Seeing I [PROSE/1998.6.8]

★★★★☆

  For its development of the character of Sam Jones, I'd go as far as to call Seeing I foundational. For its delightful gaze into corporate greed, borderline cyberpunk themes of disaffection over a violently capitalised world with a wry and hilarious sense of humour, I'd call it a very fun novel to read indeed. For its willingness to put the Doctor through horrific amounts of psychological torture, I'd call Jonathan Blum and Kate Orman sadistic... but I've always known that. It's no surprise that Orman in particular is one of my favourite Dr. Who writers.

  As a far cry from the dire Dreamstone Moon, Seeing I is a book jam-packed with fun blink-and-you'll-miss-it jokes and light-hearted moments (just read the section where the Doctor attempts several times to get access into INC's employee data bank via the front desk... it's so in character for the Eighth Doctor and it's hilarious) as well as some of the most horrifiyng depictions of the Doctor under torture and distress (just read the portion where the Doctor attempts a prison escape for the nth time and gets a girl killed by getting her hopes up). It developes the character of Sam to an immeasurable degree, giving her three years' worth of breathing space away from the Doctor as she sets up her own life in this harsh world of corporations and loss of non-corporate autonomy. She's an actual person, coming to terms with her sexuality, her place in the world as an activist fighting INC, and her love for the Doctor and what their separation means for her. I can feel the handprints of Kate Orman all over the place -- expert characterisation, an increasingly intriguing plot with some beautiful prose to flesh it out and all. It may be a tiny bit of a shame that Seeing I, on a winning streak of multiple sublime chapters, realises towards the end that it's actually supposed to be a Dr. Who adventure and then introduces a bunch of rather generic Dr. Who baddie aliens as the mastermind behind an elaborate technology experiment.

  Don't worry about that, though -- Seeing I is still a sublime novel, bolstered with excellent showcases for the Doctor and Sam, a detailed depiction of Ha'olam, and a stunning critique of commercialisation of human augmentation. This is exactly the kind of refreshing novel the Eighth Doctor Adventures range needed.