No Future

No Future represents the end of the Alternate History arc of the New Adventures novel. While it has a mixed reputation in fan circles I came to it with an open mind about how good it would be. That said I had high hopes considering the fact it was written by favorite Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell and I wasn't disappointed. Cornell takes five novels worth of character development for the seventh Doctor, Benny and Ace to an incredible conclusion. The manipulative seventh Doctor is pushed to his own personal edge of destruction, Benny suffers a bit of an identity crises and Ace confronts the pain she's been suffering from since the New Adventure Love And War (also written by Cornell incidentally). In particular Ace's relationship with the Doctor and Benny is at the forefront of No Future especially during chapters twelve through fifteen. In those chapters the readers are left seriously wondering if the relationship between the Doctor and his companions as come to the ultimate breaking point. No Future proves once again that Cornell knows how to get into the heads of his lead characters. Then Cornell brings back the UNIT family. It seems fitting that the Alternate History arc started off with an alternative UNIT and ended with a return to the UNIT family. Cornell brings back The Brigadier, Benton and even Mike Yates and shows that while the stories have grown up the UNIT family has as well even managing to create a true sense for loss when one of those characters meets an (apparent) end. Cornell also manages to flesh out the other characters of the novel as well including the villains of the story, new members of the UNIT family and the various punks roaming around a rather odd version of 1976 London. The plot is an interesting one. Not only does this novel wind up the Alternate History arc but acts as a sequel to elements of the UNIT TV stories plus TV stories like The Time Meddler and The Invasion Of Time. Like other Doctor Who stories (novels and otherwise) such as War Of The Daleks that are heavily based in the continuity of the series, if you don't know much about the series you are likely to get a bit lost in the midst of the continuity references. Unlike War Of The Daleks though No Future doesn't cheat its audience with by rewriting a good chunk of Doctor Who continuity for the sheer thrill of it. There is a moment though towards the end of the novel does feel like a bit of a cheat for what it does to the Brigadier just to fit into continuity. Yet it is one bad moment in an otherwise good novel. While it is top heavy with continuity references, No Future is an otherwise good Doctor Who novel. With its excellent characterization of the seventh Doctor, his companions, the UNIT family and the other characters Cornell creates one of the most emotional Doctor Who novels ever. If you are fan and know quite a bit about the continuity of the series then there should be plenty to enjoy, especially if you have read the other novels of the Altern