Warmonger

Warmonger - A Review

By Paul Clement

A PDA featuring the Fifth Doctor and Peri.

It must be said, that I approached Warmonger with a mixture of trepidation and excitement, unsure as to whether this novel would follow in the mould of previous Terrance Dicks classics such as Timewyrm:Exodus or end up as an Eight Doctors style clunker, that you were only too glad to finish, to be banished to the far reaches of your bookshelf never to be looked at again, or so bad you just couldn't finish. The answer to this question lies somewhere in between.

The novel opens with an arresting plot theme, hitherto unused in Doctor Who books, with Peri working alongside a group of rebels fighting against an army led by a shadowy figure known only as "The Supremo", after an extended separation from the Doctor and unaware of what has become of him. Although this works well to begin with, I found myself very quickly waiting for the Doctor to actually appear in the novel.

Like most Terrance Dicks novels, the prose style is simple and for the most part straightforward, easing you into an empathy with the characters without even realising it. However, it is that same simple syle that leads to the first problem with the story, PREDICTABILITY. From the outset you get a feeling that you know exactly where the story is leading you, and long before the identity of "The Supremo" is finally revealed, your mind has already led you to the answer. That's not to say that the story doesn't have it's surprises however.

Perhaps the most surprising and well rounded aspect of the novel is the character of the Doctor himself. When he does finally appear, the reader is treated to a much darker, more sinister and ruthless side of the Fifth Doctor. This is a far cry from the pleasant earnest Doctor we were used to from the early eighties, yet still retaining certain qualities that immediately make his character recognisable. The awareness that the Doctor has a darker side to him is obviously not new, one only has to look at Colin Baker's portrayl of the Doctor (the Valeyard etc...), or the televised stories and NA's of the Seventh Doctor, however none of these quite prepare you for the most innocent seeming Fifth Doctor as a possible meglomaniac with delusions of Universal power. Terrance Dicks has in this way managed to do what I believe few Dr Who authors could have managed, and made it very believable.

The novel also offers up a plethora of "monsters" from the shows past, which the majority of them, as a passing note, appeared in Pertwee stories (Is Terrance telling us something there?). Unlike a lot of other books in both the BBC and Virgin ranges thay are also well used, well presented and in keeping with the television series portrayl of them. We are treated to Sontarans, Draconians and Ogrons as well as a few others I won't mention(read it and find out), all of whom Terrance writes well for. The Ogrons are there usual comical yet stupidly menacing selves and provide a few moments of light relief from the darkness within the story, and the Sontarans are as warlike as normal. The stumbling block for me comes with the Draconians. These are an honourable race of warriors and philosophers and remain true to these ideals in the novel and that is in itself what grates. Why would these honourable people deign to become part of any alliance that would include the Sontarans or the Ogrons.

This aside, Warmonger is an enjoyable read that makes you re-assess some of the preconceptions you may hold in regards to the Fifth Doctor and it does have "monsters " galore. If your interested in how a dark version of the Fifth Doctor would be or you happen to like the "monsters" of old, it's certainly worth buying. Not a Terrance classic but at least not a clunker, I'm happy to have it in my collection and would hazard a guess that I would read it again.

7/10