Matthew Jones (2) (1968–)

This is the first Benny New Adventure where I've felt like the novel is superior to its audio adaptation, and given that I think the audio adaptation is excellent, that's saying quite a lot. It's the first book in the series to really get Benny, both as a character-- someone cynically struggling do to the right thing-- and as a premise-- in a universe far more unfriendly than the one that the Doctor inhabited. The two student characters and Jason Kane are also well-characterized, and the show more book manages to be both downbeat and uplifting, one coming as a result of the other. The range's first real triumph. show less

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2343474.html

I very much enjoyed Beyond the Sun, Jones' contribution to the Bernice Summerfield range, and I enjoyed this book too: the Seventh Doctor and Chris, still grieving the loss of Roz, land in 1950s Soho, and are involved in a series of murders taking them through the hidden worlds of organised crime and homosexuality, and rather unexpectedly reuniting the Doctor with Peri Brown. Chris gets some very good bits of story for a change, and this is one of show more the better of the various confusing endings for Peri. show less

This New Doctor Who Adventure takes place in the aftermath of the devastating events of So Vile a Sin, which casts its shadow over the seventh Doctor and Chris for the duration of the novel. The story itself is fairly generic Doctor Who, but the ideas behind it-- tailor-made people as a method of therapy-- are intriguing enough. The evocation of 1950s London is also good (well, I suppose it is, having never been there then myself). A solid story, quite enjoyable. Peri returns in this one, show more but not for any readily explicable reason, as it adds nothing to the book's ideas or themes, and it could have been almost any character. Still, even that's well executed, aside from lame attempt to hide her identity from the reader. It's nice to see her-- and nice to see her get a word in at the Doctor for once. One of the strong points of the book is the effective emotional followup to the events of So Vile a Sin, which I really must find/read someday. Overall: good, but not great, perfunctory, but well-executed (and creepy in all the right spots). show less

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1346818.html

I only realised after reading this that I had already heard the excellent audio adaptation which includes Sophie Aldred and Anneke Wills. The original book is very good too, and I think would be reasonably penetrable for someone who hadn't previously followed the Bernice Summerfield stories. Nicely observed emotional politics between and among Benny and her students, and the various aliens with whom Benny's ex gets them involved. To a certain extent show more I felt it was the story that Colony In Space should have been. A good one (only the second Benny novel I have read, the first being the equally enjoyable Walking to Babylon).

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/beyond-the-sun-by-matthew-jones/

I wondered if a return visit will work? And it did; as well as the nicely judged emotional and physical perils of Benny and her students, there’s a particularly wacky alien reproduction process which often results in hot-looking humanoids, and a deceptive Ancient Weapon. One of the good ones. show less