BBC Books Border Princes A Torchwood Novel

Author	Peter Anghelides
Published	2007

Synopsis: Torchwood's newest team member isn't what he appears to be.

• A Review by Shawn Metz

A Review by Shawn Metz 7/4/12

Torchwood: Border Princes stars James Mayer with special guest stars Capt. Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato. I know what you're thinking: who the hell is James Mayer? Well, James is a member of Torchwood. No, really. He just comes out of nowhere and acts like he's been on the team for some time. No backstory is given as to when he was recruited and his character is as interesting as linoleum.

I read this book several months ago so my memory is hazy as to the exact nature of the plot. Basically, Torchwood investigate some bizarre happenings that are not connected together and do little to drive what plot there is forward. All the while, James is loved by all and has an affair with Gwen. It's not until the end of the novel that we learn James is actually a guardian of the Rift, only from a different dimension the Rift is connected to. When James is sent through the Rift to keep tabs on Torchwood, his memory of who he really is is somehow damaged (I can't remember the exact details as to how). So, James thinks he really is a member of Torchwood. By the end, James' fellow guardians from his dimension show up, kill James' human body, and takes his consciousness back with them to their home dimension and Gwen cries over the death of this Mary Sue character.

Now, I don't mind well-developed secondary characters in tie-in novels, but the reason I (and most people) pick up a tie-in novel is to read about characters we know from the television series experiencing new adventures or exploring the worlds that cannot be explored on a television budget; to quote from the sales pitch on the back of the early New Adventures novels "stories too broad and too deep for the small screen". First, this book could have been filmed as what little there is of a plot is very basic. Second, I do not expect to read a book in which the entire story is driven by a guest character. James' actions and interactions with Torchwood drives most of the story. I pick these books up to read about Jack, Gwen, and the rest. The secondary characters are just that, secondary.

This is the first Dan Abnett book I've read. I've listened to his audio stories in the past and enjoy what he's written. I know every author has a clunker once in a while, but Abnett really dropped the ball with this one. It felt as though he rushed through this novel because he had a more interesting one he wanted to develop.

It should also be noted that this is the second Torchwood novel and is still set in the first series so Abnett did not write a rip-off of the second series story Adam. It is just an unfortunate coincidence that the production team decided to write a televised story about a pseudo team member a year after a tie-in novel was published about a pseudo team member.

Don't waste your time with this book. 1/10.