Torchwood: Border Princes by Dan Arnett

RECOMMENDED (for fans of Torchwood)

In a word: Lightweight

Plot:  Novel adventure of Torchwood.  This adventure takes place some time before the end of Season 2. 

Several strange occurances are keeping the Torchwood crew busy.  A device called The Amok is messing with people's minds, and eldery gardner finds a strange crop in his neighbor's garden parcel;  and a thin grey man seems more than a little interested in one of the Torchwood members.  It may be the end of the world but Captain Jack, Gwen, Owen, Ianto, Tosh and James are one the job.  James?  Yeah, he's one of the newest members of Torchwood and he may not be all that he seems.

Thoughts:  It's strange.  I'm not a huge fan of the Torchwood television series - but the books are very satisfying.  There is still the underlying Torchwood problem - that every member of Torchwood is grossly incompetent - but they don't seem to be quite as bad in the books.  The opposite is true of Doctor Who - from which Torchwood is an offshoot.  I'm a big fan of the series (going WAY back - I love Jon Pertwee!), but the books are almost always dreck.  

This particular novel is satisfying, if not brilliant.  It's pretty obvious that James is at the crux of the matter, since he is the one "new" character.  His character did reek a bit of "Mary Sue".  He's stronger, faster, better looking and generally a great guy to be around.  But that seems to fit with the storyline, so I'm a bit more willing to give this a pass.  Not the best "Torchwood" book I've read, but it's well written, deftly told and reads fairly quickly.  The characters from the show retain their normal personalities, for the most part. 

I took this with me to read at DragonCon - at it fit the bill nicely.  Not too much brain work involved, easy to pick up and put down and I got geek street-cred for having a Torchwood book in my shoulder bag.

If you like this, try reading:  Torchwood: Slow Decay by Andy Lane; Storm Front by Jim Butcher;