Death and Diplomacy

Dave Stone essentially has the role in the Virgin Doctor Who NAs that Douglas Adams did in the television series ... he writes weird adventures with a lot of humor, with lots of scenes aimed at letting the Doctor be the Doctor. The biggest difference is that the Seventh Doctor isn't the Fourth ... there's more of a method to his madness, and he always knows more than he lets on. Essentially, there are two plotlines here that intersect at the end (the bits with Roz and Chris have little to do with anything). In the first story, the Doctor arrives in the middle of a conflict between three warlike races, abducted there by the seemingly omnipotent Hollow Gods. He must pretend to try and negotiate a treaty, while secretly working to solve the mystery of what the Hollow Gods are and what they want. In the second story, Benny gets separated from the Doctor and trapped on a world on the outskirts of the war. Figuring that the Doctor will be in the center of things, she looks for a pilot who can get her there, and hires a Han Solo type named Jason Kane. Over the course of their adventures, the two of them fall in love. Both plotlines are handled with humor, and the core characters are all fully recognizable and realistic. I wish I could say the same about the aliens; only one of the leaders really comes across as a full individual. Jason, though, is refreshing even if he is a little familiar, and it's believable that he and Benny are compatible. I'm considering D & D independently here, of course, because later writers really had NO idea what to do with Jason. Overall, you have to go in expecting a weird comedy in the vein of Adams or Red Dwarf, but frankly the New Adventures NEEDS a few books like these to overcome the constant gloom-and-doom. And yes, for those who care, the book is very gun but still a little frock.