Transit

There are many "Doctor Who" fans who will hate "Transit," assuming they haven't already read and hated it. It seems that almost no one considers this book mediocre; nearly every "Who" fan who has ever read it would include it among the ten best or worst "Who" books ever written. "Transit" is my favorite of all the "Doctor Who" novels I have read. However, if you shudder at the very thought of a "Who" book containing the "F" word, or of the Doctor getting drunk, you should refrain from treating yourself to the mind-blowingly excellent "Doctor Who" book that is "Transit."Some fans have accused "Transit" of being a science-fiction novel that is only set in the "Who" universe because Ben Aaronovitch couldn't have gotten it published otherwise. This is untrue. The backstories of the Thousand-Day War between the humans and the Ice Warriors and of Kadiatu's interesting ancestry are both fascinating new creations that are strongly rooted in "Doctor Who"'s past, and both are essential to the resonance of "Transit." Fans have also claimed that Aaronovitch must have had Benny possessed for much of the book because she had been introduced only in the previous book ("Love and War") and Aaronovitch didn't really know who she was. This may be true, but Benny's storyline adds to the dramatic effectiveness of the novel and gives us an interesting new understanding of Professor Summerfield at this early stage in her development. By showing us how Benny behaves when she isn't herself, Aaronovitch gives us further insight into who she really is.Fans have also alleged that the reader is never moved to care about "Transit"'s characters. I dare you to read "Transit" and not care deeply about Ming the Merciless, Francine, Blondie, Kadiatu and many others. Indeed, "Transit" is the only "Who" book that has ever made me cry, and it did so three times. I don't want to give too much away, but look out for a certain four-word sentence in the book ending with the word "monster.""Transit" is not flawless. The scene in which the Doctor gets drunk is more easily understood if one has also read "Love and War" and can appreciate the cumulative effect on the Doctor of events in the two books, but this scene still wasn't a very good idea. The Doctor himself acknowledges later in the book that he really shouldn't have done it. The book's climactic sequence fails to live up to everything that has preceded it and is followed by a series of "wrapping-up" scenes, some of which are important but others of which seem unnecessary and/or silly. Relatively unimportant plot threads are tied up while others which seem more important are left dangling. (Still, one of the three passages that made me cry occurs in this part of the book.) Finally, the whole premise on which the plot is based -- the interplanetary Transit system -- seems a bit more pseudo-scientific (i.e., unscientific) than is usual even in "Doctor Who." This can be forgiven, however, because once Aaronovitch has made the one bizarr

I remember this DOCTOR WHO book more than most, because this is the book that I was told simply was the worst. It seemed no fan of the series or the books enjoyed this one... but I did, more than most of the books published under the VIRGIN New Adventures line. It was indeed fast paced. You had to be quick with this one, it did not let up, it did not let you catch your breath and it brought up interesting questions. The largest of of which at the time for me was: how far can a Doctor Who adventure go without the Doctor? The Doctor is in this novel, but not really with it... he seems more like a reader following the story along with us, involved, but at a far distance (which was the failing I beleive in a majority of the VIRGIN books... the Doctor was all knowing and all seeing). But, if you can find this book, buy it, hold onto it, and enjoy it. It was worth the time and effort...