Legacy of the Daleks

by John Peel

The Doctor is repairing the Tardis systems once again when it is swept up by a garbage ship roving space, the Quetzel. When another ship takes the Quetzel by force, the Doctor discovwers that he and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0563405740
• ISBN13: 9780563405740
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: BBC Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.3" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

They should have wished for a legacy of more sensible plots

For those keeping score at home, this is a better book than Peel's other excursion into Dalek-land "War of the Daleks" but being that the other book was more an excuse to explain a bit of continuity that really didn't bother anyone than to have an actual plot, it really wasn't that tight a competition. The book has a decent starting premise, to be honest, taking us into the world post "Dalek Invasion of Earth" and showing us how everything shook out, with the lands being divided into domains and the different lords attempting to one-up each other to gain control. The various political machinations of it all are rather interesting but unfortunately, the title stipulates that Daleks have to show up eventually and off we go. We also get to see what happened to Susan and husband David Campbell thirty years down the line and Peel's extrapolations of what it's like to married to a near-immortal, while not original, are at least worth exploring. But then the Daleks show up. Also, just to sweeten the pot a bit, the Master is hanging about doing nefarious deeds and having a grand time manipulating everyone. Until, of course, the Daleks show up. Getting the pattern? Peel has a few interesting elements at play here but it all tends to get shoved out of the way (or cleared up) so the Daleks can have their usual steamrolling effect on the plot. They show some intelligence here but none of the fierce cleverness that defined their sixties stories, they mostly stand around and give reports and shoot people. Which is all they really did in "Dalek Invasion of Earth" so it kind of fits. And while Peel is professional enough to keep this all at the very least engaging, the number of missed opportunities here is staggering. The biggest one is (spoiler, I guess) not having the Doctor and Susan meeting at all. Why bring in the only companion he can consider family if you're not going to explore any meeting between them? Instead, he spends more time letting us know how the Delgado Master met his end, which isn't anything that anybody was really begging for. In the plus column, the Doctor is written fairly well here and all told, I'm not missing Sam all that much, even though I know he's going to find her soon. But I think the BBC has to finally realize that stripped of all the audio/visual elements that help define them, on paper they are simply not that scary.

Docter Who: Legacy of the Daleks

This is the best of all the Doctor Who novels that John Peel has written. It has the feel of the tv series. Something that many novelists of the Docter can't create. Peel explores what happened to Earth in the aftermath of the Dalek Invasion of Earth, and shows that humanity can act pretty stupidly at times. He also lets us see what became of the Doctor's granddaughter Susan after thirty years living on Earth. As someone who interviewed Terry Nation, the creator of Daleks, I think he would have approved of this story.

Mr. Peel, You're Needed...to write more, please!

I'm not sure why in major fan circles this novel is getting ripped to shreds. John Peel is truely an "old-school" Who writer who is at his best when writing the Daleks. Many are upset by the so-called breaking of established continuity. Those same people forget that if it wasn't for change and establishing new "chapters" in "Who's" long history, it never would have survived for as long as it has. This is definately one of the most exciting novels in the line. It was wonderful to see Susan and David again, as well! Mr. Peel truly draws you in and doesn't let you rest until the back cover is closed. He manages to tie up a few loose ends along the way (In a much more convincing and interesting way that in The Eight Doctors!) A+++ Mr. Peel, keep them coming!

Wonderful story! Enjoyed every page of it.

Peel truly knows how to write Dr. Who and the Daleks. This is a well written, fun ride with some interesting twists and turns. ENJOY!

A great Doctor Who achievement.

This book is incredible. I could not stop reading it. Every Doctor Who fan should read this Dalek story for the fact that it pushes Doctor Who further. The continuity in the book is great along with the series. It makes sense that now we get more insight into this realm of Doctor Who. The mysteries are being answered and it is about time. John Peel opens up more possibilities for the future of Doctor Who with this book. After reading War of the Daleks and now this one I cannot wait for the next Dalek story.