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Atom Bomb Blues Author: Andrew Cartmel Review Atom Bomb Blues is set against the backdrop of the nuclear arms race in the second World War, and is focussed on a US military nuclear research facility. The Doctor here is the seventh incarnation, as played by Sylvester McCoy and he is accompanied by Ace as played by Sophie Aldred. The author is Andrew Cartmel, who has a long standing association with Doctor Who stretching back to the original TV series in the 1980's. The story sees the Doctor and Ace arrive in Los Alamos, New Mexico at a research facility in 1945. The aim of the facility is to develop the atom bomb and thus end the war. Interestingly, the Doctor is not there to stop this happening, but to stop other interference in teh process that could have a much more devastating effect that the actual bombs did in Japan. Posing as scientists, the Doctor and Ace center on Ray Morita who by all rights should be a lowly fellow, but appears to be one of the foremost experts in the nuclear field. It unfolds that he is from a parallel dimension where they are aiming to destroy this universe. Needless to say, the Doctor wins out and solves the crisis, with some interesting developments along the way. The first thing I noticed about this book is that it reads very well. A lot of books, certainly not just Doctor Who, are difficult to read, even if they are very rewarding when you do eventually plough through them. This is not one of them, and I thoroughly enjoyed the style of writing throughout. Cartmel seems to have done particularly well with the use of Sylvester McCoy's Doctor and Ace, and you can really picture them both in the scenes. Another good aspect is the characterisation of the 'guest cast'. In particular, Ray Morita is so expressive in his 'hippy' ways, and Major Butcher as a military policeman works very effectively. All of this probably comes from Cartmels association with the series as script editor of the McCoy TV era. On the negative side of the coin though, we have some relatively bizarre elements to the story. Quite why they disappear off into the desert to have a drawn out encounter with Native Americans and an alien in his spaceship, just to explain where the TARDIS is, seems to be a rather strange twist. It largely adds nothing to the story, and the space in the book I feel could have been put to better use with some more Lady Silk conspiracy theories. You also have the final confrontation, when a religious cult is descended upon by the Doctor and Ace, and they eventually discover that it is a front for some dimension jumping that Ray Mortia, from a different dimension, has discovered is possible. I actually quite like that idea, but would probably have preferred overall if it were not dimension jumping but an alien from the same universe. The main plot that ending this universe to mean Japan wins the war throughout the majority of the remaining multiverse is also not really a concept I think I understood why it should be so. Having been negative though, I should really praise Cartmel again for what he has managed here. Genre books like Doctor Who novels are much maligned in literary circles, and deemed somewhat of a niche product. That is certainly the case with many Doctor Who novels I have read, but not so much with this one. This is because of Cartmels writing style being so accessible. I believe that the book therefore stands up as a stand-alone adventure to a certain degree, more so that others in the range. Overall, Atom Bomb Blues is a well written novel that is genuinely fun to read for all old and new Who enthusiasts. What the excellent writing masks though are some bizarre twists that don't seem to fit and some plot holes that go relatively unexplained. These mean that the book is unlikely to stand up to being read again and again, but it is certainly worth reading once. Rating:  |