Retrospective: Steve Lyons by John Seavey 21/11/03
Perhaps it's arrogant of me to believe this, but I think that Steve Lyons is a writer who appeals most strongly to other writers. He's one of the more prolific authors to write for the range, with ten novels (Conundrum, Time of Your Life, Head Games, Killing Ground, The Murder Game, The Witch Hunters, Salvation, The Final Sanction, The Space Age, The Crooked World) to his credit, and all of them share a single trait: They all start with a single idea, and then develop that idea out to its natural conclusion. The fact that the majority of them are such strong novels testifies to Lyons' ability to clearly and intelligently develop those ideas -- something that other writers truly admire.
Bringing out the idea of a novel isn't the same thing as simply plotting out the course of events from Point A to Point B (although Lyons is also an excellent plotter.) It's determining what you want your novel to say about the human condition, and then determining how best to have the plot express that idea. Most of his novels start with a strong theme (the importance of responsibility in Time of Your Life, The Crooked World and The Space Age, the inhumanity of war in The Final Sanction and Killing Ground, and so on). One or two struggle there -- The Murder Game, for example, never seems to have a hook to hang its story upon -- but for the most part, Lyons always seems to know what he wants to say. More importantly, he then seems to know how to take that idea and bring it along from first principles to final, inevitable conclusion without ever seeming to force things. From the escalation of the war between the Cybermen and the Bronze Knights in Killing Ground to the gradual discovery of free will by the inhabitants of The Crooked World, everything always seems like a perfectly natural progression of what came before it.
This is a good thing, because other aspects of Lyons' writing don't necessarily engage in the same way. His prose is clear, but emotionless, and his humor is frequently dry (although also frequently funny); likewise, the characters he creates tend to sometimes feel like one's examining them under a microscope, taking their emotions and reactions at one or two dispassionate removes. He does deal with the regulars quite well, though, writing an excellent Hartnell and probably one of the best Colin Bakers committed to prose. (His Eighth Doctor wavers a bit in The Space Age, but is handled much better in the ensuing Crooked World.)
Of course, no discussion of Steve Lyons would be complete without discussing his additions he made to the Whoniverse. These include the first novel-only companion, Grant Markham, who will probably be long-remembered as the first novel-only past Doctor companion, Grant Markham. A bit of a miss, but as a prototype for Evelyn and Erimem, he's a worthwhile historical footnote. Lyons also settled the issue of Melanie's post-TARDIS life, although the issue's become clouded once more with the addition of Heritage to the Doctor Who canon. And, let's not forget, he created (and destroyed) the Selachians.
In addition, Lyons tried to clarify some of the way time travel works in Doctor Who, and his thoughts on changing history form an interesting bridge between the contradictory explanations given in such TV stories as The Aztecs, The Time Meddler, and Pyramids of Mars, and the formal explanation given in Time Zero. It's almost an obssession with Lyons; references to changing history appear in Time of Your Life, Head Games, The Witch Hunters, Salvation, The Final Sanction, and The Space Age. Essentially, he posits that once a time traveler (like the Doctor) "stabilizes" history by observing it, it becomes difficult and dangerous to change that history because it would involve creating a temporal paradox. Time travelers pay a price for their power, and that price is sometimes the inability to use their knowledge.
I'm sure we'll see another Steve Lyons novel come down the pike soon enough; he's still active in the audios, his most recent novel was very recent indeed, and a new TV series can only invigorate his interest in Doctor Who. Personally, I'm looking forward to whatever he comes up with next; he's done a good job so far, and I welcome his next foray into Doctor Who.
Entertaining by Joe Ford 11/12/03
Steve Lyons is another regular contributor to the Doctor Who range, his name is well known for delivering above average books for both the Virgin and the BBC ranges and for being willing to try out anything once. He has dabbled with old companions (Susan, Jamie) and new ones (Benny, Anji) and even created a new one of his own to play with (Grant). He does not restrict himself to one genre (like say the Goth horror of Lloyd Rose or the melodramatic angst of Cornell) and is probably the most versatile writer who was tried out different styles successfully. Let's take a look at his books...
The Witch Hunters: Still one of my favourite BBC
Past Doctor Adventures, a gut wrenching, emotional story of the Salem
witch trials. Everybody loves the Hartnell historicals, on TV they were
often the most thoughtful, engaging Doctor Who we got and Steve
captures the gritty, realistic atmosphere they achieve superbly.
Brilliantly he manages to make Susan pivotal and not annoying and
(brilliantly) interesting, her disgraceful mistreatment is tough to read.
The first Doctor manages to remain elusive throughout leaving room for his
stunning companions but even he gets a moment of tear jerking simplicity
at the books climax when he get to show a woman about to be burnt the
future. It is a very revealing moment for his character.
Verdict: A plus (Stark, brutal horror and its all set on Earth)
Salvation: Strangely this was not as well received
as The Witch Hunters despite its similar themes of
redemption and destiny; perhaps they thought Lyons was trying to
capatilise on his earlier success. Whatever, this book is underrated, a
valuable examination of Steven's character after the traumatic events of
The Massacre and a superb introduction for Dodo,
Lyons finally giving possibly the worst companion ever a back story. The
book is thoughtful and compelling and the chosen location (New York in the
fifties) evokes a nice feeling of nostalgia.
Verdict: B plus (Companions triumph in this slow moving character
tale)
The Murder Game: A book that cannot decide what it
wants to be, a murder mystery, an action adventure or a techno-thriller
but successfully pulls off all three making it a very entertaining jumble.
Neglected companions Polly and Ben get a stunning almost romance and
considering this is a second Doctor book he is okay, a bit too silly but
still fun. Lyons' own monsters, the Selchians, don't make much of an
impression however being a little too pedestrian Who monsters
without a 'hook' to make them truly memorable.
Verdict: B (High on action, low on brains)
The Final Sanction: Much better use is made of
the Selchians here, putting them in the heart of this morality play allows
more character to define them. It would appear Lyons' grittier books suit
his style of writing and this book revels in torturing its characters,
innocent companions Jamie and Zoe especially (Zoe goes through hell in
this one). Some discussion on using a bomb to end all the bloodshed gives
the book some real dramatic weight and seeing Troughton's Doc firmly
entrenched in a book that refuses to let him play the clown is quite
refreshing, his desperation to save everybody makes gripping reading. All
this and the chapter through the dying eyes of a young Selchian warrior...
Verdict: A minus (Heartbreaking and exciting)
Time of Your Life: A real bizarre mixture of
everything good and bad about Doctor Who, Lyons misses the mark a
bit here. He is trying to be all clever and satirical, mocking crap
television but in doing so he inflicts much of what is crap about
television on us. Whoops. However the book is fast moving and contains
some good shocks to keep you reading, Angela's death is a real high point
because she was so damn nice. There are far too many characters to care
about early that might put you off but Grant makes a good, if generic
companion. Top marks however for the brilliant ending that sees the
violent and unpredictable Doctor batter an android to death with a hat
stand, one of the best endings to a Who novel.
Verdict: C plus (Complicated and annoying but with sporadic moments of
brilliance)
Killing Ground: Another torturous masterpiece and
the best use of the Cybermen in print. Lyons remembers they are supposed
to be scary rather than cool and includes some truly disturbing scenes of
conversion. Grant catching the cyber head oozing with blood is disgusting
but the book proves an excellent learning curve for the newcomer, his
fathers death proving a dramatic turning point for this (to that point)
traditional character (shame he never returned, the potential was there).
Even the Doctor gets a good examination and (perhaps for Colin) gets to
blast a Cybermen to hell. Strong, adult stuff and all the better for it.
Verdict: A minus (Body horror Who)
Conundrum: Lyons turns his hand to the whimsical
and (surprisingly) succeeds; this is what is known as a miracle in the
angst ridden New Adventures range, it is fun! With a hidden narrator
telling the story he gets to use all sorts of ingenious and funny
techniques, especially the brilliant, audacious moment where Ace jumps out
of the story! The last third with the Doctor and the Master trying to
out-write each other is mercilessly clever and despite the appearance of
Ace at her all time most annoying this remains a strong book in a
lacklustre run for the NA's.
Verdict: A minus (Comic book fun)
Head Games: Oh whoops. Not very good really, Lyons
trying to be little too clever for his own good and including too many
elements, none of which work especially well. The book has a real sadistic
edge that I do not agree with, especially regarding the return of Mel
which could have been fun but turns out to be nothing more than an excuse
to show how much more adult (with the swearing, sex, manipulating Doctor
and gun toting companions) the series is now. Well yeah but that doesn't
mean its good. Plus it paints quite a depressing picture of the future. No
thanks.
Verdict: D plus (You're better than this trash Lyons!)
The Space Age: Double whoops! This is Lyons'
'high concept' at its worst, I mean just who would want to take what is
the most embarrassing element of the sixties and transfer it into the
future? The book's plot is thin and could have ended a hundred pages in
and although some of the secondary characters are appealing the regulars
are completely faceless, a criminal waste of Compassion's too few
appearances. This should be the ultimate Fitz story, immersed in his own
culture but instead he comes across as po-faced and worse, dull. Even the
prose isn't much cop.
Verdict: D (A shock disaster for Lyons in a good run for the EDA's)
The Crooked World: Easily the best thing Lyons
has ever written, the break away from Doctor Who for a few years
refreshes his style and he writes one of the best EDA's of a fantastic
year. The brilliant concept, Doctor Who visits cartoon land is
inspired and taken to extreme limits proving to be touching, funny and
dramatic. Fitz and Anji have rarely been better and the secondary
characters (Streaky Bacon, Angel, The Masked Weasel) all show tremendous
growth before the book ends. Lyons prose is snappy and readable, his jokes
are hysterical (the custard pie gun!) and the ending marks this as one the
most fulsome, mature and bizarre Doctor Who books. It re-defined
how far the books can go and proves there is a lot of mileage left in the
book range.
Verdict: A plus (A magical experience)
Well what a bunch! I have always admired Steve Lyons work because he seems to epitomise Doctor Who. On his resume we have out and out comedy, fantasy, a war story, a murder mystery, a character drama, a historical... it is almost as if he set out prove just how versatile the Doctor Who range can be. Certainly each of his works is vastly different from the last and the switch in styles never lets his books become predictable. I think trying out new things re-vitalises his interest (and ours) and keeps things fresh.
His writing style however is quite predictable and enjoyable for it. Lyons' books rarely want to impress you with turn of phrase (except perhaps The Crooked World) and each one is easy to read. On the scale I would say he is the exact opposite of Dave Stone who fills his books with long, incomprehensible words, diverts from the plot all the time and makes his concepts as wacky as possible. Lyons writes simply, short sentences and remains very focussed throughout, his plots proving fast paced and exciting. Some writers paint a detailed picture of the planets they write (Kate Orman, Lloyd Rose) but not Lyons, he is much more concerned with his characters and gets us inside their heads.
The best Lyons characters are the tragic ones, the ones that are forced into a role they are not accustomed to and try to cope. Jasper the cat from The Crooked World is such a thoughtful character because he is trying so hard to enjoy his newfound independence, to find his voice but he just doesn't know how. His frustration at being forced into his old role as a Squeak catcher is brought to a dramatic climax when he DOES catch Squeak and rips his head off and recoils in shock at what he has done. We are with him all the way as he faces trial for his murderous actions, cheer the Doctor as he reveals how he was abused and used, Jasper's first words prove to be the most satisfying moment in the book. He takes the journey and despite the bumps along the way comes out trumps.
There are similar tragic characters dotted about in Lyons books. Susan is persecuted for her unreal behaviour in The Witch Hunters, Steven is reeling from events in The Massacre and unsure whether to continue with the Doctor, Mullholland agonising over using the bomb in The Final Sanction, Grant facing his father's death, Norman the superhero in Conundrum... characters it is impossible not to like because of their agonising situations. Lyons enjoys making his characters suffer, especially the companions.
But Lyons also has quite a decent sense of humour and manages to add some quirky moments even the most serious of his books. I love the Doctor's introduction in The Murder Game, dressed in drag with a terrible accent! Very Troughton-esque! And Fitz's attempts to sleep with Angel Falls in The Crooked World which end up fruitless when she turns out to be as ill equipped as a Barbie Doll! Conundrum has some funny narrative tricks as the Doctor and the Master try and invent more and more elaborate distractions to defeat each other.
It's not all good however, Steve Lyons has a penchant for filling his books with too many characters and plots. Time of Your Life, Conundrum, The Space Age and The Murder Game all suffer from having too much going on. Although recently the EDA's have proven that complicated plotting and large casts can work if they are all kept in check (Timeless) but Lyons lacks the attention to draw all of his characters together to drive the plot and often just kills them off when they are of no further use. I like my books to feel as though they have been painfully constructed, mysteries thrown up and explored and dealt with satisfactorily, most of Lyons plots are well explained and engaging but not surprising. The characters are rarely in the dark and neither are the audience and as such if you are not involved with the characters (The Space Age) there is little to keep you hooked.
Steve favours the earlier Doctors and manages to capture their eras extremely well. The Witch Hunters and The Final Sanction are so grim and full of moral and ethical dilemmas I was seeing it in black and white! Otherwise he concentrates on the sixth Doctor and sets about restoring some of his nastier side (after all this character repair lately) having him kill if necessary, snap people's heads off and treats his friends with an almost sadistic edge. And why not? Let's never forget the sixth Doctor could be a right bastard, in many ways Steve's android-bashing sixth Doctor is his most accurate transfer to print. His seventh Doctor is a mischievous imp with a twinkle in his eye, a lot more fun than many other authors made him. Lyons got to dabble with the 8th Doctor pre and post amnesia and the latter comes up trumps (as usual) with his delicate prodding of the coming of age inhabitants of The Crooked World.
Often enjoyable, rarely disappointing and full of exciting moments, Steve Lyons' books are often triumphant. He enjoys a vast array of styles and his books are, if nothing else, extremely entertaining. After his powerful 8th Doctor adventure last year let us hope we see more of him, another of his terrifying historical dramas would be most welcome these days.