"Happy Endings" is the NAs' equivalent of "The Three Doctors", "The Five Doctors", and "Dimensions in Time". It's indulgent, low on plot and high on self-references. The story basically surrounds the wedding of Bernice Surprise Summerfield and Jason Kane, and the Doctor's attempts to both ensure the couple makes it to the wedding day with committing homicide as well as to keep a firm hand on all the guests he's invited -- guests spanning space and time, not to mention previous NAs. Almost every past novel is represented here, from Gilgamesh to Forgwyn to Creed. There are Pakhars and Ice Warriors, Charrl and UNIT soldiers, and everything in between. Oh, and there's the Master -- his new body not quite as stable as he'd hoped -- lurking on the sidelines, twisting the improbabilities of a Fortean Flicker to his own nefarious design.

In any celebratory novel like "Happy Endings", the plot is not particularly important. People looking for a strong, taught storyline are not just going to be disappointed; they're missing the whole point. "Happy Endings" is a book to mindlessly enjoy, to revel in the memories of previous New Adventures and to remeet -- albeit briefly -- favourite characters from those novels. It can also be a bit humbling to realize that, even being a die-hard NA fan like myself, not every character or reference returns immediately to the mind. I guess it's rather telling that the characters I did have trouble remembering are the ones from my least favourite novels, generally speaking.

But if plot is unimportant, then characterization is supremely important. There's no point having characters named "Keri" and "Nathan Li Shao" and "Dekker" in the book if they're not going to sound or act anything like they did in the novels from which they originate. Fortunately, Cornell once again proves a master of characterization, and nails ech character dead-on. This is especially true of the three principles -- the Doctor, Benny and Jason (Roz and Chris occupying a necessarily more minor role in "Happy Endings"). For the latter two, Paul draws on the improbability of their one-adventure romance in "Death and Diplomacy". Are they really meant for each other? Was it really a wise decision to become engaged so quickly? Maybe they should just call the whole thing off? Cornell handles the romance and heartbreak, intense passion and deepening regret, with a masterful touch. As good a job as Dave Stone did in "Death and Diplomacy", Paul cements the reality of Benny and Jason's relationship, and proves unafraid to throw in a few unexpected twists and turns as well.

The Doctor, meanwhile, is facing an inner turmoil of his own, quite apart from the apparent attempts of the Isley Brothers to play havoc with history. He's decided to stop endangering the lives of his companions, to leave not just Benny and Jason but also Chris and Roz in Cheldon Bonniface. I thought that this subplot was a little underdeveloped all in all, but Paul nonetheless salvages it with a poignant scene as Benny confronts the departing Doctor outside the TARDIS.

Other characters are also very well done, although by necessity many of the returning characters get minimal attention. It is the UNIT family -- particularly Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart -- who are the most enjoyable and touching read, as we see the boys forty years after the events of the Pertwee era and all beginning to face the realities of old age. The denouement as the Brigadier risks his life against a monster of the Master's creation is truly touching and memorable. It's also great to revisit the people and faces of Cheldon Bonniface, especially Saul (who has to be one of the greatest characters in Doctor Who history). Holmes and Watson, Keri and Kitai, Ruby and Hamlet Macbeth all make welcome and enthralling returns, inspiring the hope that we'll see more of them in the future, be it in the New Adventures or the Benny Adventures. Indeed, "Happy Endings", for me at least, confirms that Virgin has indeed built up a healthy slate of original characters, more than enough to support on an ongoing series like the Benny Adventures.

Also an intriguing part of "Happy Endings" is Cornell's desire to tie up many of the loose ends from past NAs. Probably the best of these is the return of the Doctor's original TARDIS lost in the alternate universe in "Blood Heat", and how this ties in with the return of Muldwych, whose relationship with the Doctor is made fairly explicit. Cornell excels at introducing these elements without making the novel seem patchwork and contrived; it is, perhaps, the novel's more stunning achievement.

It is only the Master who lets the book down in the end. His characterization and planning here sadly detract from the renewed menace infused in the character in "First Frontier". On the other hand, it does make tying in the "Enemy Within" Master to the NAs all that much easier. Like David Bishop in "Who Killed Kennedy", however, Cornell ultimately reduces the character to an Ainley-style clod rather than a Delgadoesque schemer, and this is rather unfortunate.

Nonetheless, there is little else I can say in the negative about "Happy Endings". It truly is a wondeful celebration of all that the NAs are, and everything that they've done for Doctor Who. Sure it's pretty plotless, and yeah it's going to confuse the hell out of any newcomers to the series, but so what? "Happy Endings" is a book for those of us who have stuck with the series from "Timewyrm: Genesys" to the present. And I, for one, couldn't think of a better anniversary gift.

9/10.

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