"Torchwood"

Another Life (Torchwood)

By Peter Anghelides

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Average Rating: (See all reviews) Format: Hardcover, 256 pages Published In: United Kingdom, 11 January 2007 Other Editions: Hardcover, USA $29.99 View Ships within 6-11 days High-profile new Doctor Who - inspired drama created by Russell T. Davies. The 21st century is when it all changes, and you've got to be ready. Separate from the government; outside the police, beyond the United Nations; Torchwood sets its own rules. A team of investigators, using alien technology to solve crime - both alien and human. This new British sci-fi crime thriller, created by Russell T. Davies, sees them delve into the unknown. A group of people fighting the impossible. A terror hides at the bottom of Cardiff Bay - waiting, feeding, controlling...this novel is a brand-new Torchwood adventure. About the Author Peter Anghelides has written novels, audios, and short fiction for BBC Books, Virgin Publishing, and Big Finish Productions. "Frontier Worlds" won Doctor Who Magazine's Readers' Poll, and SFX placed "The Ancestor Cell" in the year's Top Ten TV tie-ins. Prizes Torchwood is the new high-profile drama series from the team behind Doctor Who. Publisher: BBC Books ISBN: 0563486538 EAN: 9780563486534 Dimensions: 20.0 x 138.0 x 2.0 centimeters

This is the first book in this series of Torchwood novels and you can tell from the opening chapters as they given a brief sketch of the nature of Torchwood and the members of the team but without making people who have watched the series feel like they are being told information they already know. Peter Anghelides is obviously a fan of the show and knows the characters well. This one is seems to be set post Ghost Machine but pre-Cyberwoman, since Gwen can handle her modified Glock 17 efficiently but Ianto’s little secret is still just that.

It’s been raining in Cardiff for 24 hours straight and has dumped as many inches in those hours, streets are flooding, shops are boarded up, Ianto is building sandbag barricades outside the Information centre, all to no avail as the water keeps rising, Add to that a mysterious spate of gruesome deaths amongst the vagrant population and the theft of nuclear fuel rods from the local facility, and you know it’s a job for Torchwood.

I’m not going to outline the entire story here, if you want to read what happens get the book, but there is a fair share of running around shooting at people, Jack standing on precarious ledges, Owen being a bit of a prat, Toshiko deducing the reason for the flood, Gwen being sympathetic and Ianto being hit on by Jack, all in all very much like an episode of this show we hate to love. However given the written format we do get a good deal more information than you can deduce from live action, not a lot about Jack of course, his man-of-mystery role must be maintained, although we do get to see flashes of the ‘old Jack’ in his flirting with Ianto and a bit of insight into the schism within him between the man he used to be and the man he feels he has to be now, we also get a look at Gwen’s home life with Rhys which doesn’t have that many cracks showing this early on although they are there if you look, Toshiko being brilliant and thoughtful and quietly determined to support her team, Owen in particular, Owen himself gets quite a large role with the return of an ex-girlfriend, a chance to practise his medical skills and a fairly unpleasant interaction with the alien behind it all and Ianto, he goes about doing his thing quiet, efficient and tormented although he does get to punch Owen which is always a plus.

I found myself picturing the actors themselves saying the lines of dialogue and racing through the flooded streets of Cardiff as I read this book, and to me I can think of little higher praise for a writer of a TV tie-in than that.

This book had a few very interesting idea's in it and I enjoyed the main OC character, Megan, Owen's exgirlfriend emmensly.

But being the annoying fan girl that I am, I couldn't help but squeal when Jack casually asks Tosh to search for anybody with a binary vascular system and the little dissapointed frown on his face as the search comes up negitive as the team look on perplexed. It was Jack 'the secret secret agent of the not so secretive secret organisation' shedding just a smidge of light into his past. A past that contains his
'right kind of Doctor'.

The virtual reality featured in the book was a nice idea but I couldn't exactly imagine how it would work. That's a slight problem with all of the advanced technology Torchwood has, in the books its very difficult to picture in your mind something completely original. Don't get me wrong, originality is good!

All in all, one of the better TW books but I wouldn't exactly go rushing out to buy it again.