Best Enemies

Title: The Dark Path
Author: David A. McIntee
Why this must be read:

Okay, so today is a little different. I'm not reccing you a drabble or something easily accessible... but at the same time, I feel more people need to read this. For one thing, it adds more Delgado Master into the universe and I happen to like the idea of him and Two far more than Two and Warchief. For another... You know you've always wanted something like this in canon. It's the closest we've got currently and it really is a lovely backstory for him. Not to mention it's where we get the name Koschei from.

It is, in short, a look at the Master before he was evil and, well, the Master. One of the things the novel does brilliantly is show the Master in his non-evil stage and yet still being very recognizably the Master. While I was reading the beginning bits, I kept waiting for Koschei to start doing something dastardly and nefarious because he was so in character. I was almost shocked to find that his glorious plan was doing much the same as the Doctor and trying to stop the evil people. Just with less running around and kilts. At the same time, you could see why the Doctor had been such good friends/lovers with him, because he is brilliant and clever (if not quite as moral, well, the Doctor wasn't a saint when he started out either. He might have gotten there) and everything that we all love about the Delgado Master.

Which isn't to say he's characterized perfectly. His attachment to the character Ailla, for example, didn't convince me at all at a certain spoilerish point and that made some of the scenes not quite as believable as they should have been. Also, sadly, the book doesn't get nearly as into the Master's head as he's becoming the Master as it really ought to have. The lack of Koschei/Doctor interaction in general will also make you want to cry. I think there's like, two scenes where they're actually together and the first is just them shaking hands and going off again? The second being the big scene at the end where Koschei is evil. It was one of the major downsides to the book, actually.

However, the character voices for pretty much everyone are astonishingly good. I've been told many times I have an excellent Delgado Master voice... and I'm telling you now I developed it largely because of this book. You can hear not only the Master talking while you're reading, but Two and Jamie and Victoria, all of them written to a T. The plot itself almost as complicated as one the Master's schemes, but unlike with The Face of the Enemy (which was written by the same author and had a lot more characterization flaws, in my opinion, along with the over complicated plot), the overcomplicated-ness doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the story itself.

Plus, Victoria. My God, Victoria. She steals the plot, the little thief, but she does it beautifully. If memory serves, there's a prompt in the anon meme about a companion spending time with the Master and finding that they like him better to the Doctor. That's basically what happens with Victoria and it's used to a heartbreaking end. Through her we see all of Koschei's good characteristics... and through her we meet all of the Master's bad ones.

In short, it's not perfect, but it's well worth the read if you can get your hands on it.  For the except, I give you one of my all time favorite descriptions of the Master. Only Two could get away with calling him a 'fusspot'. <3

Excerpt:

He went over to the pearlescent structure that Koschei had called a time-flow analogue. ‘This is certainly some kind of temporal stasis...’ The Doctor poked at the monolith, watching as ripples of light spread out from where his fingers touched it. ‘I’ve never seen anything on quite this sort of scale, though.’

Victoria wondered whether she should pull the Doctor’s hand away from the smooth ore. ‘Doctor, be careful. Koschei said this was very precisely balanced.’

‘Did he?’ The Doctor cleared his throat. ‘Well, he’s always been a terrible old fusspot, you know; he doesn’t like to actually do anything until after he’s prepared and planned and measured and all of that sort of thing.’

Which was exactly the sort of proper preparation that Edward Waterfield had taught his daughter. ‘That sounds quite sensible to me.’

‘Yes, but really there’s no substitute for, er, you know, having a go and seeing what happens.’ He flexed his fingers and cracked his knuckles, like a pianist about to embark on a long and complicated concerto. ‘Now don’t worry, Victoria, I know what I’m doing.’

‘Then you know what this is?’

‘Oh yes.’ She looked on sceptically, and he shrugged. ‘Well, not exactly,’ he admitted, ‘but I have seen some rather similar types of thing.’

Extra: Also, since you might not be able to get your hands on that one, I give you a fan video that highly amused me yesterday.  It's got nothing to do with the Master (then again, he's probably behind it all!) so I can take it down if the mods see fit, but it has come to my attention that this com has a thing for felines.  I figure it might be relevant to our interests. 


Challenge time! (under the cut because I'm really making these far too long...)
( A new-new-character )