Doctor Who: Night Of The Humans [Hardcover]

The Gyre: an inhospitable wasteland and home to the human descendents of the crew of a ship that crashed there centuries ago. Home also to the deadly Sollogs: giant eight legged slug-like creatures. The humans' lives have taken a regressive course down the generations. They are illiterate, incapable of using technology and their belief systems (which involve a corporate logo and 20th century western movies such as `Gunfight at the OK Corral') have rendered them incapable of rational thought.

The Gyre lies in the path of a comet; collision is imminent. A detachment of troops, the Sittuun, from a nearby world has been sent to destroy the Gyre in such a way that the resultant explosion will be harmless to its neighboring planets. However, their ship has itself crashed. Into this maelstrom come the Doctor and Amy, having received the Sittuun's distress signal. Another newcomer has also entered the fray: the dashing and mysterious Dirk Slipstream.

The cover blurb is a little wide of the mark when it mentions that there's "an all-out frontier war between Sittuun and Humans." However, David Llewellyn's second `Doctor Who' novel (the first being Doctor Who: The Taking Of Chelsea 426) is an enthralling fast-paced race against time. The `Doctor Who' novels are primarily aimed at a younger readership, but that doesn't mean us older folk can't enjoy them as well. I think `Night of the Humans' is an excellent read with some thought-provoking themes woven into the narrative, notably religious intransigence and the role of myths and superstition in human and Sittuun culture.
This novel features the eleventh Doctor, but I have to confess that on reading the author's dialogue for him, I still had David Tennant's voice in my head. This is probably my fault, though. At the time of writing this review, we are only five episodes into Matt Smith's reign and his vocal characteristics have not been firmly imprinted on to my mind. I had no such problems with Amy's depiction in the novel; I think the author has her spot-on.

I received this book, the first of the three newly published Eleven & Amy adventures, on Friday, and finished it by Saturday afternoon. While the novels in general are mainly aimed at a YA audience, they are usually interesting enough to hold my attention and keep me turning the pages. Pretty much all of the new series Who novels are head and shoulders above the old Target novelizations, although not as complex as the series of novels published between the end of the old series and the 2005 reboot. For what they are, in general, I enjoy these as a "fix" when I'm hungry for new Doctor adventures between new episodes of the show.

Night of the Humans is a good start for the Eleventh Doctor. The TARDIS lands on a mysterious metal body that is where no planet is on record. The Doctor quickly discovers that he and Amy are on The Gyre--like those spots in the ocean where all the floating trash coalesce into a big patch, this is the equivalent in deep space, a spot where, due to gravitational forces of surrounding stars and planets, all sorts of space 'trash' has similarly piled up over millennia, to the point where the Gyre has its own gravity, atmosphere--and native inhabitants, who are all quite dangerous, including the humans.

Also on the Gyre is a spaceship filled with Sittun, another alien race who have their own mission to complete on the Gyre, and who are not fond of humans, from past experience as a people, as well as the hostility of the particular humans on the Gyre. There are some nice ideas developed over the course of the various interactions, including how a religion might evolve from a group's history over time, that to an adult reader are a bit cliched, but would definitely evoke that "hmmm..." sense of wonder from a young reader coming across such an idea for the first time.

The writing is good, the characters act in character (though I did have the same problem with Amy's voice being much clearer in my head than the new Doctor's, which I'm sure will change over time as Matt Smith spends longer in the role). I liked that there were cues that placed the story within the time sequence of Season 5 episodes and thoughts and reactions of the characters that connected to events of the series so far. I also like that, like the current season, a real effort has been made to welcome new viewers, so much of the complex history of the Ninth and Tenth Doctor remains unnecessary to know to enjoy this book.

A very enjoyable read, I would recommend it for any Who fan looking for a "fix" and especially as something that might encourage a younger Who viewer (I would say 8-9 and up, depending on reading ability)to branch out into reading science fiction as well as watching it, and maybe even begin exploring books beyond the Who tie-ins.

In the meantime, I will be not-so-patiently watching my mail for the other two of this first round of Eleventh Doctor novels.

Like others have said, I find the modern Doctor Who novels work best as a "fix" between new episodes of the show. "Night of the Humans" is set during the current season, as evidenced by several references to recent events (some of which aired only a month or so prior to the novel's release). If you are enjoying the 11th Doctor and Amy Pond on your t.v. screen, chances are you'll like the book.

But for anyone who's read or watched much science fiction, some of the ideas are hardly fresh (spoilers ahead). The idea of an alien civilization basing their culture on human movies--Westerns, in this case--dates back at least to the original Star Trek series. And the rogue adventurer Dirk Slipstream could have come from most any pulp sci-fi story. These are fairly minor plot points, but still struck this reader as highly unoriginal.

But again, if you're looking for another WHO adventure, it's a quick read that still has enough clever moments to keep you interested. The author does an admirable job of capturing Amy Pond on the page, while the Doctor comes across a bit more generic (but still authenic, especially in terms of the modern series). If you're a fan, it's worth checking out.

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