Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14348 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-11
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Synopsis
"Torchwood: Border Princes".

From the Publisher
High profile new drama from the team behind Doctor Who

About the Author
Dan Abnett:
Dan Abnett lives and works in Maidstone, Kent. Well known for his comic book work, he has scripted everything from the Mr Men to the X-Men in the last two decades. He is also the author of twenty three novels, including the acclaimed Eisenhorn and the best selling Horus Rising. He was voted 'Best Writer Now' at the National Comic Awards 2003.

Customer Reviews

Highly Recommended for Fans
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 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!

Better than the telly?
Disclaimer: This review was written before the much more enjoyable second series of Torchwood was put on telly and addressed many of the issues I had with the show.

I should point out, that while I watched Torchwood all the way through, it was more in the hope that it would all come together at some point than because I was really enjoying it. So why read one of the books? Well both Andy Lane (who wrote Slow Decay) and Dan Abnett have proven themselves fine writers and I approached Border Princes as a Dan Abnett novel instead.

So I was mildly surprised (though not that surprised) to find that Dan's novel presented the version of Torchwood I'd been expecting and hoping for. A group of paranormal investigators, normal people, who deal with crimes using alien artefacts and incursions from other realms. The interactions between the team, which I'll admit don't mirror the television show that well beyond the first episode, make you feel like they're a good team, as opposed to the backstabbing, callous bunch of cheats and liars the show featured. When watching the show I could never understand why they all kept working together when they would shoot each other, bully each other etc. Captain Jack particularly feels closer to how Russell T Davies writes him than what we saw in the show and is a lot easier going and willing to share his mysteries.

The writing is well paced and quite gripping. Even though you'll probably see where it's all going, it's a pleasant trip getting there. There's plenty of humour and the relationship writing for Gwen is particularly strong, even if Rhys does get short shrift (but then Gwen had an affair with Owen in the show, so why should we believe her relationship with Rhys is particularly strong). James, the mysterious new Torchwood member, is a nice chap too.

If you're a big fan of the show, it isn't quite so faithful as you might hope, I guess. And it is hard to figure out where it fits into the timescale. I'm tempted to suggest it may fit better in the second series, depending how that turns out. (Edit: And whaddayaknow? I was right!)

Border Princes
With the main Doctor Who range being watered down and targeted at younger readers there has been vacuum in the Who market for fiction aimed at adults. Fortunately the Torchwood novels are up to the task and fill the gap.

Border Princes is interesting in that it starts in the middle of a crisis and has the viewer confused but intrigued from the start. There are several mini-plots in this book and because of this its a puzzle to work out the main plot or the relevance of each small plot.

In terms of being a TV spin off it works remarkably well and is actually more believable and endearing than many of the shows early episodes. I can easily imagine all the characters. Likewise the show flitting between everyday life in Cardiff and the alien is very well done.

So thumbs up for this new line of Who-spin off fiction. Torchwood needs good stories and this is certainly one of them.