I’m rather ashamed to admit that, prior to The Coming of the Terraphiles,
I’d never read a Michael Moorcock novel. The sheer body of work from
this prolific author was one reason why I was afraid of tackling him.
Another was due to a Michael Moorcock short story that I’d read, which
seemed to be doing a million things at once, with the narrative
branching off into innumerable tangents. This impression of Michael
Moorcock was rather reinforced by the opening of The Coming of The Terraphiles,
since the narrative also seemed to be doing a million things at once at
this point. However, I persevered, as Michael Moorcock does have rather
a brilliant reputation, much like the other famous writers recently
attracted to Doctor Who, such as Richard Curtis and Neil Gaiman.
Michael Moorcock does appear to be very well versed in the Doctor Who universe, with various Judoon making an appearance as minor characters. Moorcock’s complex, jocular style is very fitting for Matt Smith, and so his portrait of the current Doctor is spot on. However, Michael Moorcock’s characterisation of Amy isn’t quite so good, and you get the feeling that her role here could have been played by any of the Doctor’s other companions.
While The Coming of the Terraphiles is very much fitting as a literary Doctor Who (with the plot being too complex and rambling to have ever worked on screen), it would also appear to derive much from Michael Moorcock’s previous works. Take, for instance, the mysterious figure of Captain Cornelius, who would appear to be a representation of Moorcock’s most famous character, Jerry Cornelius… The plot of The Coming of the Terraphiles is quite farcical in nature, with much turning upon the theft of a hat that rather resembles a spider… However, there is a real danger to be faced, even if the forces of antimatter seem to be quite clownish in nature… The Terraphiles themselves are fans of classic Earth (i.e. of our era) who have adopted traditional English sports, such as cricket, albeit with a few twists arising from mistakes in translation. This reminds me of a task set by an English teacher at school to depict football through the eyes of an alien, which resulted in many of us being admonished for the misapprehension of said alien that we were playing football with severed heads… Michael Moorcock can count himself fortunate that he did not have the same English teacher as me, as he gets away with several similar misapprehensions on behalf of these people from our distant future. The plot has several cliches that feature in many another Doctor Who novel. However, they’re encircled by Michael Moorcock’s own inimitable style, and once the narrative gets going, The Coming of the Terraphiles does become a very gripping read. Thus have the BBC added a most distinguished writer to their Doctor Who books (with the added aplomb of first publication in hardback format). Michael Moorcock should also have the added bonus of gaining a lot more readers for his other works following this highly successful crossover.
Michael Moorcock does appear to be very well versed in the Doctor Who universe, with various Judoon making an appearance as minor characters. Moorcock’s complex, jocular style is very fitting for Matt Smith, and so his portrait of the current Doctor is spot on. However, Michael Moorcock’s characterisation of Amy isn’t quite so good, and you get the feeling that her role here could have been played by any of the Doctor’s other companions.
While The Coming of the Terraphiles is very much fitting as a literary Doctor Who (with the plot being too complex and rambling to have ever worked on screen), it would also appear to derive much from Michael Moorcock’s previous works. Take, for instance, the mysterious figure of Captain Cornelius, who would appear to be a representation of Moorcock’s most famous character, Jerry Cornelius… The plot of The Coming of the Terraphiles is quite farcical in nature, with much turning upon the theft of a hat that rather resembles a spider… However, there is a real danger to be faced, even if the forces of antimatter seem to be quite clownish in nature… The Terraphiles themselves are fans of classic Earth (i.e. of our era) who have adopted traditional English sports, such as cricket, albeit with a few twists arising from mistakes in translation. This reminds me of a task set by an English teacher at school to depict football through the eyes of an alien, which resulted in many of us being admonished for the misapprehension of said alien that we were playing football with severed heads… Michael Moorcock can count himself fortunate that he did not have the same English teacher as me, as he gets away with several similar misapprehensions on behalf of these people from our distant future. The plot has several cliches that feature in many another Doctor Who novel. However, they’re encircled by Michael Moorcock’s own inimitable style, and once the narrative gets going, The Coming of the Terraphiles does become a very gripping read. Thus have the BBC added a most distinguished writer to their Doctor Who books (with the added aplomb of first publication in hardback format). Michael Moorcock should also have the added bonus of gaining a lot more readers for his other works following this highly successful crossover.