Kate Orman

"I don' sell gun. I sell frock only."

There's surely no denying So Vile a Sin is a messy novel.

Famously, this book was the victim of circumstances. The NAs was a monthly series, so when Ben Aaronovitch's hard drive crashed, this book missed its slot in November 1996. Which was unfortunate because this novel not only wraps up a storyline that had run for several volumes, but farewells a major character and leaves a stain that will be dealt with by the characters for the next few books.

Still, these things happen, and Aaronovitch tried to continue his work, but ultimately a mix of what seems to have been writer's block and the challenges of plotting it meant that he simply couldn't complete it in a timely manner. Which was becoming a problem. The BBC had not renewed Virgin Publishing's license for Doctor Who fiction, so this novel had to come out by the end of May 1997 or it wouldn't come out at all. Kate Orman, whose other novels for the range were among its highlights, was given Aaronovitch's half-complete draft files, combined with some printed pages of what had gone before, and had all of two months to complete a novel for publication.

"I'm proficient in hand-to-hand combat, blades, custard pies, and the Bohemian teaspoon."

Generally, So Vile a Sin still works, but it's absolutely a mess. Kate and Ben call back to much of the latter half of the NAs (since Chris and Roz joined the cast) and do justice to the rich 30th century world that has been conjured up. There are some strong character moments, action sequences, and tonal shifts, with my favourite being the Lewis Carroll-esque trial of the Doctor for regicide. Yet ultimately the character arcs are all over the place, especially for Roz, and the novel has the feel of a lengthy television script, cutting too often between locations, creating a story that is full of ideas and political intrigue but hasn't been properly cooked. It's a shame, but under the circumstances no-one can really complain.… (meer)

Fairly engaging.

In 1996, after five years of publishing novels about the further adventures of the Doctor as portrayed by Sylvester McCoy in the now-cancelled TV series, Virgin Books lost its license. The BBC had decided to take these things back in-house, and update the series to feature the new Doctor, as briefly played by Paul McGann in a failed TV movie pilot. After an initial novel that was, frankly, a bit of a waste, and designed mostly to explicitly link McGann's incarnation to his seven predecessors, Vampire Science feels like a true pilot for this new approach.

Orman and Blum already had well-established street cred in the Whoniverse, and together they create a snappy, sassy, engaging narrative. It's about vampires, so not especially original, but it keeps the pace up. Both the Doctor and his companion Sam come through strongly, leaving me enthusiastic for what comes next in this series (which I'll now be reading concurrently with the McCoy NAs). Having said that, where the novel struggles is that it feels like a Doctor Who script turned into a novelisation. Which it's obviously not but, for fans of the program's first 26 years on the air, it's understandable that this can become the go-to template. There's a hectic amount of dialogue, scenes that last too long, attempts at portraying recurring comedic bits or rapid action sequences that are clearly intended to be visualised as an episode of the program, and in general an approach that feels televisual rather than literary. I like both Orman and Blum so I can forgive that, although it will sadly relegate Vampire Science to "tie-in TV merchandise" in the eyes of lay readers.

Looking forward to this series - even though I'm aware that many fans believe it went in some strange and deeply unsatisfying directions!… (meer)