Speed of Flight

"Nothing ever comes back from the Dead."

Writer: Paul Leonard
Format: Novel
Released: October 1996
Series: Missing Adventures 27

Featuring: Third Doctor, Jo, Mike Yates

Synopsis

"Those who are intelligent, strong and virtuous are promoted. The stupid, the weak and the unworthy will die. How else is it possible for the world to make progress?"

The TARDIS lands on Nooma, a world in the middle of an industrial revolution. But the Third Doctor, Jo and Mike Yates quickly discover that there is no limit to upheaval. The sky is alive, and at war with the ground. The continents are on the move, competing for a place under the sun. And somewhere, there is a starship...

Mike finds himself committed to a fight where his only option is to kill or be killed. Jo is caught in a workers' revolt. And the Doctor must find out what is really happening to Nooma before the struggle for survival kills the world and everyone on it.

Verdict

Speed of Flight was a decent read for the most part and quite the interesting Missing Adventures novel! This is definitely one of the most uncommon novels that I have the pleasure of owning and I was intrigued from the start to see how things would fare with Mike Yates accompanying the Doctor and Jo on their travels. It presented an interesting dynamic and I liked how with him joining the pair in the TARDIS for this outing, it presented us with something different from what we saw on television with this incarnation of the Doctor. Once Mike was inside the TARDIS and off on his travels, I loved how he suddenly realised that the Doctor's travels in time and space were legitimate and definitely no joke. That was tremendous. I enjoyed the way Mike was thrown along on the journey after he and Jo were set up on a blind date together and that fitted in well with the era. It was also intriguing placement having the story set prior to The Green Death with Jo contemplating if she wanted to continue travelling in the TARDIS by the book's conclusion. I thought the novel for the most part was pretty good and the alien planet presented a very good setting. It was distinct, unique and unlike anywhere the Third Doctor had been before which worked in its favour. The slow reveal that the planet was actually artificial was really good and I thought that was fun to play with, even if it is something I have come across at least a couple of times in everything I have blogged so far. It works. The idea of the Flight didn't get put into as much detail as I might have expected, and what interested me more was the planet's inhabitants' desire to fight. It was natural and almost uncontrollable which was very good. The evolutionary cycle involving children of the forest becoming men and then becoming naieen was intriguing and I really think there ought to have been more emphasis on that. With the latter cycle involving the ability to fly, it should have been used as more of the basis for Epreto's plot to destroy the world. His relationship with the Doctor was intriguing throughout and I liked how he was intent on not letting the naieen in on the truth regarding the sun. Finding out that it was artificial was good and worked well for what was to come with it being where all sights were set towards the end. I thought Jo had a very good story and I liked how she was referred to as a man and a cripple after what initially happened to her in the forest, despite her supposed to be staying in the TARDIS. I mean, surely the Doctor didn't think she would have stayed put! The TARDIS being taken by the Dead was great, but I loved how the Doctor was confident of getting it back and never seemed worried. The moment where book one ended with Mike Yates being dead was terrific, but despite the impact of the moment I think the seeds of his safe return were given a little too quickly. And then he was barely mentioned for sixty pages! Jo and Yates being taken over from within, but on a somewhat partial basis, was good and I enjoyed the moments where they told the Doctor that he should needed to be dead. That image in the TARDIS was great. The contrast between the Land and the Sky was very intriguing, but I still think there should have been a bit more background of the mythology and legends of the planet. Epreto's dismissal of legend seemed a tad strange. Mike's eventual return was not much of a surprise, but his not being in his own body was good and I was very surprised that he was pondering staying Dead. That was very unexpected! The ending seemed like it was excellent and exciting with Mike shooting Jo dead, but from then on I was not impressed with how things ultimately ended. The Doctor realised that there was repair work to do, but we had Mike as Dead and not in his body, and Jo literally dead after being shot, and then the epilogue started with the pair back to normal without too much explanation? That was not something I enjoyed and that alone brought the book down a full mark for me. As a whole, I enjoyed the story and setting, but that ending needed a great deal more clarity and just seemed a bit too easy of an escape. Overall though, a decent read.

Rating: 7/10