Harvest of Time
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BBC Books Harvest of Time |
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| Author | Alistair Reynolds |  |
| ISBN# | 0 38534 6 801 | |
| Published | 2013 | |
| Featuring | The third Doctor, Jo Grant, the Brigadier and Mike Yates |
| Synopsis: After billions of years of imprisonment, the vicious Sild have broken out of confinement. From a ruined world at the end of time, they make preparations to conquer the past, with the ultimate goal of rewriting history. But to achieve their aims they will need to enslave an intellect greater than their own. As the Sild invasion begins, the Doctor faces a terrible dilemma. To save the universe, he must save his arch-nemesis... |
Back And Third by Matthew Kresal 26/3/16
The first new third Doctor novel released since 2005, Harvest of Time was the second new novel featuring a past Doctor released as part of Doctor Who's fiftieth anniversary year. Written by noted UK science fiction writer Alistair Reynolds, the book had expectations built up around it as both a new third Doctor story and as a novel by Reynolds. So how does the novel fare then?
Harvest of Time certainly captures the Pertwee era and does so in large part because Reynolds certainly knows the TV characters, as evidenced by the strength of their characterizations. The third Doctor and the Master in particular are well served as both are captured perfectly, especially in their dialogue and interactions with one another. There's one scene in particular, set in the TARDIS and featuring just the two characters, that would have been wonderful to see onscreen if only to see what actors Jon Pertwee and Roger Delgado would have made of it. The other returning TV characters (Jo, the Brigadier, Yates and Benton) are all put to good use as well, if a bit under-used as they're all effectively relegated to the sidelines of the story about midway or so through. Overall though, the characterizations are strong, and indeed it's hard at times not to imagine that this is some unmade story from the Pertwee era simply because they're that good.
As strong as the characterizations are, the book captures the feel of the era in other ways. The various settings bring to mind a number of Pertwee/UNIT stories from the Master being imprisoned in a nuclear power station to the oil rig where much of the sub-plot takes place, the latter echoing not just The Sea Devils but the later fourth Doctor story Terror of the Zygons as well. The novel's action sequences could also have come straight out of the era, especially the battles between UNIT troops and the invading Sild. Indeed, the way the book's second half unfolds with increasing emphasis on the Doctor and the Master journeying into the far future calls to mind the way that various stories from throughout the Pertwee era were often structured. The references to earlier third Doctor stories - and indeed echoes of some things that would come later in the show - are all nicely done as well. As a result, Harvest of Time feels like a part of the era and indeed nicely fits somewhere between The Daemons and The Sea Devils (and more than likely after Day Of The Daleks as well).
While evoking the era well, the novel fares nicely in other aspects as well. The various secondary characters are nicely drawn out as being believable, if often doomed, from shady government officials to the alien Praxilons and their leader, the Red Queen. The novel also flows along nicely, though its evoking of the era does effectively leave Jo and UNIT as part of a subplot that ultimately serves little purpose and feels like little more than padding (though very good padding, it must be said). The novel also ultimately shakes off the studio feel of the period and is, of course, able to do things that the series could never dreamed of doing at the time.
Despite some minor flaws, Harvest of Time succeeds nicely as a Doctor Who novel. It perfectly captures both the characters and feel of the third Doctor era while also doing things that the series could never have done at the time. For fans of Doctor Who, and indeed the third Doctor era as a whole, the book is wholeheartedly recommended.
A Haiku by Finn Clark 12/4/21
Boring when on Earth,
Gets good in the far future,
Both flabby and strong.