"Cold Fusion", like Lance Parkin's indoctrinal NA "Just War", has proved an instant hit among fans, rising to the top of the MA rankings. But, like that first novel, I find myself wanting to love the book but nonetheless being somewhat underwhelmed.

The big problem it seems is that "Cold Fusion" is a book which feels like it's running in place. Rather than a carefully-constructed novel, it seems like Parkin has just mixed the various elements -- the time distortion, the ghosts, the Patient, the Scientifica, the Adjudicators, the Adamist terrorists, and of course the meeting of two eras of the programme -- into a blender and let things take their own course. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; this style of storytelling is quite common, and frequently successful, in modern-day Hollywood. But it makes "Cold Fusion" seem a little more vapid, a little less self-assured, than Parkin's first book. Things happen, then others things happen, and then still more things happen... but even when they reach a conclusion, it doesn't really feel as though the plot has taken us anywhere at all.

Now, what plot there is is a pretty intriguing piece of work. The revelation of the Ferutu's true nature is compelling, and while the Patient ultimately feels almost irrelevant, the additional clues her appearance plants about the Doctor's own past are most interesting indeed. But, ultimately, that's all "Cold Fusion" is -- a bunch of interesting, compelling ideas with little relation to one another.

Characterwise, Lance is surprisingly flat with the NA crew. His Roz is pretty near spot-on, but both the Seventh Doctor and Chris feel like caricatures of their normal selves. The early scenes of Chris interacting with Nyssa and Tegan, in particular, just don't feel right, and it was only after his identity was revealed (not that it was any big mystery to start with) that the characterisation seemed to settle down.

The Fifth Doctor and crew are better portrayed, with Lance doing a notable job with Adric, capturing the character's irritating tendencies without making him a dislikeable fellow -- more like "The Keeper Of Traken" or "Logopolis" than "Four To Doomsday" or "Black Orchid". Parkin does do Nyssa a disservice, though, in revealing the survival of a Treknite colony. One of the most memorable features of Nyssa's character is her tragic nature; by revealing she isn't the last Trakenite, Lance has retroactively shattered this aspect, and I think that's a shame.

The meeting of the Doctors is well-handled, sort of a more mature version of the Second Doctor/Third Doctor antics in "The Three Doctors". The Fifth Doctor's dark accusation about the Seventh Doctor not remembering the events is particularly well-done, although it also highlights the fact that this feels more like a Seventh Doctor from circa "Love and War", rather than circa "Return of the Living Dad" -- the latter Doctor is just a little too sombre, a little too manipulative in "Cold Fusion".

"Cold Fusion", then, is, sadly, something of a disappointment. Despite that, it's still a great read -- disappointments for Lance Parkin, fortunately, still beat the best efforts of many MA authors hands down. And while it was nice to once again see a meeting between two incarnations of the Doctor, it's unfortunate that, yet again, there isn't a stronger plot to support the event.

7/10.

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