Escaping from a doomed space station, the Doctor and
Compassion splash down in the waters of the planet Skale. Fitz, as per
usual, has gone his own way, and arrives on the pleasant world of Mechta. Compassion
and the Doctor are not so lucky, as they are captured by Parallel 59, owners of
the orbital station. The Skalens are a paranoid, competitive bunch who
have divided their planet into seemingly arbitrary power blocs. In
contrast, the Mechtans are chilled, relaxing in convalescence. Fitz
literally becomes immersed in their culture. So Fitz once more acts the
playboy, where his only anxiety is keeping each of his lovers unaware of the
others. But is there really something sinister in Central, as Fitz's
circle would have him believe? And what's happening to the people
who leave Mechta?
Convinced that they're from another planet,
Haltiel, the Skalens set about interrogating the Doctor and Compassion.
But the denizens of Parallel 59 are very politically charged, and some of them
don't want the Doctor to repair the damage to the space station (which had
unwittingly been caused by the Doctor and friends). Compassion escapes,
and finds the obligatory band of rebels. However, she and the Doctor are
marooned, forced to leave the TARDIS behind
in the
space station. Not only must the Doctor recover his beloved time machine,
but he must also save Fitz from the true nightmare of Mechta...
This is the first novel by the editor of the BBC
books, Stephen Cole, and it looks as though it could have been a real disaster,
a case of too many chefs (Peter Anghelides is acknowledged to have helped out
also). But Anghelides seems to have carried on with the most effective
device of the previous novel (his own 'Frontier Worlds'), by having Fitz narrate
his time in Mechta. This again brings us closer to Fitz, a character who
had previously seemed lifeless. There's nowhere near the same level of
wit as in Frontier Worlds, and Parallel 59 appears to be quite formulaic (how
many cultures has Fitz lived in now?), and Compassion seems to bear a gun as
unthinkingly as any Ace (but without the same gung-ho). The opening's
also quite dull, as we're told about the dramatic escape from the space
station, rather than being shown it. This adventure is also the first to
feature an unclothed Doctor, but this sight doesn't seem to faze his cell
companion, Compassion, so we must assume that the Doctor is fully humanoid in
appearance (no hidden appendages like the Centauri in B5). But then it's
hard to see Compassion reacting to anything much.
There is a point in the novel where all the plots
and counterplots seem facile, but there's an even bigger twist towards the
end. And this novel's conclusion is it's real saviour, for it is
genuinely pulsating. If you go and reread the opening pages, you do
realise that there are subtle signposts to what's going to happen. With
three authors contributing, Parallel 59 could have been a disaster. It's
a triumph that a clear narrative emerges, and the authors certainly couldn't be
faulted for the use of their imaginations. There are duff parts
certainly, but the final drama, I think, makes up for it. Parallel 59
certainly gave me that always desired DW buzz.
Devaloka Rating 7/10.
Kevin Mahoney
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