Genocide

"You can't travel back in time and wipe out the human race before it started."

Writer: Paul Leonard

Format: Novel

Released: September 1997

Series: EDA 04

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Sam, Jo

Synopsis

Years after leaving UNIT, Jo Grant receives a plea for help from an old acquaintance. A palaeontology study of the earliest known humans is apparently under threat from a UNIT force led by a captain who does not officially exist. Investigating further, she begins to find herself out of her depth – and out of the twentieth century altogether...

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Sam visit Earth in 2109 – but there is no trace of the human race. Earth is the home of the Tractites, a peaceful race who have been living there for hundreds and thousands of years. Astonished and appalled, the Doctor travels back in time to see just what went wrong in Earth's pre-history.

Why have Jo and the expedition been taken back in time? Are the Tractites all they seem? Finally, separated from the TARDIS, the Doctor's last chance to put things right rests with Sam – but has even she turned against him?

Verdict

Genocide was an excellent novel to continue my incredibly sporadic reading of the Eighth Doctor Adventures! One consequence of only getting into Doctor Who in 2007 is that I have so much catching up to do and only recently falling into a position where I am financially able to properly stock up, I am well on my way but there's just so much stuff out there that I don't think I'll run out of options. I've actually had this book for quite a few years and only now have come around to reading it but I thought it was a tremendous read. The first four Eighth Doctor Adventures have been superb and whilst I'm averaging one a year, I remain committed and excited for what lies ahead. I thought the premise of this book was really interesting and I loved the idea of an alternate universe where Earth was not ruled by humans. They had been wiped out long ago and the Tractites in their place were weird for sure. They weren't the typical species you would expect in place of mankind with their half-horse and half-ox makeup, but the uniqueness of this adventure was definitely a positive. I liked the continuity from The Bodysnatchers with Sam still being early into her travels but starting to understand more about travelling through time. She continued to challenge the Doctor which I really enjoyed and I liked how he tried to install some seriousness into her when he broke into explanation from a simple question of just how delicate the situation was with the vortex on the brink of collapse and taking all of reality with it. I thought Jacob Hynes was a really good villain and his efforts to wipe out humanity was quite something! His confronting of a lite activist group protesting was very good and his maniacal nature made him a decent enemy for sure. His infiltrating UNIT was a lot of fun and speaking of which, it was wonderful to have Jo Grant back and alongside the Eighth Doctor. Now, this book pretty much contradicts everything that was said about her in Death of the Doctor, but the idea of her being separated from Cliff was quite sad but her efforts to still do good for the world were great. I was expecting more interaction between her and the Doctor and I was also hoping more would be made of his new appearance from her perspective, but that never came which was a little odd. Her independence and being an established character definitely helped though as she could carry a lot of chapters and paragraphs by herself. Her relationship with Rowenna and Julie was really nice and it was good for the trio to be thrust back in time via the Time Tree. That 'device' in of itself was pretty darn weird that's for sure, but the opportunities that sprung from it were great. I loved exploring Earth in its pre-history with the mankind that wasn't even homo sapiens. That was rare to explore and really good to delve into and spend a good period of time within. Such a long time in the planet's history being so crucial to human development was intriguing and I liked how the Doctor was toying with putting things right. He knew what was right and only considered Earth to be of humankind's, and not Tractis and property of the Tractites. Kitig as one of the Tractites was a fantastic character and I liked how he was initially out to serve the purpose of his family and species. His only honouring the spirit of his promise to Sam to not leave the TARDIS was good and unexpected as Sam really did fully trust him. I thought the insert chapters set in the future of the novel with the Doctor being starved and Mauvril telling her story was really well done and it made it really meaningful when natural events introduced her when we arrived on Earth at a time where she was leading Tractite war against humanity. Kitig's use of smell with her and at this period in recognising his own kind was fantastic and his reaction to her treatment of the Doctor was brilliant. I thought the moment where he saw that Earth being humanity's was the right course of history was very powerful and I liked how he was engraving a message over and over to help Sam and Jo locate the TARDIS that was deposited in a volcano and get back to the Doctor. Jo's reaction to the new TARDIS interior was an excellent moment as well that I really enjoyed. I was very surprised that Sam shot Mauvril dead and the Doctor's reaction to that was fantastic because it created tension between the pair which makes for an intriguing dynamic in the TARDIS. I thought the ending with the Empress was good but I would have preferred the Doctor and Jo have a proper goodbye. Overall though, this was a really enjoyable story with a unique and exciting plot. The gruesome elements were there in abundance as well with the savage deaths of Rowenna and Julie at the hands of wild dogs. That was disturbing. On the whole, a brilliant read!

Rating: 9/10