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Telos Doctor Who Novellas #12
Doctor Who: Eye of the Tyger
Inhabiting a colony spaceship in the thirty second century are members of a religious cult that left Earth to find a world of their own. Their leader, Seraph, has downloaded his mind into the ship’s computers, but now he has gone silent, enticed and serenaded by a siren song coming from inside a black hole. Trapped in orbit around the void, Seraph’s followers are confused by his silence, and when the Doctor arrives with his friend Fyne seeking a cure to a raging Tyger-fever which has infected his companion, he finds a world on the brink of chaos.
This is the twelfth in the series of hardback novellas by Telos Publishing.
This is the twelfth in the series of hardback novellas by Telos Publishing.
120 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
99 people want to read
About the author
Paul McAuley
229 books417 followersSince about 2000, book jackets have given his name as just Paul McAuley.
A biologist by training, UK science fiction author McAuley writes mostly hard science fiction, dealing with themes such as biotechnology, alternate history/alternate reality, and space travel.
McAuley has also used biotechnology and nanotechnology themes in near-future settings.
Since 2001, he has produced several SF-based techno-thrillers such as The Secret of Life, Whole Wide World, and White Devils.
Four Hundred Billion Stars, his first novel, won the Philip K. Dick Award in 1988. Fairyland won the 1996 Arthur C. Clarke Award and the 1997 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best SF Novel.
A biologist by training, UK science fiction author McAuley writes mostly hard science fiction, dealing with themes such as biotechnology, alternate history/alternate reality, and space travel.
McAuley has also used biotechnology and nanotechnology themes in near-future settings.
Since 2001, he has produced several SF-based techno-thrillers such as The Secret of Life, Whole Wide World, and White Devils.
Four Hundred Billion Stars, his first novel, won the Philip K. Dick Award in 1988. Fairyland won the 1996 Arthur C. Clarke Award and the 1997 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best SF Novel.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 1, 2023
There's a lot in here, straining against a limited page count, but I was mesmerised by this Doctor Who adventure.
McAuley has been in my sights for a long time though it took a Doctor Who connection to get me to finally pick up one of his books. Eye of the Tyger manages to balance early 20th Century colonialism with interstellar sci-fi and anthropomorphic fabulism, a feat which continues to baffle me.
The narrator is Fyne, an English gentleman in India, who becomes afflicted with a virus that gradually turns him into a tiger humanoid. When the Eighth Doctor comes to his rescue, the TARDIS gets stalled in the orbit of an organic centrifugal spaceship which is dangerously close to a blackhole. Boarding that spaceship, the Doctor and Fyne meet a leonine princess named Casimir who informs them about a civil war that has broken out between officers, crew and cargo following the disappearance of Seraph, ship leader and Casimir's father.
That would be a lot of themes and subplots for a novel to juggle, let alone a novella, and yet McAuley keeps it from being a complete mess. The plot is undoubtedly all over the place and I'm sure it would soon put off most casual readers. However, being a Whovian, I have a high tolerance for overambitious storytelling just as long as you capture the essence of the Doctor and the TARDIS. McAuley evokes the Eighth Doctor very well in my eyes though I must admit that's the one incarnation I've had the least experience with.
In any case the story sticks closely to Fyne's perspective, which works well for this one-off companion's character arc though I do wish I could have seen what the Doctor got up to while Fyne was making mistakes. Speaking of getting things wrong, I also think the ending could have benefited from focusing more on the resolution of the civil war and less on space-bending discoveries.
Regardless I find myself able to forgive the convoluted aspects of Eye of the Tyger as it was a fun ride featuring some educational moments. If McAuley is capable of writing all these genres in one short book without losing too much credibility, his storytelling style must warrant further investigation. I recommend Doctor Who: Eye of the Tyger to Whovians willing to take a deep dive into genre blend.
McAuley has been in my sights for a long time though it took a Doctor Who connection to get me to finally pick up one of his books. Eye of the Tyger manages to balance early 20th Century colonialism with interstellar sci-fi and anthropomorphic fabulism, a feat which continues to baffle me.
The narrator is Fyne, an English gentleman in India, who becomes afflicted with a virus that gradually turns him into a tiger humanoid. When the Eighth Doctor comes to his rescue, the TARDIS gets stalled in the orbit of an organic centrifugal spaceship which is dangerously close to a blackhole. Boarding that spaceship, the Doctor and Fyne meet a leonine princess named Casimir who informs them about a civil war that has broken out between officers, crew and cargo following the disappearance of Seraph, ship leader and Casimir's father.
That would be a lot of themes and subplots for a novel to juggle, let alone a novella, and yet McAuley keeps it from being a complete mess. The plot is undoubtedly all over the place and I'm sure it would soon put off most casual readers. However, being a Whovian, I have a high tolerance for overambitious storytelling just as long as you capture the essence of the Doctor and the TARDIS. McAuley evokes the Eighth Doctor very well in my eyes though I must admit that's the one incarnation I've had the least experience with.
In any case the story sticks closely to Fyne's perspective, which works well for this one-off companion's character arc though I do wish I could have seen what the Doctor got up to while Fyne was making mistakes. Speaking of getting things wrong, I also think the ending could have benefited from focusing more on the resolution of the civil war and less on space-bending discoveries.
Regardless I find myself able to forgive the convoluted aspects of Eye of the Tyger as it was a fun ride featuring some educational moments. If McAuley is capable of writing all these genres in one short book without losing too much credibility, his storytelling style must warrant further investigation. I recommend Doctor Who: Eye of the Tyger to Whovians willing to take a deep dive into genre blend.
May 4, 2013
The foreword by Neil Gaiman is, unfortunately, better than the main story. Doctor Who is not really designed to be written by sf authors, being more a space fantasy. The foreword is magical though and because the copy I own was a gift and signed by all involved, will take pride of place on my shelf.
April 27, 2013
Um livro curioso nas séries dedicadas ao excêntrico personagem da televisão britânica. O argumento linear oculta uma intrigante complexidade de construção de mundos ficcionais. McAuley trabalha com elementos icónicos bem conhecidos, mas consegue adaptá-los a uma narrativa mais próxima da ficção científica pura.
Tudo começa numa estação longínqua da Índia sob o raj onde um oficial colonial é infectado por uma estranha praga que transforma homens em criaturas semelhantes a tigres. O Doutor intervém, enchendo a mente vitoriana do inocente oficial com ideias estranhas como vórtices temporais e nanomáquinas e ajudando a eliminar a ameaça viral. Compadecido, o Doutor leva o oficial infectado consigo na Tardis para um futuro onde possa ser curado da infecção, mas é atraído por um buraco negro em cuja órbita se encontra uma nave geracional que encerra dentro de si uma guerra civil entre colonos e a tripulação que mantém a nave nas imediações do buraco aguardando ordens de um líder cívico e religioso cuja consciência foi atraída por avatares de uma civilização futura. A nave em si é um universo fechado, contendo mais formas de vida do que as esperadas pelos passageiros geracionais. Previsivelmente, o Doutor intervém no impasse mas fá-lo por curiosidade. Sabe que o buraco negro no futuro será um dos pontos de convergência de uma civilização humana que se mantém viva no final do universo e suspeita que os passageiros da nave geracional são os antepassados desta civilização do final dos tempos. Quanto ao oficial colonial, apaixona-se por uma leoa alienígena humanóide e a sua transformação pelas nanomáquinas é revertida, mas prefere encarnar-se como cópia do líder em coma dos colonos da nave geracional.
Este livro sofre pelo ritmo demasiado rápido de uma história cheia de pormenores interessantes. McAuley tenta algo quase impossível, conciliando a necessidade de escrita a metro para novelização de um personagem televisivo com um intrigante mundo ficcional que tira partido da flexibilidade do universo whoviano.
Tudo começa numa estação longínqua da Índia sob o raj onde um oficial colonial é infectado por uma estranha praga que transforma homens em criaturas semelhantes a tigres. O Doutor intervém, enchendo a mente vitoriana do inocente oficial com ideias estranhas como vórtices temporais e nanomáquinas e ajudando a eliminar a ameaça viral. Compadecido, o Doutor leva o oficial infectado consigo na Tardis para um futuro onde possa ser curado da infecção, mas é atraído por um buraco negro em cuja órbita se encontra uma nave geracional que encerra dentro de si uma guerra civil entre colonos e a tripulação que mantém a nave nas imediações do buraco aguardando ordens de um líder cívico e religioso cuja consciência foi atraída por avatares de uma civilização futura. A nave em si é um universo fechado, contendo mais formas de vida do que as esperadas pelos passageiros geracionais. Previsivelmente, o Doutor intervém no impasse mas fá-lo por curiosidade. Sabe que o buraco negro no futuro será um dos pontos de convergência de uma civilização humana que se mantém viva no final do universo e suspeita que os passageiros da nave geracional são os antepassados desta civilização do final dos tempos. Quanto ao oficial colonial, apaixona-se por uma leoa alienígena humanóide e a sua transformação pelas nanomáquinas é revertida, mas prefere encarnar-se como cópia do líder em coma dos colonos da nave geracional.
Este livro sofre pelo ritmo demasiado rápido de uma história cheia de pormenores interessantes. McAuley tenta algo quase impossível, conciliando a necessidade de escrita a metro para novelização de um personagem televisivo com um intrigante mundo ficcional que tira partido da flexibilidade do universo whoviano.
January 20, 2014
Very cheesy and hardcore cliché scifi stuff. The story is still a pretty good one, but it was leaking a really strong 80's vibe all over the place. The painting in the front of the book was downright awful.
The Doctor was definitely the Eighth, and the Englishman's description of the TARDIS was interesting. The whole thing would've been better without the weird 'lion' lady. The asteroid ship was really cool--might consider painting that someday.
If you love the Doctor, read it.
The Doctor was definitely the Eighth, and the Englishman's description of the TARDIS was interesting. The whole thing would've been better without the weird 'lion' lady. The asteroid ship was really cool--might consider painting that someday.
If you love the Doctor, read it.
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October 22, 2012Not entirely successful either as Doctor Who, or as a McAuley SF story, but not dreadful either, and the Neil Gaiman foreword is gorgeous. And I'm going to resist making any comments about how the Doctor is fundamentally a survivor.
Oops.
Oops.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews