Torchwood: The Twilight Streets
Mar. 8th, 2008 01:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethI just finished reading the Torchwood book 'The Twilight Streets'.
... I want to start over and read it again! It's... it's woven together, it's rich and full and interesting, and it's a *Torchwood* story. I said about the Water one it was big on plot but not on happening-to-our-team. Well this one happens to our team. It could *only* happen to our team. It's totally about them. And I want to hug it and keep it and read it again, possibly with sticky post its so I can stick the story together some.
It has to be set after 2-04, but before 2-06. It's difficult to know where it stands re 2-05 because even if it had happened the characters wouldn't give us many clues. Actually, I was trying to figure where it went, and I totally couldn't remember what 2-05 was. It was kind of disturbing actually. Total retcon moment. There was just the headache that won't quite go away and a sort of gap in my brain. Way weird. ... er, yes, I realise that to most people forgetting an episode of a TV show isn't that weird, but I transcribed it. And also, given the theme, that's just funny.
But.
The really nifty bit? If this had been released a week earlier, the book would have been TV show spoilers. But without us knowing it. Well, unless we had BBC3, which I do, but you know what I mean. It ties into episodes that only just now happened.
Now *that's* continuity, and a degree of canon compliance that I just don't expect from tie-in novels, while at the same time being entirely sideways and not giving away a thing, just playing with stuff.
It is so very cool and shiny.
Have I mentioned I want to read it again? I really really do.
Plus, there were bits that made me lol so much I had to curl up for a bit to wait for the headache to let go.
And the Jack/Ianto... oh, sweetness! Win! Totally made of win!
Er, angsty win, but, you know.
And the Ianto background snippet... rather awesome.
And then there's Idris Hopper. Apparently, iirc from an interview, it was the name the character had before GDL was him, and then he was Ianto Jones. So that made it funny. But then it's a minor xover from DW and that's funny too. Also, has pictures.
And then there's Gwen/Rhys happies in a totally Torchwood messed up way, which is always cool.
And some Tosh/Owen of dooooooom.
And - and this is the coolest - a ton of Bilis stuff that makes him (a) creepier (b) cooler (c) more my kind of fucked up ambiguous morally freaky guy and (d) clears up some really rather important continuity issues re: 1-13 and how many deaths Owen was responsible for. Which, as it turns out, is supposed to be none. The rewind was mass and total. Only Torchwood knows. Useful, but... I'll have to chew it later, along with the way season 2 is slightly different from season 1 in a kind of attitudes to power sort of way.
Plus, because so much of the thing ties together so neatly with what we know, I'm happy to slot it into canon in a way I wouldn't bother to with say Border Princes. Not that I think of it as canon in the same way as the episodes - I wouldn't have my characters remembering these events unless I thought up some really cool reason for it - but it sinks into background data rather nicely.
Even Rhys got some great characterisation, even just in passing.
This book is made of awesome. I never expect awesome from a tie-in book but this book has it. Very cool.
I would start reading it again but it's 0130 and I'm so tired I could throw up. Actually that might have something to do with not having ate since 1730. Which is a bunch of hours. I could probably fix that bit.
/rambly
... I want to start over and read it again! It's... it's woven together, it's rich and full and interesting, and it's a *Torchwood* story. I said about the Water one it was big on plot but not on happening-to-our-team. Well this one happens to our team. It could *only* happen to our team. It's totally about them. And I want to hug it and keep it and read it again, possibly with sticky post its so I can stick the story together some.
It has to be set after 2-04, but before 2-06. It's difficult to know where it stands re 2-05 because even if it had happened the characters wouldn't give us many clues. Actually, I was trying to figure where it went, and I totally couldn't remember what 2-05 was. It was kind of disturbing actually. Total retcon moment. There was just the headache that won't quite go away and a sort of gap in my brain. Way weird. ... er, yes, I realise that to most people forgetting an episode of a TV show isn't that weird, but I transcribed it. And also, given the theme, that's just funny.
But.
The really nifty bit? If this had been released a week earlier, the book would have been TV show spoilers. But without us knowing it. Well, unless we had BBC3, which I do, but you know what I mean. It ties into episodes that only just now happened.
Now *that's* continuity, and a degree of canon compliance that I just don't expect from tie-in novels, while at the same time being entirely sideways and not giving away a thing, just playing with stuff.
It is so very cool and shiny.
Have I mentioned I want to read it again? I really really do.
Plus, there were bits that made me lol so much I had to curl up for a bit to wait for the headache to let go.
And the Jack/Ianto... oh, sweetness! Win! Totally made of win!
Er, angsty win, but, you know.
And the Ianto background snippet... rather awesome.
And then there's Idris Hopper. Apparently, iirc from an interview, it was the name the character had before GDL was him, and then he was Ianto Jones. So that made it funny. But then it's a minor xover from DW and that's funny too. Also, has pictures.
And then there's Gwen/Rhys happies in a totally Torchwood messed up way, which is always cool.
And some Tosh/Owen of dooooooom.
And - and this is the coolest - a ton of Bilis stuff that makes him (a) creepier (b) cooler (c) more my kind of fucked up ambiguous morally freaky guy and (d) clears up some really rather important continuity issues re: 1-13 and how many deaths Owen was responsible for. Which, as it turns out, is supposed to be none. The rewind was mass and total. Only Torchwood knows. Useful, but... I'll have to chew it later, along with the way season 2 is slightly different from season 1 in a kind of attitudes to power sort of way.
Plus, because so much of the thing ties together so neatly with what we know, I'm happy to slot it into canon in a way I wouldn't bother to with say Border Princes. Not that I think of it as canon in the same way as the episodes - I wouldn't have my characters remembering these events unless I thought up some really cool reason for it - but it sinks into background data rather nicely.
Even Rhys got some great characterisation, even just in passing.
This book is made of awesome. I never expect awesome from a tie-in book but this book has it. Very cool.
I would start reading it again but it's 0130 and I'm so tired I could throw up. Actually that might have something to do with not having ate since 1730. Which is a bunch of hours. I could probably fix that bit.
/rambly
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Date: 2008-03-08 01:50 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2008-03-08 06:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-08 10:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-08 05:27 pm (UTC)I have to buy this book soon!
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Date: 2008-03-08 07:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-08 09:45 pm (UTC)Thanks for the answer... I will definitely buy this book as soon as possible! <3
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Date: 2008-03-08 09:49 pm (UTC)Okay. I'm biased because of the Jack/Ianto love :D
But yep, very good rambles!
no subject
Date: 2008-03-09 07:38 pm (UTC):)