Victorious IV: "Allons-y!"

Most annoying thing about paradoxes, besides the impending reality collapse. 

They make conversations so repetitive.

The Tenth Doctor, Defender of the Daleks

Although some of my purchases in the Doctor Who Time Lord Victorious event weren't available at the time I placed my order, Indigo was able to immediately ship the two stand-alone novels, Engines of War and Combat Magicks, along with the first of the TLV purchases, the Defender of the Daleks graphic novel.  I've booked some extra time off for the holiday season, so I was able to immediately settle down for a leisurely read.

It took me a few chapters to realize that something was bothering me about the first book.  My initial reaction was that it was reasonably well written and that the plot was engaging, with some interesting concepts that fit nicely into the Whoniverse, but it was also somehow a bit flat, a bit lacking – what was missing?

The problem is that essentially, the books are an extension of the television version, which assumes that you’re an ongoing viewer – just as they don’t have to explain who Meredith Grey is at the start of every episode of Grey's Anatomy*, if you don’t know why there’s an obsolete blue police box called a TARDIS that’s bigger on the inside, you’re on your own. 

Obviously I have all of that knowledge, but my subconscious reading mind kept looking for the kind of explanatory exposition that a stand-alone novel would have. (Although, one of the novels breaks some new ground by dealing with the legendary Time War, which has never been fully documented – probably just to give writers some room to work in situations like this.)

The flip side of this coin is that, due to that existing knowledge of the show, it’s impossible not to compare the written Doctors with their live action equivalents – just how well does the character in Defender of the Daleks match up with David Tennant’s performance, or with Jodie Whittaker and John Hurt for the two novels? 

As you might expect, the results vary – there’s a fine line between accuracy and parody when writing someone’s verbal style, and the process is an odd inversion of the usual method, with an author attempting to recreate the actor’s style rather than the actor interpreting a script. In my case, I found that I ended up mentally delivering the lines in the actor’s voice to see if they worked. For the most part, the writers succeeded, although there were a few places in the graphic novel where it didn’t quite feel like David Tennant, and a few places where it felt a bit too much like David Tennant - if that's even possible.

However, all of this is secondary to the real question: WHY DON'T THE DALEKS IN DEFENDER OF THE DALEKS REMEMBER THE GREAT TIME WAR????  It may seem like a trivial time-travel thing to the casual reader, but as a fan, that may well keep me awake tonight. Let's hope they cover that off in one of the books that I'm still waiting for, I'd hate to have to hunt through the entire event in search of the answer.

- Sid

 

* Are there stand-alone Grey's Anatomy books?  Or is that sort of thing restricted to science fiction shows?

 

I, Robot.

One of Igor’s former masters had made a tick-tock man, all levers and gearwheels and cranks and clockwork. Instead of a brain, it had a long tape punched with holes. Instead of a heart, it had a big spring. Provided everything in the kitchen was very carefully positioned, the thing could sweep the floor and make a passable cup of tea. If everything WASN’T carefully positioned, or if the ticking, clicking thing hit an unexpected bump, then it’d strip the plaster off the walls and make a furious cup of cat.

 

Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time 

I'm so excited - we're getting a robot!

Okay, it's a second hand robot, but still, it's a robot.  Karli's mother and stepfather are replacing their Roomba™, and they're letting us have their old model. 

Robots have been a mainstay of the science fiction vocabulary from the beginning, although they lacked their unique and distinctive name until 1920, when the word "Robot" entered the English language.  It's taken from the play R.U.R  (Rossum's Universal Robots) written by Czech author Karel Čapek: the word "robot" is derived from the word for "worker" in Czech, or perhaps a more accurate translation is "serf" or "slave", there's a sense of servitude to it.  

Čapek's play was a morality story dealing with the creation and oppression of an artificial race that eventually rises up and wipes out humanity.  In current science fiction terminology, I'd define Dr. Rossum's creations as androids rather than robots, they're artificial self-aware entities that resemble humans rather than programmable mechanical constructions. 

This is an important distinction: over time, the line between artificial intelligence and robots has become blurred to the point where they're considered to be synonymous, whereas in actuality, a robot is almost the opposite of artificial intelligence.  As per Terry Pratchett's tick-tock man, a robot is restricted to its programming. That programming can be very detailed and cover a wide range of eventualities, but ultimately, if something happens that isn't covered by the program, a robot can't extrapolate to a solution - and you end up with a furious cup of cat.

The company that manufactures the Roomba™ line is called iRobot, and I'm a little surprised that they haven't run into copyright issues - not from Apple, who have a pretty firm grip on the lower case "i" prefix, but from the estate of Isaac Asimov regarding his 1950 novel I, Robot.* 

If robotic science fiction has a patron saint, it's Asimov. Countless other science fiction authors have utilized robots in their stories, but Asimov is best known for having created a kind of mechanical morality for robots:  the Three Laws of Robotics, first used in his 1942 short story Runaround.

The Three Laws are as follows:

First Law
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second Law
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third Law
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

It's an interesting attempt to create an ethical structure for machines, but in most of Asimov's robot stories, the result tends to be the digital equivalent of neurosis or insanity, as robot after robot is rendered inoperative by conflicts between the Three Laws.  (In the original story, a robot sent to get life-saving supplies from a dangerous location ends up running in circles when the Laws achieve mathematical balance in its programming.)

The Laws also have a strong feeling of  "slavery and servitude", as per Jean-Luc Picard's defense of Lieutenant Commander Data's freedom to choose in the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Imagine being programmed so that self-preservation is only the third priority on your list!

- Sid

* To be completely accurate, it's not really a novel, it's a collection of previously published short stories combined through a loose narrative plot about the history of robots. And we're just not going to talk about the unfortunate movie version.

Victorious III: DALEKS!

When I received Colin’s gift card and suggestion regarding the Doctor Who Time Lord Victorious event, I’d already been following part of the event without knowing it - I've been watching Daleks!, a five-part animated series that started on the Doctor Who YouTube™ channel in November.

The story begins with the Daleks attacking Islos, home to the Archive of Islos, as the next victim in their ongoing objective of universal Dalek domination.  To save what is left of their civilization from the threat of Dalek destruction, the Archivians agree to surrender the Archive, but when the Daleks arrive, the Archives are empty except for the robotic Archivians and an enigmatic portal.  

 

The Chief Archivian explains that the population of the planet has been evacuated through the portal along with the contents of the Archive, leaving the Daleks with nothing.  Infuriated by this betrayal, the Daleks destroy the remaining Archivians, but the Chief Archivian reveals that the portal was provided by an ancient race that lives outside of time. In exchange for their help, the Archivians have offered them the Dalek race - at which point the Entity, a deadly energy being from another dimension, floods through the portal and attacks the Daleks.

The Daleks flee, but they are helpless against the Entity. With the Dalek fleet destroyed and their home planet of Skaro in ruins, the Dalek Emperor seeks allies to prevent the extinction of the of his species.  Aided by the war-scarred Prime Strategist of the Daleks, the Emperor finds reluctant help from the Mechanoids, who scornfully agree to assist their defeated foes.

I enjoyed the series, although I can see that it might not be to everyone's taste.  After decades of watching the Doctor struggle against the Daleks, it's hard to develop any sympathy for them, even as their species is brought to the brink of extinction.  The animation isn't elaborate, although its lack of subtle textures and softened lighting effects does lend itself to the mechanical cast - which may itself be a barrier to some viewers.  The series is notable for its complete lack of organic characters: the entire dramatis personae is composed of Daleks, the Archivians of Islos, the Mechanoid civilization, and the Entity. 

However, the series is very well executed, with an excellent range of voice talent from Doctor Who, including, of course, Nicholas Briggs, the long-time voice of the Daleks.  It's also an intriguing addition to Dalek canon, a sort of grace note to their frequent appearances as enemies of the Times Lords and the Doctor in particular. 

As with the Tom Baker Big Finish audio production, the connection to the Time Lord Victorious event is not obvious, other than a parting suggestion that a far deadlier foe awaits the Daleks - presumably the Doctor, but we'll see what revelations are still to come from my purchases from the rest of the event.

- Sid