It must be said that the Ice Warrior elements of "GodEngine" are without a doubt the best part of the book. Each of the principle Martians has a well-rounded personality which brings a lot to the book, demonstrating a wide range of possibilities within a race which could be easily pigeonholed -- like the Klingons in "Star Trek" -- as simply 'noble warriors'. Craig makes good use of all the disparate Ice Warrior personalities we've seen onscreen to craft the secretive abbott Aklaar, the warmongering Falaxyr, and so on. It's particularly gratifying to meet a female of the species at last (unless I'm forgetting any such character in "Legacy"). Even the appearance of the son of Slaar from "The Seeds of Death" is more inspired than fanwankish.

Beyond the sheer range of Ice Warrior personalities, I'm a little disappointed Craig didn't delve more into the culture of the Martians. We certainly get hints here and there, learning for instance of germ warfare which destroyed whole cities centuries earlier. And there are good tie-ins with "The Sands Of Time" as the Martian connection with the Osirians is explored (although not in nearly the detail I'd have liked). But unfortunately it all ultimately comes across as more than a little superficial.

And, indeed, this is "God Engine"'s biggest failing -- it's a book which isn't trying to *be* anything; it trudges along in neutral from the start of chapter one straight through to the epilogue. This is particularly evident in the human supporting characters, none of which stand out anbarely rise above the level of stereotypes. Even the regulars are uninspired, with the Doctor's coldness following the loss of the TARDIS coming across as particularly flat and poorly-handled. Craig seems all too willing to fall back into set patterns -- Roz explores her xenophobia; Chris falls in with a gorgeous woman -- without balancing it out with anything new and original.

The plot is decent but nothing to shake a stick at, and ends up too bogged down in technobabble to really hold up. It does do a nice job of expanding upon the events of "The Dalek Invasion Of Earth", and I think we all owe Craig a debt of gratitude for explaining credibly exactly why the Daleks wanted to mine out the Earth's magnetic core. The constraints of now really "using" the Daleks are all too evident, however, as many of the passages seem to be written with the fear of Roger Hancock embedded inbetween the lines. :-)

The other major problem with "GodEngine" is its sheer predictibility. It holds few surprises for anyone paying attention; the identity of the murderer within the Doctor's party, Falaxyr's scheme, Aklaar's secret and so on are readily guessable. This is yet another symptom of the apparent indifference with which Craig seems to have penned the novel.

While no means a bad book, "GodEngine" sadly falls into the category of the hopelessly average. In spite of some nice touches and excellent characterization of the Ice Warriors, "GodEngine" simply has too many problems to be proclaimed a success. Well below the level of quality Craig set previously with "The Crystal Bucephalus" and "Millennial Rites", "GodEngine" appears to be one of those books destined to be quickly forgotten in the face of far more impressive fare.

6/10.

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