A Brief Look at Death and Diplomacy
By Rob Langenderfer
Getting through Dave Stone’s New Adventure Death and Diplomacy was an act of sheer willpower. It was also a totally unnecessary exercise in torture for me. This was a book that I did not have high hopes for after having read Stone’s brief comments at the start of the book. Stone’s earlier novel Sky Pirates! had been a totally comedic work, and I was more than happy when Tom Kelly reviewed the book a few months back because after reading the back cover blurb for it, I had no desire to read it, and her review removed any hint of an obligation that I felt to push me towards reading the book. Death and Diplomacy’s back cover blurb promised a bit of drama that gave me a little bit of hope that maybe the book might be better than I expected. The only reason I was bothering to read it was that it introduced Benny Summerfield’s husband-to-be Jason Kane. Unfortunately, the book, like its predecessor, was almost totally all comedy and bad comedy at that! There are only a few short meaningful moments in this work of drabble. Jason and Benny’s relationship is presented in a very irritating way for the most part. Their relationship is handled in a very stupid and very campy fashion. The parts of the book that are supposed to be funny (which is most of the book) weren’t very funny in my opinion. The main plot of this book was what would usually be a humorous subplot for a regular Doctor Who novel. Much of the main plot I’ve forgotten already, and it’s only been just over a month since I finished it. Admittedly, the book’s general tone and subject matter caused my interest to fall like a lead balloon so a lot of the plot I really didn’t follow. I read Doctor Who novels and watch the TV series to get a mix of comedy and drama, with an emphasis on the drama if there must be an emphasis on either of the two, not meaningless schlock like this. If you aren’t out to read every New Adventure, this is certainly one you can miss. The book that follows it, Happy Endings, which deals with Benny and Jason’s wedding, doesn’t really need it as a prequel. You’ll be saving yourself headaches by not reading Death and Diplomacy.