Love and War

"You have to live before you die."

Writer: Paul Cornell

Format: Novel

Released: October 1992

Series: New Adventures 09

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace, Benny

Synopsis

On a planet called Heaven, all hell is breaking loose. 

Heaven is a paradise for both humans and Draconians – a place of rest in more ways than one. The Doctor comes here on a trivial mission – to find a book, or so he says – and Ace, wandering alone in the city, becomes involved with a charismatic Traveller called Jan. 

But the Doctor is strenuously opposed to the romance. What is he trying to prevent? Is he planning some more deadly game connected with the mysterious objets causing the military forces of Heaven such concern?

Archaeologist Bernice Summerfield thinks so. Her destiny is inextricably linked with that of the Doctor, but even she may not be able to save Ace from the Time Lord's plans. 

This time, has the Doctor gone too far?

Verdict

Love and War was a really strong New Adventures novel! I’ve been looking forward to delving into this book for a long time as I’ve known it’s a significant one in the history of Doctor Who prose. It really does send the show into another era and firmly establishes the Seventh Doctor as the most manipulative incarnation. What he does to Ace here is extraordinary and her reaction is so powerful. It’s an incredible way to write out a companion, even if it is only temporary. Even more so given that the companion is Ace! She almost defined the modern companion before the modern era and that’s no more than evident than within this novel. She quickly establishes a relationship with Jan that develops into love. It’s clear they were going to have something together and I liked how Ace was pondering on leaving the Doctor before he even met him. She wanted more, and to be frank she wanted something physical. I liked that she acknowledged that she did love the Doctor but that was obviously in a way nothing akin to romantic. She seems to have gotten over her love interest in Nightshade in the previous novel rather quickly given the extent of that, but to read about her having sex and thinking the Doctor might be jealous was very intriguing. She wanted her own life now or at least something more with the Doctor and that involved bringing Jan with them. It was clear that despite the Doctor suggesting he would consider it, he was never going to allow it. He knew more about Jan than he was letting on and that’s where the manipulation began. I thought the setting of Heaven was pretty strong and I liked the proximity to the Dalek and Draconian war conflict. That tied in nicely with Frontier in Space but Heaven’s position there was what was interesting to me. The idea of it being a place of harmony for the dead of both humanity and Draconian was very good and I loved the imagery of the dead literally descending from the sky. Despite everything that happens with Ace and its realism, I’m still not entirely if it’s the right direction to have her swearing at the Doctor and engaging in sexual relations. I understand it’s a new era and I’m fine with it in principle, but it just feels a little alien. I think that’s why the role of Bernice was my favourite element of the story. Her introduction was brilliant! I felt a little annoyed that I’ve covered so much of her character with Big Finish as I didn’t get this being my first experience of her, but it also provided an interesting perspective in seeing how the character has developed. I was a huge fan of hers right from the off and I’m delighted to have finally ticked off her first chronological appearance. Her dialogue with the Doctor was fascinating and she wasn’t afraid to stand up to him. She could also see that he was clearly struggling with something as he confused Ace with both Susan and Dodo on more than one occasion. Her professor status matching up to the Doctor’s was fun and I liked that they both rescinded those at the end of the novel. I was a little surprised with the direction in how Benny did become companion because she wanted assurances and wasn’t overly happy with how the Doctor had treated Ace. Far from it in fact. But she knew the opportunity was too much to pass up and she could also see she was needed. I thought the Hoothi were an intriguing villain and I liked that they had a role in Time Lord history too. Especially with it being before the Time Lords were so concerned with non-interference. The role of Jan and his pyrokinetic abilities in wiping out the Hopthi spores was superb and made for a really powerful ending after a little bit of confusion, but that came with the territory and nature of the Doctor’s plan. I think that was almost the intention! Overall, a great read. 

Rating: 8/10