Telos Publishing The Tunnel at the End of the Light

Author	Stefan Petrucha
Published	2004
ISBN	1-903889-37-5 (paperback) 1-903889-38-3 (deluxe hardback)
Featuring	Honore Lechasseur and Emily Blandish

• A Review by Finn Clark

A Review by Finn Clark 29/1/04

In summary: flat and bland. The new generation of post-Who spin-offs chalk up their first (relative) failure.

In a sense the following isn't a fair criticism since Stefan Petrucha probably hasn't read the novel I'm about to mention... but I bet most of Telos's target audience has, so what the hell. Much of this book feels like a watered-down rehash of The Adventuress of Henrietta Street. We have period London, time sensitives, a mob of killer apes (possibly from "outside time", or so it's hinted) and some serious rituals. I'm sure a non-Who audience might think it was original and perhaps even slightly chilling, but I couldn't help thinking I'd seen it all done before and better. It doesn't help that it's presented mostly on a straightforward adventure level despite the fact that such stories feel a bit rudimentary at novella length compared with what we're used to. Telos novellas work better when they're playing on a more literary level.

Admittedly the book's last 20% introduces some new stuff. I liked the big fella, in his own lowbrow way. (It's dumb fun, but I'm not too proud to enjoy that.) However any vestigial goodwill gets jettisoned when the book ends in a gigantic cheat and overall I didn't really care about any of it. There's the return... of someone I don't remember. Admittedly the book reads easily and at novella length doesn't outstay its welcome, but I can't say I was impressed.

The prose feels slightly dumbed down. There's none of that flavoursome text we saw in Cabinet of Light and (to a lesser extent) in The Winning Side, but more importantly the characters have been flattened too. Honore Lechasseur and Emily feel less real than previously, as if they've lost a dimension or two. The book is set almost entirely in their native era of London in 1950, which should be a good thing... but Stefan Petrucha doesn't take advantage of this opportunity to flesh out further our mental image of the era, or even follow up on what's been done already in previous books.

I liked Crest, though. The book does some nifty stuff with him.

Despite everything I've said, this isn't a terrible book. It's not bad, just weak. Compared with some of the atrocities of the past year or two, it positively shines. I didn't love it or hate it... I simply read it in an hour, shrugged to myself and went on to something better. It's okay - but when it comes to such spin-offs, "okay" doesn't cut it. These novellas have a high price tag, a low word count and a particularly tenuous Doctor Who connection. If you're looking to sample Telos's output, don't pick this book first.