Torchwood: Border Princes

What a surprisingly delightful read. That’s what I came saying right after finishing “Torchwood: Border Princes” by Dan Abnett. This time around Mr. Abnett flexes his immense word-smithing muscles on the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood with gratifying success. The novel starts off with a number Romero/Whedon like scenes but then adroitly delves into the nuances of not just lives of the Torchwood members, but the idiosyncrasies of all those in the connecting storylines; this is where Mr. Abnett shines. Mr. Abnett is able to display depth of character with such alacrity and profundity that it sometimes leaves this reader breathless and wishing for more information regarding these incredible personas. In any case, Border Princes is an show more excellent novel. Will I pick up any of the other Torchwood novels? I am unfamiliar with the other authors but based on this novel, I just may take the dive. show less

Set very early in season 1 (before Cyberwoman from the way everyone is behaving), it is somewhat strange to read this novel now, after all the seasons of the series. Ianto is still only staying in the office and making coffee (pointed out in the same over the top way the first episodes of the series were doing it) and working security monitors and whatsnot around the office, Rhys still has no idea what Gwen is really doing. Except that here the team has another member - James - who seems to be part of the team even though we never saw him on TV.

And as expected with a Torchwood novel, the team is off and running against all kind of weird issues. However, there is also a big bad in town - except that this time it is not exactly a bad show more thing. The Rift is the boundary between worlds so it is kinda expected that other worlds will have some type of a Torchwood organization. And on the other side of the Rift in Cardiff are the Border Princes. But it cannot be straight forward of course, they cannot just come and say hello so while the team is running around trying to save everyone, the guys from the other dimension in turn help and then hinder them. Add a few weird technologies that make it into the wild at the same time (one of them managing to get to the heads of everyone on the team; another one being a war robot that has personality issues and really likes killing) and the picture is complete.

If I had read this book when it was published or at least before the second season of the show, it would have taken me a lot longer to figure out what is happening and why. But having watched "Adam" in the series, I was pretty sure this is where this is going. It was a nice read for what it was but unless if you really liked the series, it won't work - it relies on inner jokes and on the series to keep the characters three dimensional and even then, it is just too tied to the early versions of our guys (and those early versions were not exactly the best versions). show less

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1341870.html

This is the first Torchwood book I have read, rather than listened to, and it was a good start. Set before the end of the first season (indeed before Gwen's affair with Owen), the immediately striking thing is that the team has acquired a sixth member, James, who is rather too good a fit to be true. It's fairly obvious from the first page what the problem is; Abnett supplies us with a decent chewy and often witty tale of suspense as to how he will get to the inevitable conclusion (and exactly what form that conclusion will take), along with the usual weird alien menaces. I've seen some fans complain that apart from Gwen and Jack the team are rather obscured by the rest of the story, but really show more this points more to a problem of having a large ensemble cast to begin with. show less

It's first season (pre-Countrycide, and probably pre-Cyberwoman), and Team Torchwood are doing their usual thing -- but they have an extra member. James has recently joined the team, he fits in very well, and he's conducting a romance with Gwen -- not just a stress relief affair, but an actual romance that leads Gwen to think about how to finish gently with Rhys. He is, in short, a classic Mary-Sue figure for the first half of the book.

Since this is in series 1 continuity and thus we're going to have a reset button pressed by the end of the book, it's obvious from page one that there's more to it than that. But the book's more than just the unfolding story of who James really is and what he's doing in Torchwood. This book does a nice show more job of showing the day to day work of Torchwood, and how it can often be a lot of little things, some tying together and others not. There is a definite main storyline, but there are other small stories entangled with that, and it's not always clear to the reader which is which until it becomes clear to the characters. It does make the book feel a little choppy in places, but not in a bad way.

It's competently written, there are some interesting ideas in it that develop aspects of the Torchwood universe, and I am particularly taken with the secondary character of Mr Dine. He's an excellent study of a non-human character who is trying to blend in, and who understands humans just well enough to recognise how very limited his understanding is. He reminded me a lot of the character of Death in Pratchett's Discworld.

But...

I'd have liked this book a lot more if I'd read it when it first came out, rather than after seeing all of series 1 to 3. It treats Rhys as a nuisance that Gwen stays with purely out of habit, rather than a man she loves but is tempted to stray from. This is just about compatible with series 1, but even in series 1 it's pretty clear that Gwen's affair with Owen is about the stresses of the job and the stress that puts on her relationship with Rhys, rather than because she actively wants rid of Rhys. The book portrays James as being the incentive Gwen needs to get on with ditching Rhys. While the eventual explanation for the presence of James might cover this, I don't get the impression that this was the author's intention. And for me this jars very badly with the Rhys/Gwen relationship as portrayed later in the series.

I suspect this is a reflection of the planned direction of the series at the time the writing brief was put together for the first trilogy of books (Rhys was originally supposed to be killed off in series 1), so I wouldn't consider it to be bad writing, just something that I personally didn't like.

The book focuses very strongly on James, Gwen, and Jack, with Owen and Toshiko getting less attention and Ianto being hardly present -- again, reflecting the show over the first few episodes.

I felt that the other two books in the first trilogy were accessible to readers who weren't already familiar with Torchwood, but I think this one would be much more difficult for someone new to the universe -- and perhaps pointless, given that much of the story is about the reader's understanding that James should not be there. If you've never seen Torchwood and want to pick up a book to see what the fuss is about, this isn't the one to start with.

In spite of my criticisms, I'm glad I read it. It's just not the one I'd pick up first for a re-read.

The book is also available in an (abridged?) audiobook read by Eve Myles, which I haven't heard.

Comments thread: http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/51207.html show less

This one is much, much better than the first novel based on the series. The writer captured Jack's voice and Owen's nagging, annoying self pride. Gwen is as annoying or fun depends on your liking of the character. Toshiko and Ianto are just scenery in this one as with the first book except for one tiny part for Ianto which is kinda of a replay of a scene late in the series involving Owen. I liked the plot of this one, the banter between the team. Made me want to pull out my disk and watch some Torchwood and Captain Jack.

This was good.

The thing I liked most was how well done the non-Torchwood characters were, because I worried about Mr. Dine and Shiznay and Davey Morgan. It's interesting and moves along at a fair click. Definitely recommended.

In 2007, three Torchwood novels were released, although it seems a little unclear whether they have a particular order. For anyone who hasn’t seen the show, this book is probably not a good introduction, as it throws you straight into the story, without giving any kind of background. For those who have seen the show, however, this does not pose a problem.

Whereas the Doctor Who book I recently read felt like a TV episode, this has a longer feel to it. Running alongside the main story are other smaller storylines. In the TV show, Torchwood deal with one neat story every week, but this book has a more realistic feel to it, as they go from one problem to another.

The characters were fairly well captured, as I found it quite easy to picture show more them. However, Ianto plays a very small part, and Jack doesn’t feel quite right.. he seemed more ‘relaxed’ than I remember him in the first series, plus the leadership skills aren’t that apparent.

A rather confusing factor is the introduction of a new character, James.. but bear with it, as it does all make sense at the end.

The actual book is a fast paced read, it hooks you in, and keeps you turning those pages. Highly recommended for fans, and I’m certainly hoping to pick up some more! show less