The Also People (The New Doctor Who Series)

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary book in the series & a good sci-fi read
Review: Aaronovitch sets himself head & shoulders above most other "Who" writers with this title, which finally answers the question of "Where does the Doctor go for R&R?" In the midst of an idyllic society on technological par with the Time Lords themselves, the Doctor, Benny, Roz and investigate what is surely one of the most unusual murder mysteries yet written in the guise of good, progressive sci-fi. Exotic locales, lush verbal sunshine and a nicely convoluted plot

Rating:
Summary: Not Recommended
Review: I was very excited to read a book that had such high reviews. Unfortunately, I was very dissappointed. I read to about page 70 and just couldn't keep going. The plot was going nowhere, the story dragged and bored me. The Doctor is absent from most pages, and his new companions bored me to tears. This Dyson Sphere planet is a clever idea--almost too clever. The setting, the super-advanced world is dull and empty. In addition, the names of the natives are full of capital letters for some reason. What's more, there are exclamation points in the middle of their names. I found the names annoying, and the book tedious. I tried to finish it, but I couldn't waste my time.

Instead, I would highly recommend The Festival of Death--a terrific Fourth Doctor story by Jonathan Morris.

Rating:
Summary: A warm, funny, and a generally worthwhile Doctor Who tale
Review: In "The Also People", the TARDIS gang takes a vacation in a Dyson Sphere surrounded by retired (and eccentric!) warships, and protected by a computer referred to as 'God'. The highly evolved people here can easily change their sexes and species, and live peacefully alongside superintelligent drones. This world has wonderful parties, charming local color, semi-intelligent faerytale houses that provide everything and general contentment and goodwill. So of course, Roz is bored -- until a drone is murdered. In the meantime, Benny befriends a local woman, sara!quava(something like that), Chris falls in love with her daughter, and the Doctor plays the spoons, fishes, debates with God and generally tries to keep everyone alive while advoiding Armegeddon. Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart is also here, but she seems to have lost her memory and is extremely dangerous; Benny is given the choice whether or not to kill her. (Part of her decision is influenced by a hysterical dream sequence -- read it for yourself!) 'The Also People', with its gentle humor, wistful sadness, and introspectiveness is a welcome break from the breakneck pace of so many of the New Adventures.

Rating:
Summary: A warm, funny, and a generally worthwhile Doctor Who tale
Review: In "The Also People", the TARDIS gang takes a vacation in a Dyson Sphere surrounded by retired (and eccentric!) warships, and protected by a computer referred to as 'God'. The highly evolved people here can easily change their sexes and species, and live peacefully alongside superintelligent drones. This world has wonderful parties, charming local color, semi-intelligent faerytale houses that provide everything and general contentment and goodwill. So of course, Roz is bored -- until a drone is murdered. In the meantime, Benny befriends a local woman, sara!quava(something like that), Chris falls in love with her daughter, and the Doctor plays the spoons, fishes, debates with God and generally tries to keep everyone alive while advoiding Armegeddon. Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart is also here, but she seems to have lost her memory and is extremely dangerous; Benny is given the choice whether or not to kill her. (Part of her decision is influenced by a hysterical dream sequence -- read it for yourself!) 'The Also People', with its gentle humor, wistful sadness, and introspectiveness is a welcome break from the breakneck pace of so many of the New Adventures.

Rating:
Summary: "The things are also people." -- Douglas Adams
Review: Pleasant. There is so much about THE ALSO PEOPLE that is just pleasant. This was a book billed as the Doctor and his companions simply going on holiday, and it actually delivers on that premise. It's relaxing, understated and utterly absorbing. Its simplicity is its greatest strength. By having a slow-moving plot, we really get to grips with the details, and the details are what make this such an enjoyable read.

Although this is one of the largest settings ever seen in a Doctor Who story, the stakes feel surprisingly small. There is just one unexplained murder to solve, and one ethical dilemma, both of which don't even appear until we're well into the flow. The rest of the time is spent in a combination of world-building and character exploration. It's hard to believe that the same book can feel both relaxing and riveting, but Aaronovitch manages it. The plot is extremely slight, yet the story never feels padded. The book seems to be exactly the right length for the storyline, and although there aren't huge plot twists and revelations every twenty pages, that's wonderful, because that isn't what this book is going for. The book focuses on the small things, and lets the big things take care of themselves. And, really, isn't that what Doctor Who itself has always been about in one form or another?

Every character is gorgeously portrayed, including, surprisingly, the Doctor. Yes, there are a greater-than-average number of scenes told from the Doctor's point of view, and they're fantastic (of course, the average itself is only slightly above zero). I have a sneaking suspicion that Ben Aaronovitch counts among his friends a certain centuries old, world-weary Time Lord and that he somehow sweet-talked that fellow into ghostwriting these sections of the book for him. Shame on Ben Aaronovitch. Of course, he also nails every other character perfectly, so I can deduce that he's also buddies with cops hailing from the far future, a grumpy drunken archeologist, and incredibly powerful aliens living inside a Dyson Sphere. Oh yeah, and God. Lucky Aaronovitch; I bet his dinner parties are a laugh.

Speaking of the Dyson Sphere (if you didn't already know: a Dyson Sphere as a scientific proposal based upon the idea of building a huge shell around a stable star, with people living on the inside walls), it is an incredible achievement that the author was able to make this as believable a concept as it turned out. We know from the back cover that the people of the Worldsphere are an extremely advanced civilization with incredible powers (we're told that they have a non-aggression pact with the Time Lords). All too often, this only results in the initial concept being abandoned when the author needs to have the superior creatures outsmarted by the mere mortal protagonists. But not here. Here, Aaronovitch doesn't let up on his premise in the slightest. The result is a civilization that sparkles and jumps right off the page. Is this because the core ideas were borrowed from another source? Possibly, though I haven't read any of Iain M. Banks' Culture novels, so I don't really have an opinion on that. The main point is that wherever the ideas come from, they work extremely well here, and they're treated intelligently.

But huge world-building aside, it's the little things that the book does that are the reason it's so popular. The prose is sharp and wonderful. The novel is deceptively simple; it's only when I go back and rethink certain portions that I realize quite how clever Aaronovitch was in the construction of the themes. The murder subplot, the treatment of Chris and Roz by the Worldsphere people, and the sections with Kadiatu all revolve around the same topics, and it's a blast working out how everything fits together. I think there are one or two points of the plot that are sacrificed to make the themes succeed properly, but, in context, it worked.

For anyone who thinks that the NAs were too gritty, too dark, too angsty, or just plain "not Doctor Who", THE ALSO PEOPLE should be required reading. It deals with deep and thoughtful issues, but it does so in an amazingly enjoyable story that contains as many great jokes as it does introspective passages. There's much to cherish in this one. From the Doctor sadly wondering if he couldn't just be a street entertainer, to the sentient, talking parachute, to the scene of Cwej accidentally dumping several gallons of water onto a sleeping Doctor's head, there are just too many great scenes in the book to dryly list off in a review such as this. Just snag yourself a copy and read it immediately. And if you've already read it, read it again.

Rating:
Summary: "The things are also people." -- Douglas Adams
Review: Pleasant. There is so much about THE ALSO PEOPLE that is just pleasant. This was a book billed as the Doctor and his companions simply going on holiday, and it actually delivers on that premise. It's relaxing, understated and utterly absorbing. Its simplicity is its greatest strength. By having a slow-moving plot, we really get to grips with the details, and the details are what make this such an enjoyable read.

Although this is one of the largest settings ever seen in a Doctor Who story, the stakes feel surprisingly small. There is just one unexplained murder to solve, and one ethical dilemma, both of which don't even appear until we're well into the flow. The rest of the time is spent in a combination of world-building and character exploration. It's hard to believe that the same book can feel both relaxing and riveting, but Aaronovitch manages it. The plot is extremely slight, yet the story never feels padded. The book seems to be exactly the right length for the storyline, and although there aren't huge plot twists and revelations every twenty pages, that's wonderful, because that isn't what this book is going for. The book focuses on the small things, and lets the big things take care of themselves. And, really, isn't that what Doctor Who itself has always been about in one form or another?

Every character is gorgeously portrayed, including, surprisingly, the Doctor. Yes, there are a greater-than-average number of scenes told from the Doctor's point of view, and they're fantastic (of course, the average itself is only slightly above zero). I have a sneaking suspicion that Ben Aaronovitch counts among his friends a certain centuries old, world-weary Time Lord and that he somehow sweet-talked that fellow into ghostwriting these sections of the book for him. Shame on Ben Aaronovitch. Of course, he also nails every other character perfectly, so I can deduce that he's also buddies with cops hailing from the far future, a grumpy drunken archeologist, and incredibly powerful aliens living inside a Dyson Sphere. Oh yeah, and God. Lucky Aaronovitch; I bet his dinner parties are a laugh.

Speaking of the Dyson Sphere (if you didn't already know: a Dyson Sphere as a scientific proposal based upon the idea of building a huge shell around a stable star, with people living on the inside walls), it is an incredible achievement that the author was able to make this as believable a concept as it turned out. We know from the back cover that the people of the Worldsphere are an extremely advanced civilization with incredible powers (we're told that they have a non-aggression pact with the Time Lords). All too often, this only results in the initial concept being abandoned when the author needs to have the superior creatures outsmarted by the mere mortal protagonists. But not here. Here, Aaronovitch doesn't let up on his premise in the slightest. The result is a civilization that sparkles and jumps right off the page. Is this because the core ideas were borrowed from another source? Possibly, though I haven't read any of Iain M. Banks' Culture novels, so I don't really have an opinion on that. The main point is that wherever the ideas come from, they work extremely well here, and they're treated intelligently.

But huge world-building aside, it's the little things that the book does that are the reason it's so popular. The prose is sharp and wonderful. The novel is deceptively simple; it's only when I go back and rethink certain portions that I realize quite how clever Aaronovitch was in the construction of the themes. The murder subplot, the treatment of Chris and Roz by the Worldsphere people, and the sections with Kadiatu all revolve around the same topics, and it's a blast working out how everything fits together. I think there are one or two points of the plot that are sacrificed to make the themes succeed properly, but, in context, it worked.

For anyone who thinks that the NAs were too gritty, too dark, too angsty, or just plain "not Doctor Who", THE ALSO PEOPLE should be required reading. It deals with deep and thoughtful issues, but it does so in an amazingly enjoyable story that contains as many great jokes as it does introspective passages. There's much to cherish in this one. From the Doctor sadly wondering if he couldn't just be a street entertainer, to the sentient, talking parachute, to the scene of Cwej accidentally dumping several gallons of water onto a sleeping Doctor's head, there are just too many great scenes in the book to dryly list off in a review such as this. Just snag yourself a copy and read it immediately. And if you've already read it, read it again.

Rating:
Summary: So Relaxed it punches you in the gut and you say thanks
Review: There is such a happy, lighthearted tone to this book that you forget that you are reading about a planet of killcrazy artificial intelligences who wage war for the hell of it and murder each other for convenience sake. This was one of my first books read in the Doctor Who series and I was hooked with it. It's great to see that the novelisations have continued the great traditions of Doctor Who

Rating:
Summary: The People are long overdue a return visit!
Review: Wow! This book is as vast and as stimulating as the environment it is set in. The idea of Dyson Spheres is an excellent one, and although an old idea (I've been fascinated with the concept since reading Larry Niven's 'Ringworld', and Colin Kapp's 'Cageworld' series years ago), it is a new concept for Doctor Who. I'm surprised it has never been explored in the series until now, or for that matter, since.

Saying this book is a murder mystery is an understatement, yet at it's simplest The Also People is an old-fashioned who-dunnit. Where this book surpasses the ordinary is the fact that the author also seizes the opportunity to create a convincing, fresh environment, a unique, interesting culture and then populates it with numerous appealing, 3-dimensional characters.

The TARDIS crew are extremely well handled here. The foursome of the Doctor, Benny, Roz and Chris are 'real people' in this book. Benny is just being Benny. She does things because, in that situation, that is how Benny would react. The same is true for the others; their actions are true to their character. They live their lives and the plot flows naturally from this.

Racial tolerance is one of the main themes explored by this book. A theme very current today, and I fear for a long time into the future. The People are a civilisation consisting of both organic and non-organic (sentient machines) people. All types are recognised as 'human'. It is impossible to denigrate someone in this culture by sex or colour (for example), when simple things like sex and colour are a preference and can be changed at whim. In this culture, things like sex, sexual preference, colour, body shape and even race have become irrelevant.

I have only one (extremely small) difficulty with this novel. The idea that The People are so advanced that they have a non-aggression pact with the Time Lords is a compelling one, but I find it hard to believe that any civilisation without time travel could hold it's own against an enemy with time travel.

A unique experience. Easily one of the best Doctor Who novels yet written. The People are long overdue a return visit.