Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Highly Recommended for Fans May 5, 2008
For anyone who hasn't seen the show, this book is probably not a good introduction, as it throws you straight into the story, without giving any kind of background. For those who have seen the show, however, this does not pose a problem.
Whereas the Doctor Who book I recently read felt like a TV episode, this has a longer feel to it. Running alongside the main story are other smaller storylines. In the TV show, Torchwood deal with one neat story every week, but this book has a more realistic feel to it, as they go from one problem to another.
The characters were fairly well captured, as I found it quite easy to picture them. However, Ianto plays a very small part, and Jack doesn't feel quite right.. he seemed more `relaxed' than I remember him in the first series, plus the leadership skills aren't that apparent.
A rather confusing factor is the introduction of a new character, James.. but bear with it, as it does all make sense at the end.
The actual book is a fast paced read, it hooks you in, and keeps you turning those pages. Highly recommended for fans, and I'm certainly hoping to pick up some more!
 Better than the telly? October 9, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Disclaimer: This review was written before the much more enjoyable second series of Torchwood was put on telly and addressed many of the issues I had with the show.
I should point out, that while I watched Torchwood all the way through, it was more in the hope that it would all come together at some point than because I was really enjoying it. So why read one of the books? Well both Andy Lane (who wrote Slow Decay) and Dan Abnett have proven themselves fine writers and I approached Border Princes as a Dan Abnett novel instead.
So I was mildly surprised (though not that surprised) to find that Dan's novel presented the version of Torchwood I'd been expecting and hoping for. A group of paranormal investigators, normal people, who deal with crimes using alien artefacts and incursions from other realms. The interactions between the team, which I'll admit don't mirror the television show that well beyond the first episode, make you feel like they're a good team, as opposed to the backstabbing, callous bunch of cheats and liars the show featured. When watching the show I could never understand why they all kept working together when they would shoot each other, bully each other etc. Captain Jack particularly feels closer to how Russell T Davies writes him than what we saw in the show and is a lot easier going and willing to share his mysteries.
The writing is well paced and quite gripping. Even though you'll probably see where it's all going, it's a pleasant trip getting there. There's plenty of humour and the relationship writing for Gwen is particularly strong, even if Rhys does get short shrift (but then Gwen had an affair with Owen in the show, so why should we believe her relationship with Rhys is particularly strong). James, the mysterious new Torchwood member, is a nice chap too.
If you're a big fan of the show, it isn't quite so faithful as you might hope, I guess. And it is hard to figure out where it fits into the timescale. I'm tempted to suggest it may fit better in the second series, depending how that turns out. (Edit: And whaddayaknow? I was right!)
Border Princes July 9, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
With the main Doctor Who range being watered down and targeted at younger readers there has been vacuum in the Who market for fiction aimed at adults. Fortunately the Torchwood novels are up to the task and fill the gap.
Border Princes is interesting in that it starts in the middle of a crisis and has the viewer confused but intrigued from the start. There are several mini-plots in this book and because of this its a puzzle to work out the main plot or the relevance of each small plot.
In terms of being a TV spin off it works remarkably well and is actually more believable and endearing than many of the shows early episodes. I can easily imagine all the characters. Likewise the show flitting between everyday life in Cardiff and the alien is very well done.
So thumbs up for this new line of Who-spin off fiction. Torchwood needs good stories and this is certainly one of them.
 new recruit June 12, 2007
Torchwood. Secret agency based in cardiff protecting the human race from aliens and alien technology. You will probably know that from having watched the tv show, but I mention it here because the book throws you in at the deep end without introducing the characters or the set up. Torchwood are tracking down something that's causing people in cardiff to go mad. And if you are familiar with the tv show, you'll wonder who this person working for them called James is, because we never saw him on screen.
That's the big mystery of the book. As torchwood go about their usual business dealing with strange things happening in cardiff, someone else is in the city, tracking something down.
The prose here is very readable, but not too many characters get much of a look in, as this story seems to be mostly about gwen and the relationship she gets into with james. another fixture on tv was the clash between her home life and her work life, and there's plenty more of that here.
This is quite readable but you tend to wonder where it's going, although hang on in there as there is a main plot to this which kicks in during the last third. It's all quite intriguing and well resolved, but it does also feel a little rushed, one story element not amounting to as much as you might have expected.
A decent torchwood novel but not the strongest of them
 Disappointing May 22, 2007
This was the 3rd Torchwood book I read and I'm glad I read it last otherwise I would not have bothered reading the other two which were brilliant!
I found the difference in attitude of the characters - from what I'd learnt about them on TV and in the other two books - to be extremely off-putting; they just didn't ring true and, to me, acted out of character. Cap'n Jack was quite a marginal figure and seemed very weak - not leadership material at all and not the cool, calm but witty hunk we know and love! He didn't seem to be in control much and we didn't hear that much about him or from him, which was most unexpected.
The introduction of the character James didn't work for me either and the fact that he and Gwen 'got it together' was a real shame; Gwen's love of Rhys provides one of the strongest links to 'reality' - he represents the rest of us - that the series has. It is her constant battle between what she sees and learns at Torchwood and the 'normal' everday life of her and Rhys - the way she adapts and reconciles the two and the constant wrestling of her conscience between them - that gives her such strength and adds humanity and compassion to the team. The loss of that throws us out of kilter - all without good reason as far as I could see. Maybe I just didn't 'get it'!
Still, it's far better than anything I could write so I guess I have no right to criticise!
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