Sixteen stories whose total ‘running time’ adds up to a single twenty-four-hour period: a fictional ‘day in the life of the universe’.
Sixteen stories whose total ‘running time’ adds up to a single twenty-four-hour period: a fictional ‘day in the life of the universe’.
SHORT TRIPS: A DAY IN THE LIFE
Apparently the linking theme here is that the “running time” of all the stories in this collection adds up to 24 hours, or one day. That’s remarkably esoteric for a linking theme, but it should allow more freedom to the authors — something which might help if this collection is to rise out of the depths plumbed by editor Ian Farrington’s previous two anthologies. Would the tide be turned?
After Midnight / Before Midnight — Andy Russell — Charley is irritating and C’rizz is defined by his chameleonic properties, the plot is nonsensical, the dialogue is cliched, and the attempt to actually tie the anthology’s stories together doesn’t work. Just not very good, I’m afraid.
Sold Out — Danny Oz — Irredeemable. The sixth Doctor enters virtual reality to enjoy a VR concert by a legendary rock star. Okay. The VR environment starts trying to kill him. Sure. The reason? The AI that writes the songs is influenced by the personality of its previous owner, who was apaprently a “cyberkiller,” and a dangerous one. What?! Oh, and it ends with an exploration of an AI’s intellectual property rights. This might be passable with excellent characterization and prose, but unfortunately both are horrible. How on earth did this get printed?
Undercurrents — Gary Merchant — Interesting concept, and “companions save the day while the Doctor is otherwise occupied” tales are always fun. Problem is that the regulars are poorly drawn: Jamie is so bloodthirsty it’s surprising he’s not a serial killer, while Zoe is irrational, illogical, and quick to anger. I’d like to see more about the development of these characters’ friendship, but I’d also like to see it presented believably.
The Five O’Clock Shadow — Nev Fountain — I love the idea. The revelation knocked me over. But why, why, why the poetry? Why structure it as though it has rhyme and meter if you’re going to break with both every other line? I struggled throughout because the poetry made my teeth grind. Maybe I’m taking it too seriously?
The Sooner the Better — Ian Farrington — Very, very straightforward, if you like that sort of thing. The characters are adequate, and Farrington keeps the story moving, but there isn’t an ounce of depth here. As for the explanation of the locked door at the end, think “Susan, do you know we use the word ‘hashashin’ in English today?” for the relevant degree of subtlety.
Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast — Dan Abnett — “McShane” annoys me, but that’s hardly Abnett’s fault. No, this is the first good offering of the collection. It’s quite creepy, and Abnett nails the regulars — though they have quite the long conversation while running at full speed!
The Hero, the Heroine, and the Megalomaniac — Ian Mond — What this story really brought home to me is how much I prefer the seventh Doctor to the eighth. Yeah, McCoy is cruel to his successor, and his methods are questionable, but, damn it, he wins and he’s right! It also shows us the sorts of interesting stories Charley made possible before she was reduced to cardboard. Quite good, if a little disjointed.
Waiting for Jeremy — Richard Salter — Salter has always demonstrated an excellent grasp of the regular characters, and he continues it here, presenting a sympathetic Hartnell and capturing the mercurial Steven better than most. It’s their differing reactions to the “lesson” that elevate this story, and it’s very good indeed — but that last line jars more than a little.
A Life in the Day — Xanna Eve Chown — Funny. I think I would have stepped on Ba just to shut him up, but that’s why I don’t travel the universe. Peri is delightful in this.
Morphology — Ross Strow — Kobolds? Is this a D&D crossover? In either case, this story represents a cute concept driven into the ground and then buried under thousands of tons of dirt. Since English uses the letter “e” in most of the suffixes used to denote tense, this story becomes little more than an exercise in mangled tenses and needless vocabulary, and represents exactly the sort of smug wordplay that drives me absolutely insane. The concept also makes absolutely no sense. It’s personal taste, yes, but I almost tore the pages out of the book.
Making History — Trevor Baxendale — Up until now, it had been nothing but horror/ghost stories from the pen of Baxendale, so imagine my surprise to get an outright comedy! And it’s hilarious — the fake translator robot is especially funny, and lines like “Greetings of misery!” had me on the floor. Great stuff.
One Wednesday Afternoon — Alison Jacobs — Not sure I like the first-person perspective here. Maybe I’m reading it wrong, but it seems like the narrator — an ordinary person — is taking her encounter with the Doctor and Turlough completely in stride. This drains any excitement from the story and reduces it to an uninteresting runaround.
How You Get There — Simon Guerrier — Brilliant. Guerrier writes one of the most beautiful portrayals I’ve ever seen of the NA Doctor. The last story shows how not to write an encounter with the Doctor — this one might just be the definitive text. Best thing in the collection by miles.
The Last Broadcast — Matthew Griffiths — Sort of a halfway point between the previous two stories, as well as one of those meta-Doctor-Who-on-television stories, this is more strange than anything. Griffiths knows the regulars well, but the Sintons aren’t interesting enough to capture the attention, and the plot is nonexistent. Average.
The Terror of the Darkness — Joseph Lidster — Lidster’s greatest talent is bringing uncomfortable emotions to the fore in his characters without making them sound cliched or overwrought. Unfortunately, he pushes the boundaries a bit too far here — a sentient gloom that feeds on the anger inside all of us? Still, it’s incredibly well-written — the “Behind you” line is so hard to pull off, but Lidster does it.
Visiting Hours — Eddie Robson — It’s certainly uncomfortable, as the only truly sympathetic character in the whole thing is the Doctor. But this is deliberate, as two opposed characters end up as matter/antimatter oppositions. Either way, this is a solid character piece, but it really feels incomplete without any explanations.
The start to this anthology is the worst of any BF collection to date. Fortunately, things improve from there, but A Day in the Life never hits a consistent high, veering wildly from great to average to poor. There are certainly a few stories in this collection that are worth reading, but there are a disappointing number of stories that are not — ultimately, this just isn’t worth the cover price.