The Year of Intelligent Tigers (Doctor Who)

Rating:
Summary: Music to my ears
Review: At first I wasn't sure if I was going to like THE YEAR OF INTELLIGENT TIGERS. It starts off quite slowly, with a lot of leisurely scenes that are interesting and enjoyable, but don't really get the blood pumping. It seems like it's trying to do the Doctor-and-companions-on vacation thing, but not doing it quite as well as Ben Aaronovitch had done in his fabulous THE ALSO PEOPLE. Fortunately, the opening sections are merely setting the stage for what comes later. The result is a book that is easily one of the best of the EDAs.

This is a much more in-depth and demanding novel than the previous three in the EDA range, and it's all that much more rewarding. Once the plot kicks in, it drives the action in a relaxed, yet steady pace. Several wonderful set pieces space out the more story-driven sequences and provide us with numerous memorable images. The Eighth Doctor works incredibly well as a sort of mad violinist, and it's great to see him putting his passion towards something other than running around quickly. The musical references invade every part of the book, from the structure to the dialogue to the tone. The mentions are plentiful, but never clumsy, and are slipped in with a lot of care.

The society of tigers is quite well realized and there is a genuine sense of mystery and anticipation as more and more of their culture and history is slowly revealed. I won't give away too much, but there are some great surprises contained in these sections. Numerous Doctor Who clichés are borrowed from, but they are all given a new twist. In some ways the basic plot resembles older stories and serials, but every time you think you know how the story will unfold, it cleverly takes a different step, defying expectation at most turns. Such familiarity in the beginning and middle sections helps to emphasize how inventive and unexpected the ending really is. The Doctor's solution is exactly what he has been working towards for the entirety of the book, but the execution of this plan is quite interesting.

The tigers (though the story points out that they merely resemble Earth tigers, and are, in fact, an alien life-form) are characterized quite interestingly, slightly better than the individual humans are. Since we've seen hundreds of Earth colonies over the years, more time is spent building up the tiger society and so they get the lion's share of the attention. The regulars get quite a lot to do as well. Anji is really starting to come into her own as a companion. Here she's organized and resourceful, yet suspicious of the actions of other people. Without Fitz's experience, she's not quite sure where this Doctor fellow's loyalties really lie. It isn't overdone though, and it really helps to drive the action along. There is a great attention to detail present; every character's motivations are understandable and believable. No one acts merely for the sake of convenience.

THE YEAR OF INTELLIGENT TIGERS is a great book, giving the Doctor a lot to solve, Anji a lot to angst over, and Fitz a lot to be frightened of. As someone who isn't terribly familiar with a lot of classical music, I suspect that there were a few references that went over my head, but the musical flavour and tone of the story is maintained quite well. Extra mention should be made of the historical flashbacks to Doctor's one hundred year exile to Earth. These are two of the best portions of the book, and makes one wish that the Ormanblum entity had also written a book during that particular story arc. In any case, TIGERS is one of the better EDAs and is a welcome addition to the current unfolding story.

Rating:
Summary: Music to my ears
Review: At first I wasn't sure if I was going to like THE YEAR OF INTELLIGENT TIGERS. It starts off quite slowly, with a lot of leisurely scenes that are interesting and enjoyable, but don't really get the blood pumping. It seems like it's trying to do the Doctor-and-companions-on vacation thing, but not doing it quite as well as Ben Aaronovitch had done in his fabulous THE ALSO PEOPLE. Fortunately, the opening sections are merely setting the stage for what comes later. The result is a book that is easily one of the best of the EDAs.

This is a much more in-depth and demanding novel than the previous three in the EDA range, and it's all that much more rewarding. Once the plot kicks in, it drives the action in a relaxed, yet steady pace. Several wonderful set pieces space out the more story-driven sequences and provide us with numerous memorable images. The Eighth Doctor works incredibly well as a sort of mad violinist, and it's great to see him putting his passion towards something other than running around quickly. The musical references invade every part of the book, from the structure to the dialogue to the tone. The mentions are plentiful, but never clumsy, and are slipped in with a lot of care.

The society of tigers is quite well realized and there is a genuine sense of mystery and anticipation as more and more of their culture and history is slowly revealed. I won't give away too much, but there are some great surprises contained in these sections. Numerous Doctor Who clichés are borrowed from, but they are all given a new twist. In some ways the basic plot resembles older stories and serials, but every time you think you know how the story will unfold, it cleverly takes a different step, defying expectation at most turns. Such familiarity in the beginning and middle sections helps to emphasize how inventive and unexpected the ending really is. The Doctor's solution is exactly what he has been working towards for the entirety of the book, but the execution of this plan is quite interesting.

The tigers (though the story points out that they merely resemble Earth tigers, and are, in fact, an alien life-form) are characterized quite interestingly, slightly better than the individual humans are. Since we've seen hundreds of Earth colonies over the years, more time is spent building up the tiger society and so they get the lion's share of the attention. The regulars get quite a lot to do as well. Anji is really starting to come into her own as a companion. Here she's organized and resourceful, yet suspicious of the actions of other people. Without Fitz's experience, she's not quite sure where this Doctor fellow's loyalties really lie. It isn't overdone though, and it really helps to drive the action along. There is a great attention to detail present; every character's motivations are understandable and believable. No one acts merely for the sake of convenience.

THE YEAR OF INTELLIGENT TIGERS is a great book, giving the Doctor a lot to solve, Anji a lot to angst over, and Fitz a lot to be frightened of. As someone who isn't terribly familiar with a lot of classical music, I suspect that there were a few references that went over my head, but the musical flavour and tone of the story is maintained quite well. Extra mention should be made of the historical flashbacks to Doctor's one hundred year exile to Earth. These are two of the best portions of the book, and makes one wish that the Ormanblum entity had also written a book during that particular story arc. In any case, TIGERS is one of the better EDAs and is a welcome addition to the current unfolding story.

Rating:
Summary: The Year of Intelligent Tigers
Review: I have to be the spoilsport on this one; I really think it was a bit of a formula entry, with some vague unsatisfying aspects to it.

On Hitchemus, the Doctor gets involved in escalating strangeness occuring between human colonists and the indigenous "tigers". The tigers seem to suddenly get intelligent, aggressive, and interested in some hidden storehouses of knowledge that were built by their ancestors. A key to placating the tigers would be understanding why their high intelligence skips a generation, and possibly the answer to this is amongst the tidbits of ancient wisdom stashed in the knowledge-vaults. Unfortunately, bringing one of the storehouses to the surface (these are mobile vaults that can come surging violently to the surface, just like certain mysterious "nodes" that provide long-range communications), could destroy a thriving human outpost on top of it. Even worse, the tigers no longer seem to care.

The story breaks down into various violent skirmishes between tigers and humans, with the Doctor trying to stop it all, by applying varying amounts of tactful diplomacy, or, when that fails, demonstrations of power that wreak havoc (unusual method for the Doctor!) with the weather, which was already going to pot. Wedged in between all the failed negotiations and pyrotechnics is the development of an unusual relationship between the Doctor and a human colonist named Karl--which to my mind fizzles out--and constant revelations about the tigers that never quite seemed to make sense to me.

Also, the whole music motif jumps from being sublime, to, well, kind of in the way. We have the equivalent of those musicians who played on while the Titanic sank cropping up in this novel, and I'm not sure it really adds anything here. Plus, suddenly the Doctor is very musical.

Offbeat...different...but a bit formula under all the decoration. And I have other favourite formula Dr Who entries.

Rating:
Summary: Violins, Violence, Silence
Review: In the endless run of just-okay Eighth Doctor novels, "The Year of Intelligent Tigers" shines as one of the most energetic, positive books in the series to date. It's the first "Doctor Who" book I've read in months that turned me on the nuances of writing -- the plotting, the asides and observations, the scene structure. This is the kind of book that inspires people *to* write ... to write something more than negative reviews, at any rate.

Maybe the book's success owes to its author, longtime DW standout Kate Orman, who's been doing this for nearly a decade now, and without a misstep (only her previous "Unnatural History", written with husband Jon Blum, failed to energize). The book rings with Kate's hallmarks -- in the first scene, a character suffers a panic attack while doing research in a library, and it's all set on an Earth colony world populated by humans (here, musicians) representing a specific ethnicity (here, Germans and Middle Easterners, although nothing is done with this premise).

During a delightful 50-page extended intro, we learn more about the Doctor and company than we did in the previous four or five noisy runarounds. Then, in a great visual montage, the Tigers come to town. It's an uneasy battle between man and big cat for dominance of Hitchemus's lone, tiny, land-mass. Kate chooses to focus on just a few characters on each side, and this works to the book's advantage. The tiger names (Bounce, Big, etc) may be a bit too anthropomorphized for your taste.

I love the pace at which the mystery of the tigers' ancient artifacts is solved, and I enjoy the way the Eighth Doctor does not fit well into either side of the war -- both sides impose their own values on him, while all he really wants to do is study, in peace and quiet. The ending is, obviously, a deus ex machina, which could have been a disaster, but since it concludes the story logically (with, I think, heavy references to 1960s "Star Trek" throughout), I mark it down as a success.

Jon Blum is given story credit. He wrote the historical interludes (set during the Doctor's 100-year amnesiac period on Earth), and is credited with portions of the dialogue. It seems fairly obvious which scenes are his -- Jon's view of the Eighth Doctor is wildly sturm und drang, full of shouted declarations of principle. However, both authors' handiwork is visible in the closing scene -- a reflective moment, summed with a quietly haunting line of dialogue. Also great is an extended lecture on Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The styles complement quite nicely.

The worst part about "Intelligent Tigers" is the knowledge that it will probably be many, many months before another quiet, reflective gem is published.

Rating:
Summary: Violins, Violence, Silence
Review: In the endless run of just-okay Eighth Doctor novels, "The Year of Intelligent Tigers" shines as one of the most energetic, positive books in the series to date. It's the first "Doctor Who" book I've read in months that turned me on the nuances of writing -- the plotting, the asides and observations, the scene structure. This is the kind of book that inspires people *to* write ... to write something more than negative reviews, at any rate.

Maybe the book's success owes to its author, longtime DW standout Kate Orman, who's been doing this for nearly a decade now, and without a misstep (only her previous "Unnatural History", written with husband Jon Blum, failed to energize). The book rings with Kate's hallmarks -- in the first scene, a character suffers a panic attack while doing research in a library, and it's all set on an Earth colony world populated by humans (here, musicians) representing a specific ethnicity (here, Germans and Middle Easterners, although nothing is done with this premise).

During a delightful 50-page extended intro, we learn more about the Doctor and company than we did in the previous four or five noisy runarounds. Then, in a great visual montage, the Tigers come to town. It's an uneasy battle between man and big cat for dominance of Hitchemus's lone, tiny, land-mass. Kate chooses to focus on just a few characters on each side, and this works to the book's advantage. The tiger names (Bounce, Big, etc) may be a bit too anthropomorphized for your taste.

I love the pace at which the mystery of the tigers' ancient artifacts is solved, and I enjoy the way the Eighth Doctor does not fit well into either side of the war -- both sides impose their own values on him, while all he really wants to do is study, in peace and quiet. The ending is, obviously, a deus ex machina, which could have been a disaster, but since it concludes the story logically (with, I think, heavy references to 1960s "Star Trek" throughout), I mark it down as a success.

Jon Blum is given story credit. He wrote the historical interludes (set during the Doctor's 100-year amnesiac period on Earth), and is credited with portions of the dialogue. It seems fairly obvious which scenes are his -- Jon's view of the Eighth Doctor is wildly sturm und drang, full of shouted declarations of principle. However, both authors' handiwork is visible in the closing scene -- a reflective moment, summed with a quietly haunting line of dialogue. Also great is an extended lecture on Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The styles complement quite nicely.

The worst part about "Intelligent Tigers" is the knowledge that it will probably be many, many months before another quiet, reflective gem is published.

Rating:
Summary: Violins, Violence, Silence
Review: In the endless run of just-okay Eighth Doctor novels, "The Year of Intelligent Tigers" shines as one of the most energetic, positive books in the series to date. It's the first "Doctor Who" book I've read in months that turned me on the nuances of writing -- the plotting, the asides and observations, the scene structure. This is the kind of book that inspires people *to* write ... to write something more than negative reviews, at any rate.

Maybe the book's success owes to its author, longtime DW standout Kate Orman, who's been doing this for nearly a decade now, and without a misstep (only her previous "Unnatural History", written with husband Jon Blum, failed to energize). The book rings with Kate's hallmarks -- in the first scene, a character suffers a panic attack while doing research in a library, and it's all set on an Earth colony world populated by humans (here, musicians) representing a specific ethnicity (here, Germans and Middle Easterners, although nothing is done with this premise).

During a delightful 50-page extended intro, we learn more about the Doctor and company than we did in the previous four or five noisy runarounds. Then, in a great visual montage, the Tigers come to town. It's an uneasy battle between man and big cat for dominance of Hitchemus's lone, tiny, land-mass. Kate chooses to focus on just a few characters on each side, and this works to the book's advantage. The tiger names (Bounce, Big, etc) may be a bit too anthropomorphized for your taste.

I love the pace at which the mystery of the tigers' ancient artifacts is solved, and I enjoy the way the Eighth Doctor does not fit well into either side of the war -- both sides impose their own values on him, while all he really wants to do is study, in peace and quiet. The ending is, obviously, a deus ex machina, which could have been a disaster, but since it concludes the story logically (with, I think, heavy references to 1960s "Star Trek" throughout), I mark it down as a success.

Jon Blum is given story credit. He wrote the historical interludes (set during the Doctor's 100-year amnesiac period on Earth), and is credited with portions of the dialogue. It seems fairly obvious which scenes are his -- Jon's view of the Eighth Doctor is wildly sturm und drang, full of shouted declarations of principle. However, both authors' handiwork is visible in the closing scene -- a reflective moment, summed with a quietly haunting line of dialogue. Also great is an extended lecture on Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The styles complement quite nicely.

The worst part about "Intelligent Tigers" is the knowledge that it will probably be many, many months before another quiet, reflective gem is published.

Rating:
Summary: Slow start - but very worth it!!
Review: The TARDIS and crew arrive on the planet Hitchemus, where a human colony that shares a passion for music, share the world with its only other dominant life forms - harmless friendly creatures that closely resemble Earth tigers. Weather conditions and the peaceful tranquility of the world make it a near paradise to live in...but that's all about to change!

I found that the novel starts off with a leisurely pace, but being quite slow and not really catching the reader with much interest and you're left hoping that it will get better. But, once the plot kicks into gear you'll find yourself engrossed and hard-put to put the book down with it's many twists and developments in both the planet's inhabitants, the Doctor's and his companions lives.

Orman's characterisation is superb. Especially with the creation of the 'tiger' society being vastly more interesting than the 'run of the mill' human society it must go up against. The Doctor's actions do come as a surprise, but isn't uncharacteristic - the ending being the best and will leave you thinking "It's about time you done that, Doc" (No pun intended).
Anji's character is tested and is starting to really evolve as she must decide where her loyalties lie with the colonists or the Doctor, who has gone and abandoned them. Fitz is clearly running scared but his rock-hard faith in the Doctor is also great to see. Plus, the fun loving, innocent tiger 'Bounce' is a character you'll easily find yourself enjoying immensely.

I found that the story does seem to resemble a 'mish mash' of different themes from the televised stories of the Doctor, with "The Silurians" being one of the main.

Overall, as with all Kate Orman books, you will find this an enjoyable experience, and a great and refreshing break from the previous 8th Doctor novels preceding it. VERY RECOMMENDED!!!

Rating:
Summary: The year of intelligent writing
Review: The TARDIS crew are happily ensconced on Hitchemus - a world with a single island land mass. The human colony is largely based around the production of music, and the dominant native life-form, which closely resembles the terran tiger, seems harmless and friendly. With perfect weather all year round, it seems like the perfect refuge. But then...

When you run through the list of Doctor Who authors, there are a few whose work receives almost universal praise. Kate Orman (with or without her husband, Jon Blum) is one of them.

Yet again Kate has written a book based around a believable alien world, and while it has a strong story-line, the reader is most likely to take away memories of the excellent portrayal of the characters. Kate's take on the current Doctor, still with amnesia for events preceding the novel 'The Burning', is a very strong one, full of an enormous passion for life and a towering humanity. Her interpretation of both Fitz and Anji are great, and each is explored and moved forward in this book. And then there are all the many characters who may very well appear in this book only, who are nevertheless given very effective life.

Beyond that, with this story set on a world where music is held in high regard, it is great to read musical ideas being constantly brought up within the context of the book. A devotion to music is a strong part of the characters, and so it is natural that it should be reflected in the way that many of the characters respond to the events of this book.

And then there are the tigers... About whom I'll say nothing more than their characterisation was also brilliant. Read the book to see what I mean!

I was also pleased to see Kate take one of the oft-used situations from the TV series, where the Doctor is forced to choose between the humans and the non-humans, and firstly give it a serious spin and then bounce it out the door. Things become clichés through overuse, but can be redeemed by turning them on their heads. Kate more than does this.

I could rave on and on for hours about this book, but that's not really the point. All I'll say is this: you'll be doing yourself a favour by reading it.

Rating:
Summary: The year of intelligent writing
Review: The TARDIS crew are happily ensconced on Hitchemus - a world with a single island land mass. The human colony is largely based around the production of music, and the dominant native life-form, which closely resembles the terran tiger, seems harmless and friendly. With perfect weather all year round, it seems like the perfect refuge. But then...

When you run through the list of Doctor Who authors, there are a few whose work receives almost universal praise. Kate Orman (with or without her husband, Jon Blum) is one of them.

Yet again Kate has written a book based around a believable alien world, and while it has a strong story-line, the reader is most likely to take away memories of the excellent portrayal of the characters. Kate's take on the current Doctor, still with amnesia for events preceding the novel 'The Burning', is a very strong one, full of an enormous passion for life and a towering humanity. Her interpretation of both Fitz and Anji are great, and each is explored and moved forward in this book. And then there are all the many characters who may very well appear in this book only, who are nevertheless given very effective life.

Beyond that, with this story set on a world where music is held in high regard, it is great to read musical ideas being constantly brought up within the context of the book. A devotion to music is a strong part of the characters, and so it is natural that it should be reflected in the way that many of the characters respond to the events of this book.

And then there are the tigers... About whom I'll say nothing more than their characterisation was also brilliant. Read the book to see what I mean!

I was also pleased to see Kate take one of the oft-used situations from the TV series, where the Doctor is forced to choose between the humans and the non-humans, and firstly give it a serious spin and then bounce it out the door. Things become clichés through overuse, but can be redeemed by turning them on their heads. Kate more than does this.

I could rave on and on for hours about this book, but that's not really the point. All I'll say is this: you'll be doing yourself a favour by reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Orman is back!
Review: Year of Intelligent Tigers is a wonderful book. When you pick up a Kate Orman book, you know you're going to get an interesting read, even if you don't necessarily like the book. Kate's last book, Unnatural History (with her husband, Jon Blum), was a book that seemed to be written with a fannish agenda in mind. It really brought down what was an otherwise enjoyable story. This one goes back to the Orman staple of examining characters, especially that of the Doctor.

It's no secret that Kate really likes the Eighth Doctor, and you can always tell that when you read one of her books. He comes alive on the page. It has often been said that the Eighth Doctor doesn't seem to have much character, but that's never true in one of Kate's books. It's so nice that the Doctor actually does something, rather than being a bystander as he has been in many Eighth Doctor books.

This book also continues the storyline of Anji's doubting of the Doctor. Things are going from bad to worse there. For the first time, he appears to side with the aliens against the humans. He's not just being callous anymore, he appears to have gone to the other side. When one of the humans is killed and the Doctor just steps over them without even batting an eyelash, Anji doesn't know what to think. Again, Anji has nothing to compare this to, unlike Fitz. Fitz tries really hard to run interference for the Doctor, knowing that the Doctor couldn't betray them. Could he?

Fitz's dilemma is moving. He's torn between love for the Doctor and uncertainty about what's going to happen. He's just a plain, simple guy trying to do the right thing, even though he sometimes doesn't know what that is. You really have to feel for him sometimes, especially in this book. He's trying to delay the humans because the Doctor must have a plan. He just hasn't told them what it is. He's the only one of the humans that trusts the Doctor anymore, and he feels quite alone.

The tigers also make interesting characters. I found myself really growing attached to Longbody, Bounce, and even Big a little bit. Orman gives them all distinct personalities, motivations, and character. Longbody is distrustful, Bounce is an idealistic child, and Big is a pragmatic leader who has to handle not only the humans, but dissension within his own ranks.

The novel itself has an interesting feel to it. There is action in it, and violence. Yet it doesn't feel like there's a lot in there. The pace is a lot more leisurely than Eater of Wasps (the previous Eighth Doctor book). For the first time, the TARDIS crew is taking a holiday, and the book takes on that feel. Even when the Tigers plan is revealed, the pace is leisurely, almost like a sociological study of two societies than an adventure book. Yet it's still good.

Orman makes both societies interesting and worthy of the time spent on them. Even when the action starts, it's a lot slower than most Who books. The ending came as a surprise as well. I won't spoil it here, but let's just say that the Doctor comes up with an un-Doctorly solution, but yet it doesn't seem out of character. Everything that's happened in this book leads up to it, and it works.

If you're a Who fan, give yourself a treat and read this book. Let a non-Who fan borrow it, it may just draw them in. It's not a non-stop roller-coaster ride, but actually requires a little thought and paying attention. But that's ok. It's worth it.