Book review: Brian Minchin — Torchwood: The Sin Eaters (Read by Gareth David-Lloyd)

This is one of the series of Torchwood audiobooks read by cast members, and the first to be read by Gareth David-Lloyd. This one is only available as an audiobook, not in print. I bought it because I’d heard a sample of David-Lloyd reading an audiobook, and thought he was a good reader. It was well worth the money. The story’s the usual competent tie-in work I’ve found with previous Torchwood books, and David-Lloyd is an excellent audiobook reader.

The story itself is set between series 2 and series 3, with references and foreshadowing that tie it firmly into the series universe for those who’ve seen the referenced episodes, without excluding those who haven’t seen them, or overwhelming the story. The basic plot is standard monster-of-the-week fare for the Torchwood corner of the Whoniverse — an alien castaway courtesy of the rift, its threat magnified by the meddling of local humans who don’t understand what they’re playing with. In this case it’s alien insect larvae which feed on human emotions, and a vicar who thinks he’s found a way to heal people of their sins and guilt. It’s competently written, with a good look at love and the complexity of human emotions, but there’s nothing particularly noteworthy here.

What does stand out is the characterisation, which is as good as you’d expect from the man who was script editor for the show. One thing which I particularly liked was that it showcases both the Gwen/Rhys and the Jack/Ianto relationships, while still acknowledging the attraction between Jack and Gwen. There are a lot of small details which build on what we’ve already been shown in the tv series, showing how the characters and their relationships are developing and changing. It’s a particular joy to see the playful and affectionate side of both romances.

Gareth David-Lloyd does an excellent job of reading the book. He’s a good reader when it comes to the mechanics of reading aloud, well paced and with good tonal colour. He’s also very good at portraying the various characters already known to listeners from the tv series, getting most of them spot on in their dialogue. It’s usually clear who’s speaking, even without dialogue tags — and you can tell the difference between narrator and Ianto’s dialogue. He even mostly gets Jack’s American accent right. I hope he’s invited to do more of the audiobooks.

At two full-length CDs, it’s a lot longer than a standard tv or radio episode, but with it being an audio book you’d expect that for the same basic story. I didn’t feel that it was padded or too long. It feels about the same as reading one of the print tie-in books. Minchin makes good use of the format, taking advantage of being able to show interior monologue without crossing too far into telling rather than showing.

I enjoyed this a lot, and happily listened to it again a couple of weeks after the first time through. Definitely worth the attention of Torchwood fans in general, and very much recommended for fans of both Ianto Jones and Gareth David-Lloyd — both the character and the actor are well served by this title.

Available as both CD and download.

LibraryThing entry
at Amazon UK
at Play
at Amazon US

First thoughts on the Torchwood radio play

I listened to the podcast on the bus home last night — not the ideal environment, especially when the woman sitting behind me started shouting into her phone in that “I’M ON THE TRAIN!” way so beloved of mobile phone users in a slightly noisy environment. So I really need to listen to it again. But in the meantime, I’m of the opinion that I’m glad I didn’t pay for it, but I enjoyed it.

Torchwood “Lost Souls” radio play podcast

You can find a download link for the podcast of the new Torchwood radio play “Lost Souls” on the BBC Radio 4 website.

SPOILER WARNING: there is a huge spoiler for the end of the second series of the tv show on the linked page, which you don’t want to read if you don’t already know what happens in the last episode.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/bigbang/torchwood.shtml

Book review: Trevor Baxendale — Something in the water (Torchwood)

First in the trio of books released for the start of the second tv series. There are a couple of internal references to tell you that it’s set between “To the last man” and “Meat”, but there’s nothing that requires specific knowledge of the show other than the basics of who Torchwood are and what they do.

Baxendale takes an old British legend and puts a Torchwood spin on it, as a water hag causes havoc around Cardiff. The book starts with several different strands which have no connection other than stagnant water, and for good measure tosses in a flu epidemic that isn’t. It takes the Torchwood team some time to connect all the clues, by which time they’re infected as well. Much running around chasing or being chased by bad guys ensues, making for a plot that offers both thoughtful research by the team and physical mayhem before they manage to close down a major threat.

Excellent characterisation, and I could hear the voices while reading much of the dialogue, as Baxendale catches the distinctive speech patterns well. There’s a decent spread of word count across the characters, and good ensemble play between various combinations rather than focusing on only one or two (though don’t go looking for any overt reference to the relationship between Jack and Ianto, because it isn’t there). Owen gets a fair bit of attention, as this is partly a medical mystery and his expertise is directly relevant to one strand of the story. Owen’s very likeable in doctor mode, without entirely losing his nasty edge with his teammates, which is the way I like him.

There’s a lot of good banter, and some nice one-liners, not just for the main characters but for the one-offs created for this story.

It’s a solid story that makes good use of both the inspiring myth and various quirks of the Torchwood universe. This isn’t just a generic science fantasy with the right names pasted in, but something that’s very clearly Torchwood. There are some minor disappointments (in particular, I felt the ending was rather abrupt), but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I can see why people with different tastes might have found it a bit flat, but it happens to hit my buttons rather well.

ISBN-13: 978-1846074370
http://www.librarything.com/work/4707944

Book review: Andy Lane — Slow Decay (Torchwood)

This is one of the trio of tie-in novels released for the first season of Torchwood, and is set early in that season, after Gwen’s settled in but before Cyberwoman. Tie-in novels can disappoint, but this is a solid story that’s well-written and that fits the Torchwood universe well; a dark tale about the things that come through the Rift and their misuse by the locals. It’s actually better than the first couple of tv episodes, because the sex and violence is used to good effect in the story, rather than feeling as if it’s tossed in just to see how far the show can go in a post-watershed slot.

There are two interweaving plots here. The main plot concerns an outbreak of killings involving cannibalism, and their link to a very dubious weight-loss clinic. The team’s hunt for the solution is given added urgency when Gwen realises that Rhys has taken one of the clinic’s pills. The minor plot concerns Tosh’s research into a series of alien devices.

There’s good exposition and world-building, and I think this book will work for someone who hasn’t yet seen the show. The characterisation’s not that deep, but it’s not bad for an early tie-in where even an author who’s a fan or involved with the show’s production wouldn’t have had much to go on, and it’s accurate. With one exception there’s not much reference to specific events in the tv series, and even the exception is blended in nicely as something that will be simply a character quirk to people who haven’t seen the relevant episode.

The book focuses strongly on the relationship between Gwen and Rhys (and does so very nicely), but generally doesn’t neglect the rest of the team. There are some decent bits for particular characters: Tosh gets a decent word count, even if she spends it being girl geek as usual; there’s a good storyline for Owen where circumstances force him to interact with an attractive woman as a person, rather than just a shag. On the other hand, Ianto’s barely mentioned; but when you do see him he’s spending a lot of time lurking in the remote archives and discouraging other team members from wandering into them, which is appropriate for this point in his storyline, and he gets some good interaction with Tosh.

Physically, it’s a hardcover with a perfect-bound book block, which is what you’d expect at this price point for a hardback. It’s solidly constructed with no loose pages, and there’s a good cover design which links in with the other two books in the set. Designer Lee Binding’s done a nice job with stock art here.

Slow Decay is a good read for both the plot and the characterisation, and I expect I’ll be re-reading it soon. Well worth the money.

at Play.com
at Powell’s