Some highlights of the latest EDA I’ve read (Halflife).
I took these screens while reading, along with my reactions. As usual, this is full of spoilers.
I only knew two vague things about this book beforehand. One: shippers kept mentioning it. Two: it was apparently a return to basics after a complicated arc. And so, obviously, I was expecting a fun and simple adventure on some alien planet. Instead, here I am, at the end of this book, with an existential crisis on my hands and trying to figure if an entire arc of mediocre-to-bad books didn't completely destroy my idea of what a good Doctor Who novel was.
On paper, yes, this is a simple alien invasion story, one that the TARDIS team is trying to understand before it's too late to save anyone. In practice, it turns out it's an excuse to redefine the main characters, to address some specific past plot points of the series, and to reflect on a core idea in a multitude of ways: how much do our past actions define who we are in the present? Literally everything here is related to that idea, from the location to the menace(s) and, of course, to the regulars.
Speaking of that location, I wish we could have spent more time exploring it, more time to unravel how a society so desperate to escape from the control of our colonialist and capitalist hellhole can't quite escape from its past by trying to ignore it altogether. That's my only criticism: I wanted more of a good thing.
I'm fascinated by Halflife. It couldn't have existed in this form at any other point than near the end of such a long series. Maybe I'm just burnt out after so many mediocre books in a row. Maybe it's not THAT good. Maybe this note is too high. Who cares. What a breath of fresh air. 9/10
