Illegal Alien (1997)

After reading how the Autons get the BBC Books treatment, I was interested to read how Cybermen would work. This story takes place during World War 2 and the height of the Blitz. This was due to be made for TV so it would have done a good job in making up for Silver Nemesis.

What I like about this book is that it does a better job than Synthespians in getting the villain involved. Whereas it felt quite late into the book before the Autons became involved it was quite early into the book when the Cybermen were introduced into story. Ok its still later on into the book before they are properly bought in but throughout the entire book I got the feeling that this was a Cyberman story.

The thing about the writing of Mike Tucker and Robert Perry that the action never stops. Sometimes that is a problem especially when it comes to Ace. I felt that she was quite badly treated at times and there were a few occasions where if it had happened to me then as soon as the Cybermen were defeated I would have left the Doctor for an easier life.

The character of Cody McBride is quite interesting because he seems like a fish out of water. He becomes the second companion to the Doctor and is a very well written character. Other interesting characters include Major Lazonby, Patrick Mullen and Wall. I do think that it was a bit odd that he pretty much disappears quite late in the book. After being so involved in the story he just seems to wander off and returns right at the end. I think that this was because they wrote the story and then someone realised that we don’t know what happened to him. Limb is a character that is outsmarted over the course of the book and it’s a bit clichéd which is where the ending of the book comes unstuck.

The Cybermen are used perfectly well in this story and their plan is perfectly sound. Perry and Tucker use the setting as a way of keeping the Cybermen’s plan at bay until it was needed to take up the reigns of the story. I like that the Cybermats are used in this story and are quite dangerous. There is one scene where the Doctor traps one in a safe that springs to mind and this brief scene is one of my favourites in the book.

Illegal Alien is a good story but I think despite the promise that the story showed in the early part of the story, my expectations may have been raised so much and that meant that the second half of the book would only go on and disappoint. The setting is perfect and there are large chunks of the book that work quite well but I think that its in the characters that things start to get weak.