Book reviews
Written by Trevor Baxendale (Something in the Water); David Llewellyn (Trace Memory); Gary Russell (The Twilight Streets)
BBC Books hardback
Release date Out now

The Torchwood team discover a dead body that is still able to speak ominous words; a man is found in the Hub who has met the team at some point in their past; and Bilis Manger is back - but can Torchwood possibly defeat him without the help of Captain Jack?

Much like the new TV series, the Torchwood novels have found a second wind with the recent wave of titles. While the first run of novels had the same oppressively dark atmosphere that wrong-footed TV viewers who expected a light-hearted Captain Jack shagathon in Cardiff, this set of standalone titles (only the spines make them a collection) displays the lighter touch that has made Torchwood 2008 so much fun.

The first book, Something in the Water, is perhaps the weakest of the set. The characterisation of the team is mostly spot on (although Gwen seems out of character in the last parts of the story), but the narrative is never truly compelling and the tone feels like a hangover from the darker style employed by the first run of titles. It’s a tale that takes a while to get going, and when the plot does begin to move it feels a little too close to the TV show, failing to capitalise on the opportunities afforded by the different format. While it passes the time, it just feels a little too ordinary.

With a dynamic cover – in fact, all the covers are eye-catching but this one positively leaps from the shelves – Trace Memory is a novel that promises a great deal and thankfully delivers a story that moves at breakneck speed. As with the best Torchwood stories, Jack firmly takes the lead, driving the story forward as a leader should. That’s not to say that the others are sidelined. We get a lot of history about the team here, particularly their respective histories before they joined Torchwood Three. We even get a tiny glimpse of Torchwood One and Cyberwoman-in-waiting, Lisa... The plot may be superficially reminiscent of To the Last Man, but this is the superior story, offering both an interesting back-story for the team and some surprising insights into Torchwood as an institution in itself.

Gary Russell’s novel The Twilight Streets is perhaps the most fun of the batch. Bilis Manger is such a compelling and mysterious figure; he’s preciously the sort of villain that the show needs but rarely provides (Captain John being the closest thing the team has to a nemesis these day). Last seen in End of Days at the close of Torchwood’s debut season, he seemed like a shoe-in to return and menace the team in year two. For whatever reason, he never made the return that fans hoped for, but this book more than redresses the balance, managing to answer certain questions while retaining his sense of mystery. We can only hope that Russell gets a chance to bring him back for a third rematch.

Gary Russell’s talent for writing a great story, full of intrigue and suspense but also logic is employed to great effect here. Being Gary Russell, he naturally throws in a huge amount of carefully chosen references to previous stories (both Doctor Who and Torchwood), and they work wonderfully well. He even clears up why the two Jacks don’t meet during the events of Boomtown! While many fans are (wrongly) scornful of these throwaway references, they do add a sense of the story taking place in a larger universe and prevent it from becoming too self-contained. Russell takes the chance to really push the format wide open and exploit ideas that just wouldn’t work on TV. Journal entries and notes are presented in different fonts which widen the story and help to make this one of the very best Torchwood stories, in book or TV form.

A fine set of stories then, with even the weakest entry being very readable, this is further proof that Torchwood, in whatever form, is in good health. Gavin Lovely

VERDICT:
Something in the Water: 6/10
Trace Memory: 8/10
The Twilight Streets: 9/10
Ranging from above average to excellent, this is a strong showing from Cardiff’s finest.

Click here to read about the official Torchwood magazine.