Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Another Life July 9, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Another Life is the first of the Torchwood books. Unlike many TV-tie-ins it hits the ground running. The story is interesting enough which fits well into the Torchwood world. All characters are well represented and Torchwood McGuffins like the Rift, the Hub and the various technology all fit in well.
The main plot concerns a theft of nuclear material. Its nothing remarkalbe but its enjoyable reading about characters we have only till now watched on TV. Nothing too ambitious is tried in this first book but at the same time the reader gets the impression a lot of work went into this book as it fits seamlessly with the Torchwood world. Its set between episodes 3 and 4 of the series it seems.
The secondary plot concerns Owen hooking up with an old girlfriend. This eventually fits well with the main plot but initally meanders.
There are some good descriptions of various areas of Cardiff and various Welsh characters.
The end is not too surprising but we get a lot of insight into Gwens character without her deviating too much from her TV persona.
So all in all a good start for the Torchwood range.
Reasonably good March 17, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Parts of the sub-plot in this book were a weighed down with geekery that I initially found amusing but that swiftly became extremely tiresome; otherwise, this was a fairly good distraction for a few hours. It didn't have a groundbreakingly original plot, but it was fun and fits in well with the TV series.
A decent spin-off...but nothing more. February 28, 2007
9 out of 20 found this review helpful
This first of the Torchwood spin-off novels (at least going by the picture on the spine) features the team going up against a killer mind-hopping alien whose spaceship also happens to be slowly drowning Cardiff as it emerges from the Rift...
Strip away the investigative details and the plot of 'Another Life' is sadly a rather generic 'invading alien warrior' already seem a few hundred times in the main Doctor Who lines. Beyond the creatures mind-hopping abilities and delightfully gruesome diet there is also absolutely nothing interesting about the main alien threat, who seems to be entirely devoid of any interesting motivation beyond being 'alien'. Thankfully this rather generic warrior is accompanied by some non-talking starfish creatures which lead to some of the novels better moments...
Peter Anghelides does well to provide a good chunk of material for each of the Torchwood regulars, and while Owen probably gets the meatiest section of the novel with the tale of his own doomed attempt to recruit a new Torchwood member, everyone gets a good slab of the action - even tea-boy(or should that be 'coffee-boy'?) Ianto. The only slight downside to this is that the novel is almost entirely lacking any strong or well-developed original supporting characters, as Anghelides concentrates exclusively on the Torchwood regulars, with (a few short death scenes aside) practically every paragraph seen through the eyes of one of the TV series stars.
As with the TV series Captain Jack's immortality is something of a problem dramatically, as thanks to the aliens modus operandi it becomes very obvious early on how Jack will end up defeating the menace.
Still, this is a good solid pacy spin-off, and thanks to the lack of the more jeuvenille sex-based antics of the TV series this is superior to some of the more embaressing episodes of the TV series itself. All in all a good translation of Torchwood to the printed page, and if you are looking for more Torchwood between TV seasons this will fill the gap admirably, but compared to some of the more imaginative original Doctor Who novels of the past this doesn't really add anything to the Torchwood mythos. A good spin-off book yes, but simply not original enough to be a great novel.
 Better than expected February 12, 2007
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
Considering these are the first Torchwood books to be released following the series, they were more entertaining than I was expecting.
Something or someone is going around killing people and they are going about it in a slightly unusual and violent way, which is why Torchwood are called upon to investigate. As the Torchwood team investigate further, it emerges that the victims had started to behave strangely shortly before they died.
All the characters in this book are well protrayed, showing each of their strengths and weaknesses as shown in the series. And even though Ianto has the least to do in this book, his character still comes across well in the scenes that he has.
 Excellent February 8, 2007
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
This is the first book of three hardcovers with stand alone stories. They are beautiful - the artwork is impressive and when you place the books together, the spine is showing a group photo of the characters.
If you have never watched Torchwood, it might be a good idea to read this book first in order to find out if this series is your cup of tea. It gives all the information you need, including what Torchwood is, the characters and what kind of stories to expect. The author knows Torchwood very well and the characterizations are very accurate. The book takes place early in the series which is reflected in numerous ways. I think also people who never watched Torchwood can read this book without any problems.
I see Torchwood as something between Star Trek`s Section 31 and "the department" of Starfleet Intelligence, led by Admiral Nechayev in the main Star Trek book universe, that is dealing with missions that push what is legal, what is moral, what is acceptable to its limits and sometimes beyond. When does the end justify the means when it is about protecting Earth from alien threats? And when, there is the next question, namely what is still justifiable under such circumstances? Torchwood is not an illegal organization and although what it is about is a secret, they are called to investigate suspicious murders or other events that are unusual. Their task is to find answers, stop threats and at the same time, keeping alien presences secret and collect alien technology they find. The Prime Minister knows all about Torchwood but how much further that knowledge goes, is unknown.
Torchwood is a spin-off of Doctor Who, a British SF series, and that this story takes place in Britain is also obvious when reading this book. "Another Life" is a story with an overall pattern that is typical for Torchwood: An evil alien is taking over humans, using them and killing them in the process. The story is dark, gritty, includes a certain amount of gore and violence. Lots of rain is falling, which is typical, too. Torchwood was created with an adult audience in mind and therefore, additional to horror elements, some sexual ones can be found as well in this book as it is the case in the TV series.
This doesn`t sound attractive but also this book shows that there is more behind Torchwood. A series first of all comes alive with its characters and some of them reflect the overall mood of the series well: They are good people but with flaws, flaws that make them interesting. Torchwood deals with questions that involve a lot of shades of grey and needs a certain type of people to deal with it.
"Another Life" is revealing what was at the beginning of the series even a secret to most other members of this group, that the leader Jack Harkness is an immortal who can`t die. What happened had been shown in the modern Doctor Who series but is not known to anyone in the Torchwood series, probably not even the Prime Minister. Jack is very charismatic, a natural leader. The book shows his two sides very well: He is dedicated, caring, in many ways a real hero but he can be frighteningly ruthless when he thinks it is necessary. I agree with what other fans have said as well, him being immortal robbed him a bit of his humanity at times.
This book is a good example showing that we viewers or, in this case, readers might not like what he does or did but when he asked here what other alternative there is, I didn`t have an answer either. Newcomer Gwen Cooper provided the same human conscience for him in this book as it was shown mainly in early Torchwood. The climax is not really surprising but I found it a gripping, touching read. By letting Jack sacrifice himself in order to stop the alien and save Owen, another member of the team, Gwen had to struggle with her conscience. This scene showed me why I am a fan of this series although I agree that there is definitely room for improvement.
One of these needed improvements is about another grey character who plays a main part in this book, Owen Harper. When I first saw him on TV, my reaction was "What a creep!". But I also wondered from early on, maybe a series like Torchwood needs such a character as well. "Another Life" shows "Owen the creep" very well but makes a good effort to look closer at him, analysing what makes him the character he is. I don`t think he is likeable in the book but he is definitely interesting and in spite of his flaws, I couldn`t help caring for what happens to him.
"Another World" makes good use of Toshiko Sato, the computer expert of the group. I learned more about her character in this book than I did on TV so far. Somewhere in the book, her attitude towards computers was described as being a composer. And then there is Ianto Jones, the kind of assistant and caretaker. He is a troubled character with a secret that is revealed later in the series. People who know what I am talking about can read between the lines when reading the book.
I think people who like watching Torchwood will also like this book. But if you never have watched it, I understand very well why Torchwood is a controversial series that is not for everybody.
|
