Dave's Project

What to read next?

In Human Nature, the Doctor imagines an afterlife for Smith and the Aubertides, but is unable to love Joan. In The Also People (p284), the Doctor's imagination fails to make Roz offer love to feLixi. In the former, the Doctor states a desire to one day be "just a man", while in the latter, the Doctor takes time out as a street performer.

It's easy as a fan to be distracted by Future History and Psi Powers Cycles, but reading as a reader, I see better threads to follow. Human Nature, The Also People, and Sleepy form a Death Cycle.

Sleepy is also another kind of sequel to Human Nature, with a different take on a character being the sum of their memories.

These things popped into my head as I read Human Nature. But they are not what I'm going to pursue, right now. I already had a thread to search for, when I set out on my Western Australian trip:

I am thinking about the difference between "family" (in the New Adventures) and "home" (Buffy, new Doctor Who) and how this plays out in 'Love and Monsters'. I'm not sure if there is an exemplar novel for "family" (well, Happy Endings) because it is such an omnipresent theme (as "home" is in Buffy).

This "family" is not Ace's dad, Benny's mum, Chris's bastard, or Roz's niece. It's the "family" of Spaced, which is friends. I'll explain later.

This is what I'm thinking: Human Nature ends with two identical snowflakes. In Set Piece our heroes share dreams. In Lucifer Rising they share memory and understanding, after running through the first version of the friends-divided-coming-together of No Future. And maybe, Sky Pirates, with new friends joining the crew, in a novel of extended families?

This is an interesting set of authors too. Paul Cornell may have issued the call to New Adventures, but I've always felt that Kate Orman made the series her own like no one else. And though they are not as high profile as some authors, Jim Mortimore, Andy Lane and Dave Stone made some of the most vital contributions to the series.

I've also just finished rewatching Season 1 of the new television series, and am planning on rewatching some of Season 2. So far I've seen the first nine episodes of Season 3. Yes, I've seen 'Human Nature'/'The Family of Blood'.