Legacy of the Daleks [PROSE/1998.4.6]

★★★☆☆

  Legacy of the Daleks is a really good example of a novel that teases great involvement and character development of a character, proceeds to not show her at all for most of its duration, and then bring her back for an admittedly memorable final moment. Susan Foreman is an interesting character to return to, and John Peel seems to invest a bit of the narrative into fleshing out her life after The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Her pain at watching her husband David grow old and wither away while she remains in her teenage form (and wears old makeup to save David from the negative impression people would undoubtedly get if she's seen with him as she is) is such an unexpected avenue of adult worry to get from Dr. Who that I was intrigued to see the direction the novel would take... but no, the story quickly dispenses with Susan until, near the end, it remembers that she exists as an interesting avenue of possibility and lets her kill an incarnation of the Master and roam around in a TARDIS. If you're looking for a more conventional reunion of Susan and her grandfather in his eighth incarnation, go for An Earthly Child.

  Not to say this novel isn't enjoyable; on the contrary, it's pretty fun. The bleak post-Dalek Invasion UK landscape is drawn with quite a bit of detail, the original characters are fun to be around (Donna especially). There are quite a lot of moments that reek of the male gaze (especially in the Donna exposition scenes; her past is so very predictable), and if you're particularly bothered by that sort of thing, I would give you a heads-up warming just in case. If you like a bit of Dalek action (as bland as it is), though, mixed with a heap of post-apocalypse character drama (though not to any amazing level, I assure you), I'd give Legacy of the Daleks a fair bit of endorsement. Perfectly enjoyable, not remarkable by any means but a good time nonetheless.