Eighth Doctor Adventures #8 - "Option Lock" by Justin Richards

The main complaint I see about Kursaal - the previous EDA in the range - is that it had the monumental task of living up to the ever beloved Alien Bodies, which came before it. For me, I managed to mistake the release order for the range and ended up reading Kursaal first, meaning it was Option Lock that had to follow on from the 10/10 read of Alien Bodies. With such a tall task ahead of it, the novel would have to be penned by a pretty damn good author; Justin Richards is just alright. One of the most prolific writers of the Wilderness years, Richards is not exactly known for anything more than good. A very generic writer with very generic but serviceable ideas, a lot of his works end up far, far under the radar, Option Lock included. So, with many more of his novels ahead of me, how is his first outing in the EDAs?

Landing in the grounds of an idyllic country house, the Doctor and Sam find themselves quickly making friends with the owners and their guests. But a centuries old plan is unfolding, whose outcome promises to bring untold nuclear destruction to the world.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

First things first, Richards has one obvious strength that absolutely stuns you throughout Option Lock - character. Eight and Sam are so well written here, it honestly surprised me. I can hear McGann speak these lines so incredibly clearly, his cadence and humour is nailed by Richards who gives the EDAs the lead they so desperately needed after seven books of the Doctor being miscellaneously characterised. And Sam, a companion so dull she has grown to be one of my least favourites, is so very good in this book. She finally has a distinct personality and an overwhelming amount of agency throughout the plot and she actually feels like a companion, not just a blank, companion-shaped void the books were required to have. Beyond our two leads, every single member of our sidecast is great too. Pickering is a fantastic one-time aid, as is Sargent before his third act twist and Silver is a suitably melodramatic villain for such a bombastic story. And what a bombastic story it is, the scale and subject matter here feels closer to James Bond than Doctor Who but it really works and honestly feels like a blockbuster; when Richards wants to, he can build tension expertly. This is most evident in the second act, which is by far the best part of the book. With the reveal that most of the residents of Abbots Siolfor are the descendants of an ancient secret society possessed by alien consciousnesses (which is a great concept, by the way), we get to see their first of many plans in motion, as a crazed Russian general launches nuclear missiles at the US. The way Richards structures and writes this entire section is utter brilliance and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. It was so vivid I could genuinely hear the score as I read it.

However, the second act is easily the best part, and acts one and three are not nearly as good. Act One is oddly meandering as we watch Eight and Sam just, living at Abbots Siolfor with Silver, Pickering and Sargent, going on runs and searching the library; this goes on for nearly 80 pages until the story actually gains momentum. And the third act is just a bit of a damp squib - a series of captures and recaptures where none of the characters are acting at all distressed, taking away any gravity from the situation. The Doctor and Sam don’t seem too worried, so the reader isn’t either. And the final scene on Station Nine is just plain bad: Sam is possessed for all of one page and Pickering suddenly becomes invincible, taking about ten gunshots and still not going down. My main problem with this book also arises in these sections, it feels like two different plots that don’t really fit together. On one hand, you have the secret society possessed by aliens called Khamierians (which are somewhat underwhelming as we never learn anything about them except for the fact that they look like gargoyles) and on the other you have a political thriller set in the White House. Whilst both are fine on their own, together they really don’t work and they both feel somewhat underdeveloped because the story doesn’t focus on one. Also, the political stuff gets really dull after a while, when Richards has to clarify the billionth acronym and other governmental jargon he’s introduced. Along with the fact that no character seems upset by the threat of nuclear war, this novel also has to find a ridiculous number of workarounds to make sense of Silver not just killing the Doctor and Sam, which he could easily do because they’re imprisoned for a majority of the book.

Overall, Option Lock was much like its author - good but nothing special. Two plots muddled together make for an underdeveloped book but some fantastic writing in places and the Doctor and Sam being brilliantly characterised make this novel an incredibly fun read. Alright, Finding Sam arc up next, which I’m really looking forward to because good god we need some development for Sam quick.

7/10

Pros:

+ Absolutely nails McGann’s voice, Eight is ridiculously well characterised

+ Sam is, shockingly, one of the best parts of the novel and extremely likeable

+ A lot of the supporting characters feel interesting and well rounded

+ Manages to do tension really well in certain parts of the book

+ Second act was easily the best part of the book - electric and extremely well written

+ Siolfor’s secret society was undeniably a cool idea

+ Really interesting epilogue that raised a lot of questions

Cons:

- Both the first and third acts fall short of greatness

- The two plot aspects of the book don’t really fit together all too well

- The political language and clarifications got really boring after a while

- The back-bending this book has to do to keep the Doctor and Sam alive is really ridiculous.

- The Khameirians are pretty underdeveloped antagonists

(Taken from my Goodreads Review | Read: April 2022)

I find myself having a love/indifferent relationship with the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures. First of all, they're hard to get my hands on. Being out of print, I have to rely on my library's Inter-Library Loan program to acquire them. So far, I've been lucky enough to aquire seven of the first eight. I really enjoy Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor having enjoyed the TV Movie despite its faults and followed his adventures from Big Finish. These novels, released after the TV Movie and before Big Finish have had varied results with the first six relying on aspects of Doctor Who past to drive the stories (with the exception of the sixth novel Alien Bodies, which simply has an aspect of the past appear as just one cog in an already massive plot). I've actually enjoyed more than I've hated. Not counting the book I couldn't acquire (Genocide), I've only not finished one of these (Kursaal) and thoroughly enjoyed five of the first eight.

In this story, the Doctor and Sam Jones arrive on an English Estate whose owner is a part-time hypnotist who consults with the military. In the library is the Philosopher's Stone, a marbled orb that glows mysteriously. As the Doctor investigates the manor's history he discovers a secret society that has endured through the centuries. And all the while, the threat of nuclear war hovers over the adventure.

This was a fun read that works as a political thriller coupled with a sci-fi/secret society mystery. It's relatively fast-paced and read quick. I'm enjoying Sam, though she still doesn't seem super defined for me (part of it is that she's not a TV or Audio companion who has a distinct voice I can hear in my head). Because I enjoy political thrillers and the Eighth Doctor, this just breezed through for me. The alien plot is revealed well, and resolved in an enjoyable manner. And with the best of this genera, there's a nice coda after everything's wrapped up. This was fun and a worthy inheritor of the Doctor Who mantle.