I think the 'four times' sequence was intentionally repetitive to create a point, though not necessarily successful.
Meanwhile, we're faced with the question, does Fitz lust after bald mutant women? And if so how would he get on in 'Beneath the Planet of the Apes'?
Fitz lusts after ANYTHING. From homicidal prepubescent triplet princesses to, well, the Doctor. He'll even •••• on the tentacle of an alien monstrosity (well, providing he thinks it's a cigarette).
And the point of the intentional repetitiveness is...? That Anji's obsessed by Silver? Huh. That was pretty obvious when she betrayed the Doctor for him.
I liked this book, but I think the author could have left out the concept that this is set near the end of the life of this universe, for the simple fact that according to our scientists there's still about 10 BILLION years left in the old girl! Too many times the characters spoke similar to 21st century humans, and even with an open mind (thanks to science fiction) I really find it hard to believe that humanity, in any form, will still be around in even one billion years, let alone 10 billion.
One reviewer at Gallifrey One is absolutely convinced that Silver is the first Cyberman, and I have to admit the thought crossed my mind, too, although for Silver to create that race would mean another extremely long time travel trip into the past.
FINALLY! The team shows up somewhere and are not treated like scum and wanted criminals!
Ha. I've got to the stage where I'm shocked when people DON'T immediately arrest the Doctor and co on sight.
You want the genesis of the Cybermen, you listen to Spare Parts - Silver's got nothing to do with it.
I think the author could have left out the concept that this is set near the end of the life of this universe, for the simple fact that according to our scientists there's still about 10 BILLION years left in the old girl!
Our scientists are wrong! 100 TRILLION YEARS, people!
Though of course, that's the Whoniverse, with Spires and Logopolitans and suchlike artificially nurturing the place past its natural heat-death.
Too many times the characters spoke similar to 21st century humans, and even with an open mind (thanks to science fiction) I really find it hard to believe that humanity, in any form, will still be around in even one billion years, let alone 10 billion.
In five billion years they'll be shrieking 'Oh my god, I'm a chav!' GUARANTEED.
'His second heart allows him to survive the death of the first' - his first heart isn't dead you cretin.
'Though he would never admit it, considering himself something of a libertarian, he has always felt like a lord, walking amongst lesser beings for a hundred years' - that's not the impression I got from those actual BOOKS. Or from many other Doctors, e.g. Tennant's 'I think you look like giants.'
'He rubs his newly shaven chin, unconsciously searching for his recently departed beard' - so why DID it depart? Growing a beard was one of the few exciting things the Eighth Doctor ever DID, so WHAT WENT WRONG?
'It had only been a matter of months since her boyfriend had died' - didn't Adventuress last a year? And Anji had plenty of post-Dave adventures before then.
'The atmosphere out there seems to have sufficient oxygen levels for your purposes...' - cos the Doctor TOTALLY doesn't need oxygen himself, right?
Why does a policeman with quite a lot of high-tech equipment keep vital notes on his cases on scraps of paper?
'The TARDIS was his home, the centre of his existence. Without it he was lost, in body and spirit' - can we PLEASE JUST STOP attempting to philosophise over the Doctor's imaginary FEELINGS? And can we please also bear in mind that he's just spent OVER A CENTURY without Sexy and without giving a ••••?
'Sooner or later the distance from Earth, from the environment humanity evolved to live in, genetic engineering and eventual intermingling of the gene pool with those of other species - these were bound to have the inevitable, cumulative effect of turning humanity into a completely different species' - full marks for foreseeing 'So many species, so little time', but
these people are (disappointingly) not ANYTHING LIKE a completely different species.
'Murder is an acceptable street game, violence rules and no one dares challenge it....Forget that other murder. No one else seems to care' - um, didn't the police chief dare and care and suchlike? To the extent of chasing a murderer and nearly shooting the Doctor in the process?
'The Doctor had never seemed this brutal before' - yeah, whatever point you're trying to make (symbiotic link to the TARDIS?) it's not working.
'"Good afternoon," replied the Doctor breathlessly' - why is he breathless? He hasn't been running! Don't tell me he FANCIES Miraso? (It's not so unthinkable after SEEING Troughton's reaction to Astrid...)
This place is officially a democracy? I find that a little hard to swallow.
'The only other person in the room was an overweight militia woman' - yeah, if you're trying to portray a half-starved society on the edge, you might not want to go round claiming that people are FAT.
'The attack came in 3006...within hours what was once the United States of America was overrun...' - great, just what the Whoniverse needs, ANOTHER portrayal of late-thirtieth/early-thirty-first century life to clash with the already-clashing Ark in Space, Beast Below, So Vile a Sin, etc etc...
'You're the only other person capable of doing this. You're the only person who I know can look after themselves in these circumstances' - um, pretty poor reasoning on the Doctor's part. Leaving aside the fact that - hello! - THIS IS FITZ, surely a native policeperson who's EVOLVED to suit these circumstances would be a much better bet?
'He swore in a language he didn't even understand himself' - why is he always swearing in Old High Gallifreyan in the books? He NEVER does on-screen.
'Before the Doctor could move the door slammed' - how could he possibly be so slow off the mark? He had ample warning of the guy's arrival AND of him spotting the Doctor's victim.
'He reached inside himself, preparing to metabolise the drug and dispose of it harmlessly within his system. He only realised he couldn't do that anymore when he fell over, dead to the world' - he couldn't do it pre-heart-surgery in Beltempest either. OR in Death in Heaven, come to that.
'The Endpointers will have the certainty that I can protect them from anything' Silver says, vis-à-vis using the SatNet to locate a murderer. Even though the last time it was used it drained Hope's resources for a month, a reactor went into meltdown, hundreds of people died, and this is almost guaranteed to happen again if SatNet is activated. So not exactly sending a powerful message of protection, then.
Fitz 'asked more questions, picking apart the belief of the Brothers bit by bit, pointing out the contradictions, whether they be implicit, explicit or obvious to any idiot, as he put it. And by the time he had finished speaking half the gathered brethren were baying for his blood, while the other half were baying to give up on this whole religion lark and go home instead' - because, of course, 50% of fanatical homicidal god-botherers are always TOTALLY ready to accept your reasoned argument...
'I lived among humans for years before I even realised I wasn't one of them' - really? I know you were amnesic (and really really boring) in those days but were the two hearts not a SUBTLE CLUE?
No one but Fitz ever recognises Miraso as the goddess?
'She pushed [the TARDIS door] gently, and walked into a brightness entirely different from that outside, the clinical whiteness of the TARDIS' - ah yes, if there's one thing McGann's TARDIS was renowned for, it's that clinical whiteness...
'We can get them from deep freeze to manning a workstation within two hours, if needed' - so if it takes two hours why bother trying to revive a hundred people when Silver comes crashing in?
Fitz just FORGETS to tell the Doctor about the deformed Silver-created monsters in the tunnels?!
'Moving at a leisurely speed across the sea. Silver's intention was clearly to glide majestically into view as they approached Persistence, leisurely and regally arriving like royalty' - could you BE any more repetitious?
'Don't forget we're not just dealing with our lives, but those of all the surviving members of the human race' - oh my god the Doctor is a Cassandra-style SPECIEST! Mixed races DON'T COUNT?!
'The Doctor and Fitz were surprised to see Anji being pushed into the room. They stood in silence for a few stunned seconds' - surprise is just about allowable (though they should be USED to their one-Companion-on-the-outside being shoved into a cell with them by now) but STUNNED? Why?
'You really did think this all through, didn't you?' - no Doctor she really really REALLY didn't.
'I should have realised you had good reasons. All we can do is act on what we think is right...I would probably have done much the same in your position' - betray your best friend and give the secrets of time travel to a would-be universe-conqueror in order to acquire a clone of an ex to dump on the worst spot in the (dying!) universe? Nope, Doc, don't think you would. (Downloading a late lamented loved one into a Library, that would be DIFFERENT.)
On the plus side, the baddies FINALLY think to search the Doctor's pockets when they lock him up. On the not-so-plus side, they forget to search Fitz...
Would it have hurt to add a FEW more days to the timescale to make the Silverati's creation a TINY bit less implausible?
'"You're trusting me with [the TARDIS key]?" she said, her voice sticking in her throat with emotion. "Even after what I did?" "We should never let betrayal destroy our capacity to trust," said the Doctor, his blue eyes gleaming. "If we do, then we're all lost."' - what a sickly-sweet pile of tosh. Capaldi does this sort of thing MUCH better.
'Was it a heart that you lost, Doctor?...Whatever you may have been, Doctor, you're less than that now. No longer some magical alien presence, walking among men like a God. You are just one of them now, a fallen angel with your wings clipped' - oh god, now SILVER'S joined in the let's-obsess-about-the-effect-of-involuntary-organ-donation-on-Our-Hero brigade. For no readily apparent reason.
'As if in slow motion, she lifted the gun away from Silver's grasping hand, and pointed it straight at his human eye. She squeezed the trigger...the high-pressure dart, fired at nearly point blank range, went straight into the soft material of his eye' - lull your misfortunate readers into a false sense of security by leaving the inevitable eyeball-removal until ten pages before the end? Respect.
What happens if someone, y'know, LANDS on the planet the Doctor's stranded Silver on?
'The atmosphere out there seems to have sufficient oxygen levels for your purposes...' - cos the Doctor TOTALLY doesn't need oxygen himself, right?
He totally needs much less than we do. He'd probably be very comfortable having tea and crumpets on top of mount Everest while everybody around him gasped for air and turned blue.
I just think of Frontier in Space whenever this issue comes up.
Anyway, the REST of the book is relentlessly pushing the idea that mislaying one of his hearts has fundamentally altered the Doctor in every conceivable way, maybe he SHOULD need more oxygen now he doesn't have a second heart to pump it around the body (um, assuming that's what a heart actually DOES, admittedly I'm no expert).
maybe he SHOULD need more oxygen now he doesn't have a second heart to pump it around the body (um, assuming that's what a heart actually DOES, admittedly I'm no expert).
The heart pumps blood throughout the body, which in turn carries oxygen, water, nutrients, pretty much everything an organism needs to function.
If he is missing one of his hearts, then that SHOULD result in diminished capacities, the equivalent of what congestive heart failure does to us.
But wait a second. Does that imply that the Doctor we saw in Night of the Doctor was missing a heart? And he recovered it with his regeneration into the War Doctor?
The heart pumps blood throughout the body, which in turn carries oxygen, water, nutrients, pretty much everything an organism needs to function.
You know, I had the vaguest of ideas that that was the case, but I never actually thought about it until now. Dear old Who - still faithfully fulfilling its educational remit, Bug-Eyed Monsters or no Bug-Eyed Monsters...
If he is missing one of his hearts, then that SHOULD result in diminished capacities, the equivalent of what congestive heart failure does to us.
Yeah, Tennant sure as hell doesn't respond well to having only one heart, even for a minute. ('How do you people COPE?!')
But wait a second. Does that imply that the Doctor we saw in Night of the Doctor was missing a heart? And he recovered it with his regeneration into the War Doctor?
Alas, no. In Time Zero the Doctor unexpectedly...regrew a new heart. For no readily apparent reason. He sure as hell wasn't within 15 hours of his regeneration.
Bloody Justin Richards, always trying to undo Lawrence Miles's work.
'He rubs his newly shaven chin, unconsciously searching for his recently departed beard' - so why DID it depart? Growing a beard was one of the few exciting things the Eighth Doctor ever DID, so WHAT WENT WRONG?
History 101:
'Anji frowned. "You're not trying to grow that bloody beard again, are you? It didn't suit you last time." The Doctor scowled at her "I liked that beard."'
So again...WHY DID YOU SHAVE IT OFF?
(I mean, obviously it's against the natural order of things for a Doctor to have such a thing on their face but Matt coped fine for months in Day of the Moon, and War for presumably centuries...
'He rubs his newly shaven chin, unconsciously searching for his recently departed beard' - so why DID it depart? Growing a beard was one of the few exciting things the Eighth Doctor ever DID, so WHAT WENT WRONG?
Especially when, in Adventuress, the Doctor 'thought it'd be best to keep [the beard], at least for a while. Just to remind him that his form and function weren't set in stone... not any more.'