Retrospective: Paul Cornell by John Seavey 13/4/03
While re-reading the works of Paul Cornell in preparation for this retrospective (Timewyrm: Revelation, Love and War, No Future, Goth Opera, Human Nature, Happy Endings, Oh No It Isn't!, and The Shadows of Avalon), it sometimes surprised me that he'd gotten the kind of reputation he had among fans of Doctor Who... myself included. Certainly, after re-reading his books, flaws made themselves apparent. His villains were crap, his plots were shaky, his Doctor off-model, his characters Mary-Sues (and frequently direct name-checks of his friends and co-authors), his references egregiously fanwank, and it's hard to tell his Tegan apart from his Ace. Oh, and he uses that "neither cruel nor cowardly" quote of Terrance Dicks' until you want to scream.
And yet...
Cornell's skill doesn't lie in plotting or characterization. His skill, and it's an utterly tremendous one, lies in the way he uses his prose to create an atmosphere of welcome and invitation. He almost weaves a glamour around his readers, making them feel warm and welcomed by the characters and the events of the book. It doesn't always work, which is why there's always someone in the crowd complaining about any given Cornell novel, but when it does, the effect is devastatingly charming.
Part of it comes from his optimism. In Cornell's world, the Doctor is an unabashed hero, who stands and fights (but never with violence) for the ideals of this world. He's a Romantic hero in many ways, and it almost seems like the world of Cornell's books shapes itself to fit him. In this world, right triumphs because it is right, and simple, everyday people take inspiration from him and become better people. Even his villains have a tendency to repent and redeem themselves, rather than be conventionally defeated. It's a hard world-view to cheer against, even if it does sometimes devolve into sappiness; who really wants Ace to lose her identity and become a faceless bimbo? ...on second thought, don't answer that.
Given all this, it sometimes -- well, to be honest, it frequently seems as though Cornell is playing against type when he writes for the Seventh Doctor. Only once, in Love and War (a general departure from the Cornell themes of optimism and hope and simple heroism) does the Doctor really confront his moral ambiguities, face them, and force himself to compromise his principles to win... and it's significant that Cornell retcons this at the end of the novel to "the Doctor wasn't himself because of the alien fungus infesting the TARDIS". For the rest of his appearances, from Timewyrm: Revelation up through Human Nature, the Seventh Doctor continually decries all the awful things he's done and swears that from now on, he'll be a cuddlier, fluffier Doctor. Only when writing Goth Opera, featuring the more innocent Fifth Doctor, and Happy Endings, featuring a very cuddly, fluffy Doctor, does Cornell truly seem comfortable with the character.
Paul Cornell has, it seems, moved on from Doctor Who. His last novel, The Shadows of Avalon, was not a critical success, and it's possible he's moved on to greener pastures. However, I think he could definitely try his hand at a novel featuring a previous, more innocent Doctor... or, perhaps, he might take a look at children's literature, where I sincerely think he could be the next J.K. Rowling. That atmosphere of charm, welcome, and simple virtues is tough enough for an adult to withstand... I think he'd charm every kid in the world if he decided to write a book for them.
A Review by Finn Clark 3/1/04
As with my complete Terrance Dicks, the hard work for this retrospective was done around Christmas 2001 and I'm merely expanding on material I wrote then. So don't expect any huge surprises. :-) I haven't heard his Big Finish audio work and so won't take that into consideration, but I've read his Benny anthologies and I've watched Scream of the Shalka.
It's a little startling to reflect that it's nearly eight years since Paul Cornell retired from regular Who-writing duty with Happy Endings, though admittedly it can be hard for us "1975 was yesterday" Doctor Who fans to perceive time like normal folks. Paul's returned since 1996 to write The Shadows of Avalon, Oh No It Isn't!, Scream of the Shalka and a fair bit for Big Finish, but mostly he's been working outside Who.
Rereading his books was an experience. I'd forgotten how astonishing Timewyrm: Revelation and Love and War were, while it did me no harm whatsoever to rediscover Human Nature. It's famously the best Who book ever according to DWM's readers (twice!) and while it's probably not even Paul Cornell's best it's certainly magical enough to deserve a fair chunk of that repeated accolade. Most of all, I'd forgotten how special some of Paul's books are. Many authors seem to aspire to no more than writing a Doctor Who story. Villains, alien planet, if we're lucky a character or two... it's as if there's a checklist. Cover all the bases and get it done by the deadline. Whereas Paul's eight books push the envelope. It's not always true and the attempts don't always succeed, but Doctor Who would be poorer without Timewyrm: Revelation or Human Nature. Whereas most stories - even many excellent ones - aren't at root anything we haven't seen before.
When everyone was raving about Paul's novels back in Virgin's time, it certainly wasn't because Who books were new and the best stuff hadn't been published yet. If you reread 'em today, his novels are still fabulous.
One peculiarity is that with one aberration in No Future, Paul's early writing is his best. Timewyrm: Revelation, Love and War and Human Nature could all appear on a Top Ten list of all Doctor Who stories in any medium, while the rest of his books don't really measure up. (Though this overly simplistic analysis collapses if you throw out the first hundred pages of The Shadows of Avalon and concentrate on the rest, which is absolutely fantastic and measures up to anything he's ever done.) One can however identify certain ways in which his writing has evolved - mainly his love-hate relationship with trad Who.
Paul has in the past spoken of his admiration for Terrance Dicks. Timewyrm: Revelation and Love and War take themselves deadly seriously, but after that the camp starts creeping in. No Future is basically sniggering at itself, while Happy Endings and Oh No It Isn't! are happy pantomimes. Around this point Paul also lost interest in conventional villains. It's the whole point of No Future that the Vardans are crap, while Human Nature's Aubertides and Shadows of Avalon's Cavis and Gandar are annoying to a degree we normally see only in companions (New Ace, Sam Jones). They're an attempt to do humour and self-mocking insight in Doctor Who villains - but unfortunately heroes and villains are not dramatically symmetrical. The Doctor works as a self-mocking hero because his flippancy is balanced by a genuinely dangerous situation. The viewer can take the drama seriously while enjoying the Doctor's hijinks. Villains aren't put through the wringer in the same way as heroes (until they lose at the end, obviously), so by being self-mocking and offhand they have nothing to undercut except themselves.
Whereas Scream of the Shalka is clearly putting on its trad head and deliberately recreating TV Who, down to the formulaic monsters who say things like "excellent" and "we will destroy you" but don't. The results aren't completely without interest, but it's clear that Paul's heart is elsewhere.
Ranking the Cornell novels, from worst to best:
8th - No Future, which is going through the motions. An old faces parade with delusions of politics and New Ace at her worst, though in fairness there wasn't much Paul could do about the latter. But even a Cornell misfire is still amusing and innovative (for the time) and more interesting than many 'better' Doctor Who novels. 6 out of 10.
7th - Oh No It Isn't!, which is fun and funny. 8 out of 10.
6th - The Shadows of Avalon. The last two acts are up there with Human Nature, Revelation and Love and War, if not perhaps even better due to Act Three's twists and concepts. Unfortunately Act One is, um... The average of 4, 10 and 10 gives us a final score of 8 out of 10.
5th - Goth Opera, which is pure adventure and on those terms almost perfect. The TARDIS crew are terrific. We'll be generous and overlook the fanwank chapter. 9 out of 10.
4th - Happy Endings, delightful and unique but again hamstrung by an uneven tone. This time it's the serious angsty bits (the Brigadier with cancer) that sit ill, with most of the book being the literary equivalent of champagne on a summer's day. 9 out of 10.
3rd - Love and War, less uneven than Human Nature but apart from the crowning tragedy it's just a very good, straightforward book rather than anything startling. Ace's psychological traumas are superb... but she's a bit stupid, isn't she? Another 10.
2nd - Human Nature, just pipping Love and War though they're very similar books. Each is a tragedy, but Human Nature is about the Doctor in an utterly unique way rather than his companion and has more to say about its themes. Inimitable. Even the Aubertides can't shift this score from 10.
1st - Timewyrm: Revelation, because there's nothing else like it and because it does the impossible and makes it look easy. Also because its themes are so central to Doctor Who: bullies and the Doctor himself. 10 out of 10.
[Scream of the Shalka would come 9th in the above list, sadly, but I didn't think it was fair to include it. With Paul's novelisation coming in February 2004, it felt a little too "apples and oranges" to rank a webcast against novels.]
In summary: damn good. Always trying something new, always moving forward. His instincts aren't infallible, but even his (rare) misses are interesting and instructive. And his hits will blow you away.