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Doctor Who: Virgin New Adventures #49

Doctor Who: Death and Diplomacy

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Three mightly empires poised for war!

In the far-off Magellan Cluster, the savage Dakhaari, the militaristic Czhans and the evil backstabbing Saloi are at each other's respective throats over the tiny, peaceful planet of Moriel. The Hollow Gods have decreed that a satellite be built in which they must settle their differences or else. But just who has the tact and diplomacy to arbitrate these talks?

Meanwhile, Roz and Chris are on Moriel with the Czhanist army, knocking seven bells out of the native populace. Why have they launched this sneak attack? Will it wreck the talks completely? Are they participating in the Hollow Gods' hidden agenda — a plan that will result in the death of billions?

And while the others are otherwise occupied, Benny is stranded, lost and alone, facing the most terrifying challenge of her life — someone who will haunt her for the rest of her days. He's called Jason.

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 18, 1996

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About the author

Dave Stone

73 books16 followers
Stone has written many spin off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and Judge Dredd.

Stone also contributed a number of comic series to 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine, focusing on the Dreddverse (Judge Dredd universe). In collaboration with David Bishop and artist Shaky Kane he produced the much disliked Soul Sisters, which he has described as "a joke-trip, which through various degrees of miscommunication ended up as a joke-strip without any jokes." Working independently, he created the better received Armitage, a Dreddworld take on Inspector Morse set in a future London, and also contributed to the ongoing Judge Hershey series.

Stone’s most lasting contribution to the world of Judge Dredd might well have been his vision of Brit-Cit, which until Stone’s various novels had been a remarkably underexplored area.

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5 stars
18 (13%)
4 stars
34 (26%)
3 stars
53 (41%)
2 stars
20 (15%)
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4 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Profile Image for Laura.
650 reviews1 follower
June 13, 2022
Absolutely the biggest strength of this was that, unlike a lot of 'companion getting married' plots, there's plenty of time to develop Jason and Benny's relationship so that I can buy them getting engaged by the end. And I'm always appreciative of polyamory as a plot solution. Not one of my all-time favourites, especially since I wasn't all that invested in the villain plot, but I did like it a lot.
Profile Image for Luke Rose.
15 reviews2 followers
November 11, 2020
When Bernice Summerfield was introduced to the Virgin new adventures the series seemed to have found its MVP and fans fell in love with the character. Over the years Bernice became a firm fan favourite and she saw the departure of long standing companion Ace and the introduction of two new companions Chris Cwej and Rozz Forrester. But like all good things Bernice's travels with the doctor had to come to an end, with the character being married off.

This novels sees the introduction of Bernice's soon to be husband Jason Kane. But who could be a match for the space traveling daddy issues alcoholic Bernice?? Well it turns out that Jason is and a space traveling alcoholic with daddy issues. Jason is introduced as a sort of anti dashing hero, instead of saving the day, Jason runs away, instead of helping others Jason helps himself. Strangely this works in creating a perfect match for Bernice. The couple spend the majority of the novel either screaming at each other, or confiding their traumatic pasts with each other slowly building their love, understanding and trust for each other.

The only issues with the novel are the lackluster villains and their plan all of which take place separate and second fiddle to Bernice and Jason and felt at times like two separate novels. Whilst an interesting and real love story I feel that the overall plot and villans could have been integrated a bit more into the story of Jason and Bernice, but this is none the less an interesting and fun Doctor Who novel.
Author 26 books37 followers
July 31, 2008
Aside from the reveal of the mystery bad guy, which was cute, this is yet another one of those books where the Tardis crew gets scattered, runs around a lot and twelve things happen that don't seem the least bit connected, yet the writer ties them all up in the grand finale and it hardly feels like Doctor Who at all.
Most of the companions don't trust the Doctor, and it's all feels a bit like why did they bother to write a Doctor Who book just so they could suck most of the fun out of it?

1,163 reviews7 followers
September 30, 2022
More entertaining than you'd expect from the premise, thanks to the contrast of the warring alien cultures and a number of unexpected twists. However, Benny's arc stands awkwardly apart from the rest of the story, and Jason honestly wasn't as appealing as the author probably thought he was. (One wonders if the character was included by requirement rather than preference.) The ending also needed more substance, and doesn't quite pay off for the buildup. Not a bad Doctor Who novel by any means, but still somehow lacking. (B)
Profile Image for Kris.
1,359 reviews
February 2, 2023
It starts of well and is often quite funny. The problems come with two significant problems. Firstly, the conclusion to all the plot points ends up being a disappointment. Secondly, Benny falling in love with Jason I found very unconvincing, it felt like another Andred and Leela situation. A shame as the journey before the last 30 or so pages is enjoyable.
Profile Image for Michael.
1,076 reviews197 followers
May 17, 2025
Yes, let's get Benny off the TARDIS before some other author kills her or destroys her. Yes, that's a swell idea and I am all here for it.
Profile Image for Robert Wright.
218 reviews35 followers
March 31, 2012
I can rip through a good Doctor who book. This one took 6 months.

It suffers the sins of much of the New Adventures series, IMO: too much focus on the companions (none of which you'll recognize from TV; they were all created for this series) and tertiary "guest stars; a Doctor that is not only enigmatic, but sometimes a real unsympathetic bastard, and a somewhat juvenile confusion of "now we can do sex and violence" with mature, layered, and complex storytelling.

It does pick up over 150 pages (more than halfway) through, once Benny and Jason start to get past their will-they-won't they and, of course, do. There's a nice chuckle when you find out that the Doctor .

What lifted it from an abysmal 1 to 2-stars is that I did laugh out loud once. When Shug (heretofore not even a tertiary character, more like furniture) lets loose with the rant-down on Benny and Jason. The brilliant, sadly only metaphorical, evisceration begins on p.197. "Give the walking anthropoid a monkey nut," and it only gets better from there. I think Shug summed up my feeling for the book up to that point by saying, "It's been going on for days now! On and on and on for days! If I hear one more sexual-chemistry-charged and mutually misunderstood argument I'm going to shoot the pair of you!" Amen, you furry little psycho.
Profile Image for Daniel Kukwa.
4,743 reviews123 followers
January 31, 2018
Dave Stone's bonkers writing style can take some getting used to, but this is probably the best of his "Doctor Who" novels. It has all the zaniness of his previous work, "Sky Pirates", but in a far more disciplined style...and I found it much funnier. It starts with naked companions dumped out of the TARDIS, and some alien space cows...and just gets more ridiculous and hilarious from there. A very under-rated gem in the "New Adventures" line.
Profile Image for Adam Highway.
63 reviews1 follower
February 17, 2016
This is SUCH a joy to read, I can only assume those who dislike it simply don't share my humour. Side references, in jokes, a casual disregard for the strictures of Doctor Who - it's all there. You wouldn't want every book, not even many, to be like this, but I'm very glad that Stone has written this one. Utterly, utterly brilliant.
Profile Image for Julia.
190 reviews30 followers
July 11, 2021
VIRGIN NEW ADVENTURES #49: DEATH AND DIPLOMACY
Scritto da DAVE STONE
Tre imponenti imperi in procinto di guerra!
Nel distante Ammasso di Magellano, i selvaggi Dakhaari, i militaristici Czhans e gli sleali Saloi sono ognuno alla gola degli altri riguardo al piccolo, pacifico pianeta di Moriel. Gli Dei Vuoti hanno decretato che deve essere costruito un satellite in cui i tre dovranno risolvere le loro divergenze, altrimenti... Ma chi potrebbe avere il tatto e la diplomazia per arbitrare queste trattative?
Nel frattempo, Roz e Chris sono su Moriel con l'armata Czhanista, che le suona di santa ragione alla popolazione nativa. Perché hanno lanciato questo attacco a sorpresa? Distruggeranno completamente le trattative? Stanno partecipando al piano segreto degli Dei Vuoti – un piano che risulterà nella morte di miliardi?
E mentre gli altri sono occupati diversamente, Benny è bloccata, persa e da sola, ad affrontare la più terrificante sfida della sua vita – qualcuno che la perseguiterà per il resto dei suoi giorni. Il suo nome è Jason.
---
Dato che nei prossimi episodi della stagione 8 di Bernice Summerfield ci saranno un po' di flashbacks relativi a questo libro, ho deciso di fare un passo indietro ed andarmi a leggere della prima volta che Benny e Jason si sono incontrati.
Si inizia subito con l'equipaggio del TARDIS spatarrato di qua e di là: Benny finisce su Jaris, dove tra una disavventura e l'altra incontra Jason, unico umano del posto; Roz e Chris si ritrovano nell'Impero Czhan, dove si fanno passare per militari; mentre il Dottore, rimasto misteriosamente da solo, viene trascinato ad un meeting di pace fra tre potenze aliene, senza possibilità di spostare il TARDIS e sotto la supervisione di questi cosiddetti Dei Vuoti.
I tre gruppi rimangono separati per tutto il romanzo, quindi non c'è molta interazione tra il Dottore e i suoi companions, e questa è una cosa che capita molto spesso nelle VNA. Anche le avventure che hanno singolarmente sembrano essere indipendenti l'una dall'altra, fino a quando le varie trame non si vanno ad intrecciare tutte nel finale.
Finale un po' confusionario, devo dire, in quanto vengono buttati nel calderone un sacco di elementi distinti, che non si amalgamano proprio nel migliore dei modi, per poi terminare in maniera deludente con un deus ex machina che, citando le parole del Dottore stesso, è un po' un anticlimax.
Sette è il solito personaggio machiavellico, ma ormai ha smesso di manipolare le persone per i suoi piani, preferendo invece limitarsi a spingerli nella giusta direzione. Ma forse proprio per questo, si ha l'impressione che il suo intervento non sia così decisivo. Anche i companion sembrano seguire il flusso della corrente, finendo per ritrovarsi tutti nello stesso posto quasi per caso.
C'è da dire che non è il lavoro peggiore di Dave Stone: anche se alcune parti sono leggermente eccessive, per la maggior parte riesce a contenere il suo stile parodistico, per dare invece un tocco di serietà in più alla storia.
Tuttavia, credo che l'unico punto memorabile di questo libro sia proprio il fatto che è qui che Benny e Jason si conoscono e si fidanzano.
Profile Image for Xanxa.
Author 22 books44 followers
May 2, 2021
This author has a tendency to go overboard on attempting to emulate the late great Douglas Adams. Yes, I love Douglas Adams' work and I'm sure Mr Stone does too. However, borrowing his writing style makes the narrative seem forced and unnatural, rather like when an android tries to tell a joke.

This book was an improvement on his previous one, I will acknowledge. Maybe it's because I'm more accustomed to his writing style and I've learned to tune it out, or maybe because it's simply a better story.

Most of the guest characters are particularly loathsome specimens - rulers with inflated egos, spies and infiltrators and of course the expendable soldiers who are expected to fight and die for their glorious leaders.

The main theme of the story seems to be illusion. Nothing and no-one are what they seem. Layer upon layer of deceit and trickery has to be whittled away by the Doctor and his companions until they finally arrive on the truth of the situation.

Bernice (my least favourite companion) meets someone who's every bit as awkward, unapproachable and unlikable as herself. Throughout the story, they veer between arguing and having casual sex which they later profess to regret.

After a great deal of switching sides and changing allegiances, the three warring factions eventually work out their differences and the conclusion is quite satisfying.
Profile Image for City Mist.
129 reviews
December 19, 2024
With some regret, I think I have to say that I really don't like Dave Stone. It's never a joy to dislike any author, but Stone's writing is just so self congratulatory and overly quippy. I find it immediately repelling. Upon reading his previous contribution to the New Adventures, Sky Pirates!, I noted that Stone clearly aspires to the wit of a Douglas Adams or a Terry Pratchett but instead comes across only as irksome and twee. He lightens up a bit on the back patting absurdity in this second novel but not much. I'm also deeply annoyed by his take on Bernice Summerfield, a character he clearly adores but utterly butchers on the page. I'm not much of a Benny fan, but I don't believe for a second that she would fall for a second rate Han Solo knockoff like Jason Kane, though some of the blame for that decision might lie more with series editor Peter Darvill-Evans, who conceived of many of the VNAs' major twists and plot developments.
Profile Image for Mikey.
61 reviews3 followers
August 24, 2020
I’m kind of struggling to find anything to say about this book, I won’t lie. Like... there’s a lot of elements but nearly none of them are really used well. It’s not that anything in it is particularly bad, it’s just that... barely anything really happens for the most part.

The Doctor gets to show up and occasionally do things and that’s fine - couple of decent Doctor-y moments, though nothing really stands out like Stone’s last take on the Doctor in Sky Pirates! so... yeah. Chris and Roz are non-entities, basically. Benny gets a fair amount of presence alongside Jason, who’s basically the only reason I’m giving this two stars instead of one, but even then their romance is so rushed and thrown together that it doesn’t massively shock or surprise that they end up divorced before the end of the New Adventures.

But, uh, yeah... not my favourite NA by any means. Moving on...
1,857 reviews23 followers
July 15, 2025
Whilst there may be merit in the idea of a Doctor Who romcom with nods to Jane Austen, handing this brief to a man who thinks "companion wakes up naked in a pile of poo", "two companions wake up naked in a broom closet and one of them accidently grabs the other one's cock", and "haha woman have big titties" constitute funny jokes was perhaps a mistake. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...
Profile Image for Jade.
913 reviews1 follower
July 31, 2025
Not bad! Not amazing, but it filled in a lot of the gaps that I'd missed in the later books. Hello, Jason!
Profile Image for Danny Welch.
1,385 reviews
July 7, 2025
Dave Stone is by far one of the oddest and controversial writers of the wilderness years. His writing style isn't for everyone and his work is more often than not on the more absurd and comedic side of things. "Sky Pirates!" was his first Doctor Who novel, one that a few people dislike, but to my surprise I'm in the minority on that one since I actually really liked it. It's not perfect, and it was a tad slow, but it was still a really fun book that was definitely needed after "Sanctuary", "Human Nature" and "Original Sin", which were all on the more grim side of things. "Death and Diplomacy" is considered by many to be one of his best, so I knew I was safe hands with this one.

In the Magellan Cluster, three species are about to be at war with one another and nothing but the gods can stop them. The Hollow Gods hoping to prevent a catastrophe, kidnap The Doctor to resolve the situation via diplomatic relations. His companions have teleported elsewhere throughout the galaxy, naked and afraid. Chris and Roz see for themselves the harsh conditions that plague this galaxy, while Bernice Summerfield meets Jason Kane, a human from 20th century Earth taken away by accident. Something is manipulating events; a plan that has lasted thousands of years is about to come to its devastating conclusion. But worst of all, Bernice Summerfield's life is about to change and it's all thanks to Jason Kane.

Dave Stone's second Doctor Who novel is an improvement over his debut and makes for a really thrilling, imaginative and action-packed read. It's a subtle comedy that sets up the events of "Happy Endings", but it's a solid and exciting standalone novel in its own right. Surprisingly, I enjoyed this novel far more than I was expecting. It's an amusing and imaginative tale with a great cast of characters, interesting and absurd twists and a sense of scale that's perfectly captured and doesn't overstay its welcome. I have mixed feelings about Jason Kane; he's a somewhat likable individual but he can occasionally be an inconsiderate jerk. He's a complicated character who I have a feeling will have a rather negative effect on Bernice's life.

Overall: I know many people regard this as one of Dave Stone's better novels, but I still find it terribly underrated. I absolutely loved this novel and had a lot of fun with it. 9/10
Profile Image for Nicholas Whyte.
5,343 reviews210 followers
April 8, 2009
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2218426.html[return][return]this is the Seventh Doctor story which introduces Jason Kane, husband of Bernice Summerfield. I knew a lot of Jason's later continuity from Big Finish audios, but had somehow not absorbed that he was actually from 1996. Anyway, I was delighted with his introduction to the character, whose whirlwind romance with Benny comes against a background of mildly comical terror; meanwhile the Doctor is attempting to sort out a complex conflict between three competing alien races, and Roz and Chris have a subordinate but still entertaining plot line.
Profile Image for Leela42.
96 reviews7 followers
February 10, 2011
New Adventure (NA) with Benny, Roz and Chris. A mix of love it and loathe it. I found the Benny and Jason chapters so repulsive I skipped them--they're strictly for those who love tragic Mar(t)y Sues. The science and history should be taken with a grain of salt.
Profile Image for Brad.
91 reviews9 followers
March 5, 2013
The plot wasn't bad, and it clearly sets up the title to follow. But the book suffers from the author trying way too hard to be funny.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews

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