horror piled on horror until the Doctor needs to kill one species and also much of humanity to save what is left.
Here is a sample text to give a flavour of the story:
He smiled and the skin of his jaw slid quietly away in a runnel of blood and fumes. He was a Level Five Nightmare, bleeding acid out of every visible surface, obviously terminal. I don't know how he could stand, let alone speak. But speak he did, in a very bad American accent. 'Gimme a ride, buddy?'
He began to laugh and cough blood.
His finger tightened on the gun's trigger.
Chris stepped in front of me and punched [character name] hard. He did it without thinking, his fist a blur in the night. [character name]'s face made a noise like a bag of crisps splitting open. Chris's arm went right through his head, out and back, before I could draw a breath.
This is less Doctor Who to me and more 2000AD. Not want I am interested in
September 1, 2023
Boy oh boy did I swing wildly back and forth on whether I actually liked this one. There are moments where I cared because I felt that both the scope of the disaster and its effect on Benny and Jason were well established. Equally, I thought that Mortimore often fell short with regards to the supporting characters. I was thinking back to Paul Leonard, and particularly the two of his novels I've most enjoyed, Dancing the Code and Toy Soldiers. Both of those are pretty brutal but they worked and I cared because I felt I had space to get attached to the characters who died. That wasn't super the case here, and I was especially put out when I know there are TV stories where lots of characters die but to me they have an advantage because they have actors who can leave an impression. Novels don't have that and I think a lot of the more bloodthirsty VNAs suffer for it.
November 3, 2020
This is less of a "Doctor Who" novel and more of a pilot episode for the Doctor-less Benny Summerfield books, which took over from the Whoniverse "New Adventures" line in 1997. Now, I think Jim Mortimore is a brilliant, exacting, exciting author...but he does enjoy playing in the darker corners. Nothing wrong with that...but this novel, in particular, is brutal, violent, grim, and very depressing...this is not a feel-good experience in any way. It's superbly written, but it's one of those books I have no desire to ever re-visit. I'm very glad Benny gets a more joyous send off in "The Dying Days", a few more books down the line. It would have been suck-your-will-to-live territory if this had been her "Doctor Who" swan song.
September 9, 2023
i read this for liz. first of all benny summerfield is giving pick me. just divorce your husband if you hate him that much. also her comments about the war? unreal. i could not stand reading it and skipped to the part with liz in it and guess what? they made my girl dr liz shaw a military bootlicker evil bitch in love with a MAN. and THEN THEY KILLED HER. so out of character i don’t think this guy ever read or watched or even experienced liz shaw and just slapped the first badass scientist character he thought of onto the page and went with it. two stars just because liz pre-evil realization was so funny with her “compliment accepted” bit
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2017
People say this is deep and clever and funny. Clearly I'm not clever or deep or funny enough, because I disliked it the first time and I disliked it the second time.
I've bounced off Mortimore hard before. His writing must be compelling, as I read this in a day, but I really don't like it and I'll stay warned off from on, I think.
I've bounced off Mortimore hard before. His writing must be compelling, as I read this in a day, but I really don't like it and I'll stay warned off from on, I think.
October 2, 2021
It’s funny that a line in an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures - a spinoff aimed specifically at children - both acknowledged and retconned a plot point in one of the most adult, violent, grimdark NAs of the 90s.
The book itself is excellent. But, to paraphrase another review, it is not a joy to read.
The book itself is excellent. But, to paraphrase another review, it is not a joy to read.
February 23, 2024
Essentially Zac Snyder does Doctor Who. Relentless, grinding and dark with the sense that while the author has a gift for coming up with big and genuinely alien SF ideas he’s perhaps not best suited to play in a shared sandbox.
July 6, 2012
Doctor Who: Eternity Weeps
By Jim Mortimore / Virgin /January 1997
If there's one thing I've come to expect from Jim Mortimore, it's a high body count. This book is violent. But overall, it's a pretty good NA, save for a few complaints.
The first complaint is the almost complete absence of the Doctor throughout the novel. When I pick up a NA (at least until BBC Books took over), I expect to read about the Doctor. Not only are his appearances few and far between, I wouldn't call them 'quality moments'.
What particularly bothered me was the death of a character, which should have provoked some reaction from the Doctor and didn't. The book also moved a little too quickly, and is hard to follow in some parts.
But although the Doctor was difficult to find in Eternity Weeps, Bernice is used well. In fact, the first-person narrative alternates between her and husband Jason Kane, something Mortimore handles rather well. There were some aspects of their relationship which I found a little implausible. Their arguments and foul moods seem somewhat contrived throughout the story.
In the end, however, I would say Eternity Weeps is definitely worth reading, especially if you're a Benny fan.
By Jim Mortimore / Virgin /January 1997
If there's one thing I've come to expect from Jim Mortimore, it's a high body count. This book is violent. But overall, it's a pretty good NA, save for a few complaints.
The first complaint is the almost complete absence of the Doctor throughout the novel. When I pick up a NA (at least until BBC Books took over), I expect to read about the Doctor. Not only are his appearances few and far between, I wouldn't call them 'quality moments'.
What particularly bothered me was the death of a character, which should have provoked some reaction from the Doctor and didn't. The book also moved a little too quickly, and is hard to follow in some parts.
But although the Doctor was difficult to find in Eternity Weeps, Bernice is used well. In fact, the first-person narrative alternates between her and husband Jason Kane, something Mortimore handles rather well. There were some aspects of their relationship which I found a little implausible. Their arguments and foul moods seem somewhat contrived throughout the story.
In the end, however, I would say Eternity Weeps is definitely worth reading, especially if you're a Benny fan.
June 27, 2016
A well-written, tense book that has great insights into Jason's character (and somewhat less into Benny's, mainly because we know her too well). It was an enjoyable and quick read.
With that said, it also has some major flaws.
First, the book is very much not in the service of the Doctor Who series. It's clearly a test run and set-up for the Benny-led New Adventures series, and the abrupt changes in Benny and Jason's status that are also leading up to that are a bit anticlimatic given the content of book #50.
Second, Mortimore is so bloody-minded that it gets old.
Third, a lot of the plot twists come out of nowhere and are glossed in a sentence or two. We're on an archaeological dig, and then two sentences later an alien plague is destroying the Earth. It required careful reading and rereading in a few cases to understand the abrupt twists.
Still, an enjoyable read.
With that said, it also has some major flaws.
First, the book is very much not in the service of the Doctor Who series. It's clearly a test run and set-up for the Benny-led New Adventures series, and the abrupt changes in Benny and Jason's status that are also leading up to that are a bit anticlimatic given the content of book #50.
Second, Mortimore is so bloody-minded that it gets old.
Third, a lot of the plot twists come out of nowhere and are glossed in a sentence or two. We're on an archaeological dig, and then two sentences later an alien plague is destroying the Earth. It required careful reading and rereading in a few cases to understand the abrupt twists.
Still, an enjoyable read.
October 5, 2014
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2350246.html[return][return]concentrating very much on Benny and Jason's disintegrating marriage, with the Doctor and Chris rather in the background; and Liz Shaw is brought back all too briefly. There is some tremendously well-realised and bleak detail with rival expeditions attempting to find Noah's Ark, and getting into difficulties with competing jurisdictions on Mount Ararat. The book ends with 1997 Earth devastated by alien plague, which is a tough one to carry off if you plan any continuity; of course, if it's almost the last book in the series, that's less of an issue.
Read
February 3, 2012Oh dear. I would say 'imagine if Warren Ellis wrote a nineties Doctor Who book', but even at his most lazily cynical and apocalyptic, at least Ellis wouldn't tell the story of the Earth's near-death by alien terraforming through the prism of a spiteful domestic row. And not only is it miserable as Hell, not only does it bring back an old companion just to have her die a horrible, pointless death - it doesn't even have characterisation or near-future continuity matched up to, well, anything else (except perhaps as regards the Doctor himself, but he barely appears). At best a misfire.
June 29, 2013
I enjoyed reading this story, the plot was interesting, and the story fast-paced (with a little too much foreshadowing), but it felt like Mortimore was writing about different characters than the ones used in the rest of the series. If this hadn't been a Doctor Who story it might be worth another star, despite a few big plot holes. But since it did feature the Doctor, Benny, Jason, and Chris, it would have been nice if those characters had felt consistent.
November 10, 2014
Way too depressing.
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