Dead Romance
Dead Romance
|
Dead Romance |
Faction Paradox Dead Romance |
|
| Author | Lawrence Miles |  |
| Published | 2005 | |
| ISBN | 0 97259 595 3 | |
| Publisher | Mad Norwegian Press |
| Synopsis: A republishing (and slight reworking) of the acclaimed original, with additional short stories, essays and a new introduction. |
Still Romantic by Jamas Enright 1/3/06
Some editing was done for this version, undoing strange editorial decisions, changing the 'Time Lord' references to 'Houses', etc., but this is basically the same Bernice New Adventure book as before. Or is it? Rereading this, I came across a lot of passages that completely failed to strike any memory cords. Now, I can't remember every little detail, but I expected to have more familiarity with it than this. Still, some of the iconographic images I do remember are still there, so they were pleasing to see.
This book interprets a little differently the second time around, when the reader knows 'the truth' (or what he remembers of it). In some passages, I was able to go 'that's that bit, then', but in a lot of ways this book still kept surprises from me. So, what I'm saying (confessing?) is that I enjoyed reading this a second time around. Perhaps I might appreciate all of Mad Larry's works better on a second reading (indeed a part of me would like to give Alien Bodies another go), but somehow I just can't bring myself to do it.
(A side note: I have come to realise that I hate the word 'natch'.)
Christine Summerfield is the... I was about to say heroine, but 'observer' is more appropriate... in this story. It is her story, but while Christine gets wrapped up in events (the end of the world, the reality of her existence and a bad coke habit), she doesn't really participate aside from one 'battle'. In fact, in many ways, Dead Romance isn't about a person, but a culture, the culture of Christine's world (such as it is), and the culture of Cwej and the Houses, in contrast and conflict (although the conflict is rather one-sided).
Probably the worst aspect of this book is that it doesn't get mentioned elsewhere. Although it was a Bernice New Adventure, the events here didn't really get followed up on much in later novels (aside from Cwej's regeneration), and although it's a proto-Faction Paradox box, it doesn't really get a lot of mention there either (certainly the bottle idea has since gone pear-shaped). It does have some very nice ideas in it, but it's also tied into other story universes and however big your ideas might be, unless they have an impact elsewhere, was there really any point to them? (Especially for the big ideas.)
Stylistically, Dead Romance is much like other Lawrence Miles works, in that the style is completely different to other books out there. Inspired by Benny's diary style, we get journal entries, with more than one journal page to a book page. It works well, allowing quick cutting from one idea, from one story point, to another. While there is a general linear flow, this allows the book to suddenly incorporate other scenes to keep the story fresh and diverting.
So, Dead Romance shines well under a second reread, but just highlights the frustration that nothing more came of most of the plot elements.
But that just might be me. Natch.
And, as an added bonus, in the Mad Norwegian version of Dead Romance, there are some extra pieces.
Previously published in Perfect Timing 2, Toy Story is a short story seemingly about a woman arguing with a ship. At least, superficially, and I have to wonder about how it was treated by a general audience when you have to know a fair bit about the history Lawrence Miles had introduced to get that it is in fact two ships talking to themselves. Even then, the events Lolita refer to are kept oblique and 'enigmatic' (which can be mistaken for 'annoying' in another light), which just makes me wonder if this is yet another Lawrence Miles internal reference which no-one but he understands. (Which can be said for a lot of his stories...)
It is an interesting wee story in its own way, but unless you know the larger picture you'll just be confused. Having it reproduced with Dead Romance helps place it in correct context, and context, for this story, is needed.
The Cosmology of the Spiral Politic is an essay Lawrence Miles wrote for Faction Paradox authors discussing how universes "evolve", at least in the context of the Faction Paradox universe. Given the nature of the pseudo-scientific components that are bolted on (child-universes being spawned by sentient beings in the parent-universe), the main ideas are surprisingly scientific and well presented, even down to explicitly stating that evolution is a process that happens rather than a driving force.
This essay is well constructed, and ideas are set up and carried out to their conclusions, within the structure of the fiction universe Lawrence Miles has set up. Indeed, one could almost imagine it being published in one of the less formal scientific journals (being as it is broadly descriptive in nature, rather than extremely detailed technobable (which is also has)), but one item doesn't fit. Namely that the Houses can't encounter their future selves, because they can't (read: the author doesn't want that to happen).
That quibble aside, an interesting piece that I'm glad has been included.
Previously printed in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Grass is... actually, I don't know. I completely failed to get the point of it. There are some mammoths, Lewis and Clark, Lucia Cailloux and President Thomas Jefferson, but aside from retelling the story, I have no idea what happened.
Lawrence Miles (in his introduction) considers this story one of the best things he's ever written, but as ever (it seems) the more Lawrence Miles likes something, the less likely I am to (c.f. Christmas on a Rational Planet). Perhaps the events here are referred to in The Book of the War, but there are just leaps of understanding I'm not making.
Ultimately, liking or disliking this story isn't an issue. I don't get it, so I can't judge it.
Sex, Drugs & The End Of The World by Matthew Kresal 8/12/09
As the forward by author Lawrence Miles says, this Mad Norwegian Press reprint of his 1999 novel, Dead Romance, is really for two groups of people: those who are Virgin New Adventures fans who missed it the first time round and those who've been reading the Faction Paradox books. Well I fall into the first category, having come into the Virgin New Adventures very late (and therefore can't judge this editon over the original Virgin version for the most part). I came to Dead Romance aware of its reputation as one of (or even the) best of that book range. So in short: Dead Romance is what Doctor Who is at its best: daring and original even a decade after its original publication (and five years after this reprint).
Perhaps the most refreshing element of Dead Romance is its narrator. With the character of Christine Summerfield and her notebooks, Miles brings a refreshing air with a first-person take on the Doctor Who universe. Christine is a much different character then her better known "sister" Bernice, yet she retains the characteristic wit and sarcasm of Bernice even when the end of the world is literally at hand. The success of Dead Romance lies mainly in the characterization of Christine and how she interprets both the world and the incredible events around her.
Yet while Christine is the novel's emotional and physical center, there is her relationship with Chris Cwej. Making a welcome return after last being seen in the final seventh Doctor New adventure, Lungbarrow, here is a Chris Cwej considerably different from the one of earlier novels. While he is definitely a continuation of the companion he is a changed man with distorted memories and now working for a mysterious group of time travelers and Houses (as they're referred to in this edition). By the end of this novel, Chris is almost unrecognizable and the result is one of the Doctor Who range's most disturbing looks at life after the TARDIS.
What makes Dead Romance stand out is its format and its plot. In an unusual twist on the ususal narative form of the Doctor Who novels, Dead Romance is told from a first-person perspective. As I said earlier, much of the novel's success is how the narrator Christine Summerfield interprets both the world and the incredible events around her. That helps make the novel's plot even better. Inside Dead Romance is an incredible tale of universes and worlds on the brink of destruction told from the perspective of a 23 year old drug addict forced into an incredible world of aliens, time travel and universes in bottles. Add on some frank takes on sex, drugs and the end of the world, and the result is one of the most daring Doctor Who-related novels.
A quick note on this edition, though. While the original Virgin edition references Time Lords and other elements of the Doctor Who universe, this edition doesn't so much. This is due to obvious copyrights problems and the fact that this is an attempt to put this novel into a place in the Faction Paradox universe. While some of those who read the original might be annoyed, as someone who didn't, I found it interesting and far from annoying. In fact, for those readers in the know, capable of reading between the lines or armed with Lars Pearson's I, Who 2, it shouldn't be hard to figure out.
Before I go any further, I should say that while I'm aware of Faction Paradox I am by no means an expert on it which might expalin what I'm going to say next. You see, included in this reprint are two short stories and an essay by Miles related to his creation Faction Paradox. While I read each of these, I admit to being just a bit bewildered by the first short story entitled Toy Story, baffled by the essay on the workings of the Faction Paradox universe (though that could be from not reading any of the books related to it) and enjoyed the final short story entitled Grass. My thought on these is that if you know quite a bit about Faction Paradox you should enjoy them; otherwise, you might want to skip them.
Dead Romance has earned a reputation over the years as one of the best Doctor Who-related novels and rightfully so in my humble opinion. With its characters, fresh narrative approach and fantastic plot, Lawrence Miles shows us what Doctor Who is capable of at its best. Whether you are a fan of Doctor Who or science fiction or something else, this is a novel that must be read to be believed. In short: it's brilliant!
A Review by Matthew Clarke 30/6/12
Dead Romance is Lawrence Miles' best novel ever. Alien Bodies was great, but it pales in comparison to the brilliance of Dead Romance. Furthermore, Dead Romance sets a literary standard that outshines and outclasses every single Doctor Who novel ever written. I won't say this is the best Doctor Who novel ever, as it is not altogether certain this is a Doctor Who novel, but if it was, it would be the best Doctor Who novel ever.
Dead Romance was originally published as part of Virgin's Bernice Summerfield range of novels. It was more recently republished with minor changes by Mad Norwegian Press. It is not actually part of the Faction Paradox series (they are never mentioned in it), but does provide some background to how the Faction Paradox ideas and concepts developed. It is difficult to fit Dead Romance into any sort of continuity. The bottle universe idea was Miles' way of illustrating his denial that the Virgin and BBC novels occupy the same universe. The novel is part of a story arc within the Bernice Summerfield novels, but now that it was republished independently, it is not clear that this continuity still stands. Do the revelations about the Gods in Twilight of the Gods apply to the new edition of the book? The ideas in it are similar to those in the Faction Paradox books, but are certainly not identical. It's not at all certain that the Gods in Dead Romance are the same as the Enemy in The Book of the War.
This novel is closer to being Doctor Who than the Faction Paradox books. Cwej, first introduced in the New Adventures, is one of the main characters. Bernice Summerfield does not appear, but is referred to throughout the book. The Doctor is mentioned, described as 'the Evil Renegade,' according to Cwej a sinister character who kidnaps people and makes them think they are having wonderful adventures. We also get the Time Lords, Rassilon and even the Daleks without any copyrighted names being mentioned. The clever nameless references work really well and show just how shallow a lot of the continuity referencing in some Doctor Who novels can be.
Nevertheless, this is very much a Doctorless novel. Even the darkest of Doctor Who novels still have the reassuring presence of the Doctor. Dead Romance does not. There is no Doctor to rescue everybody here. We are told right from the start that the world is going to come to an end and it does. This is a dark, bleak novel pervaded with an overall mood of pessimism. Dead Romance presents an hopeless, chaotic and futile cosmos. This is a quite different mood to what we generally get in Doctor Who.
The story is told through a first-person narrative. Cleverly, this an unreliable narrator. In a postmodern spirit, we are never quite sure how much of the cosmic picture she has grasped. She is also clearly baffled by all the alien technology she encounters and so describes it in magical terms like 'potions.' This is a refreshing change from the technobabble you get in so much Doctor Who.
The narrator, Christine Summerfield (not an ancestor or in any way a blood relative to Benny) is a typical Lawrence Miles character, a cynical drug addict with very loose morals. I find her very likable. She is a down-to-earth person who is easy to identify with. I much prefer her to Bernice Summerfield. Despite my adoration of the Virgin NAs, I absolutely hate Benny. She is far too overconfident and self-righteous. Christine is a much more believable character. Cwej comes across quite differently to how he appears in other novels. Part of the tragedy of the book is seeing just how corrupted he has become. The lack of redemption for him shows just how far this is from the happy humanism of Doctor Who.
Like every other Lawrence Miles book, the plot rambles a bit. There is a bit red herring half way through. There is also a massive twist in Dead Romance towards the end. I won't give it away, but it totally changes your perspective on the story and it makes the whole thing seem even more dark than it was up to that point.
I really appreciated the lack of action in the book. It is very much a work of reflection. It is all about exactly what is going through the mind of the protagonist and narrator. In fact, the only time in the book that she does something heroic, there is an apology!
The Time Lords are brilliantly portrayed. We never meet a flesh and blood Time Lord in the book, and this distance helps to keep them god-like and ethereal. They appear utterly cold and ruthless. They are simply beyond caring about the lives of human beings. Their obsession with altering the bodies of their subjects and employees is a new idea. I suppose the Rani must have learned her tricks on Gallifrey.
Dead Romance shares some common themes with the works of H.P. Lovecraft, as well as the sense of doom and cosmic pessimism. However, it stands above pretty much everything which is consciously written in the vein of Lovecraft. Seeing Miles manage to use the very same ideas as Lovecraft, yet avoiding the cliches of his imitators made me realise just how bad and pointless most Mythos fiction is.
Dead Romance is simply the cleverest and best written book ever to be associated with Doctor Who. It's absolute literary perfection.