11 - The Highest Science

[Note: Gareth Roberts, the author of The Highest Science, is a bad person.  Although I liked this book and recommend it, this review isn’t an endorsement of him or anything he’s said.]

After saving humanity from the horrors of efficient public transportation, the Doctor detects a temporal anomaly known as a Fortean flicker and is drawn to a nondescript planet called Hogsuum, where he finds he is far from alone.  The flicker has caused several parties to converge upon Hogsuum: a train full of passengers from 1993, three young men on their way to a music festival in 2112, and a turtle-like race of warlike aliens called Chelonians.  The Doctor becomes embroiled in the conflict between the 20th-century group and the Chelonians, before his life is saved by the arrival of a spaceship containing a band of criminals.  This is a big ensemble cast, and one of the immediate challenges of a book like this is how it balances and interweaves the various subplots.  I found that The Highest Science did this somewhat well, popping between several perspectives - including the villainous Chelonians - as it slowly becomes clear that the criminals are treasure-hunters led by the notorious Sheldukher, searching for the lost planet of Sakkrat and its mysterious technological secrets known only as “the Highest Science.”

This is an intriguing premise; we have a legendary planet woven throughout many cultures, with the promise of an intergalactic Philosopher’s Stone for whoever finds it.  Roberts also taps into the culture of urban myth, with the character Molassi’s obsession with the rock band Zagrat mirroring real-life theories such as the Publius Enigma.  Most interestingly, the entire legend is caught in a bootstrap paradox!  Sheldukher stole a lifeform (called “the Cell”) that he thinks will help him find Sakkrat, and the planet has been constructed as a perfect trap.  The creators of the Cell did not know when Sheldukher would arrive, so they wrapped their machines in a slow-time field, which then malfunctioned and created the Fortean flicker.  The anomaly, in turn, created the legend of Sakkrat in the first place, completing the loop.  Who wrote Beethoven’s fifth, indeed!  I love this idea, since it puts a timey-wimey twist on what would be a standard MacGuffin (which never existed in the first place!  A myth within a myth!)

My main criticism of this book is that it consists of two plots which are largely disconnected apart from the Doctor’s involvement.  The first is the Sakkrat plot, which I found to be far more interesting, and the second is the conflict between the Chelonians and “eight twelves,” which was later partially adapted into Roberts’ TV script Planet of the Dead.  I think this story would benefit from some slimming down, maybe by replacing the present-day train with another group interested in the Highest Science.  To be fair, I’m assuming Roberts plans to return to this narrative later in the VNAs, given that the Doctor freezes the Chelonians and humans in time at the end of the story, so I wouldn’t say I find that subplot completely unnecessary.  The first half is slower-paced as a result of the split plot, which made this a less entertaining read than it could have been before the climax.

I definitely recommend this story for newer VNA readers, since it’s probably the closest the series has gotten to the tone of McCoy’s TV range but still brings its own fresh ideas.  I’m sure there’s more good stuff to come in The Pit...