Vampire Science

"Yes, I'm not human, and yes, that was a vampire..."

Writers: Jonathan Blum & Kate Orman

Format: Novel

Released: July 1997

Series: EDA 02

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Sam

Synopsis 

In the days when the Time Lords were young, their war with the Vampires cost trillions of lives on countless worlds. Now the Vampires have been sighted again, in San Francisco.

Some want to coexist with humans, using genetic engineering in a macabre experiment to find a new source of blood. But some would rather go out in a blaze of glory - and UNIT's attempts to contain them could provoke another devastating war.

The Doctor strikes a dangerous bargain, but even he might not be able to keep the city from getting caught in the crossfire. While he finds himself caught in a wet of old feuds and high-tech schemes, his new companion Sam finds out just how deadly travelling with the Doctor can be.

Verdict 

Vampire Science was an excellent novel and a very strong follow up to The Eight Doctors, a story that was nicely referenced here, in the series of Eighth Doctor novels. It has been a while since I started the range but after some thinking and some luck on eBay, I decided I may as well go ahead and read the entire range in order. That will probably require me rereading Endgame but I can't see that being a problem. In a way, this book seemed to also act as the first in the book series because in the first novel we had every single Doctor feature as well as many revisits to past stories. We only really saw new companion Sam at the start and end of that book but I absolutely loved how this story just threw her straight into the deep end. It started so quickly and I was immediately delved and hooked by the story. The pacing was fantastic and ensured that my usual train journey back to South Wales flew by. I barely put the book down and although it wasn't completely perfect, I was delighted with what I read. I imagine it's a rather tough task to co-write a novel but the pair of writers did a good job here. There was a mix of styles which I think definitely benefited the story. The novel's title is very apt and is certainly a key to what occurs in the story, something which isn't always the case. I was surprised by another Eighth Doctor being set in San Francisco especially given that at the time of its release it was only the third story to feature this incarnation of the Time Lord. With that being the case though, I thought the characterisation of Paul McGann's eighth incarnation was absolutely superb. Having the benefit of listening to his audios and also reading one of his Doctor's graphic novels, I feel like I know this Doctor better than a lot of fans might. His relationship with Sam was terrific and I like how despite things clearly being early on for her in the TARDIS, it didn't seem like things were brand new for her. She felt at home in the TARDIS and wanted to be involved in everything that was happened. At just seventeen, she was very courageous. The Doctor's effect on Carolyn was intriguing and I loved how completely oblivious he was to how he comes across to women. Kramer eventually made him see it towards the end of the book but I did like how he genuinely had no idea. The Brigadier of UNIT's US branch was a very good character and I liked how she had past dealings with the Seventh Doctor. She knew all about his meddling behind Ace's back but she wasn't aware of this latest incarnation. There were very good references to The Movie, The Caves of Androzani and The Invasion of Time and I also liked how for the Doctor, three years had passed since his latest regeneration. A vampire story is something that always interests me and I think this topped some of the televised stories that play on the mythical idea. Joanna Harris was a wonderful character and I loved how she was the leader of the Vampires if you will. She was born on the day the Battle of Hastings came to a conclusion and had been unliving for most of the time since. The coven having fourteen members, specifically to have one more life than a Time Lord, was brilliant and I really liked that some of Gallifrey's history was explored. We learned of the war between Time Lords and Vampires in great detail and it was interesting to see just how long ago that war had commenced. The Vampires didn't believe in the existence of Time Lord's until the Doctor's presence and they soon had a problem on the their hands. The way he quite literally owned the stage with his words was marvellous. The Doctor really did talk himself out of more than one sticky situation over the course of this book. The way he convinced Harris to free James was excellent as he really did seem to making everything up as he went along. He bloodfasted with her as a token of trust but it was also an incredible risk. It meant a bond between the pair and whatever happened to him, happened to her. If Harris died then so did the Doctor and vice versa. I really enjoyed the emotional conflict between the Doctor and Sam when she couldn't understand that killing the murderers wasn't the right answer. Carolyn was also on our new companion's side and the vented anger that the Doctor's peaceful stubbornness brought was terrific. Once Slake and his faction of Vampires crossed the line though, he gave them no choice. The light setting job of James coming full circle was a nice touch to things and I loved the climax in the theatre. It was full of pace, excitement and emotion which was great. There were a lot of deadly moments which is always good in a book and I liked how badly Sam was effected by being bitten by Weird Harold. The death of Abner came as quite a shock and really cemented Slake's place at the top of the newbie Vampire's faction and I thought Rusty and Shackle were very good characters, particularly the latter with his decision to convert. Overall, a superb novel that nearly got the full marks rating but it just wasn't quite there. Things jumped a little too much in the latter third of the book and Kraymer was randomly a male temporarily, but other than that there were no real problems. A fantastic second instalment in the novel series.

Rating: 9/10