White Darkness (novel)

"White Darkness" is the fifteenth installment in the series of New Adventure stories published by Virgin Publishing in the 1990s. The story is set in Haiti, 1915 and features the Seventh Doctor, Ace, and Bernice Summerfield. The book was written by David A. McIntee, who derived much of the story's material from Wade Davis' The Serpent and the Rainbow, a research into the practice of voodoo and zombification in Haiti, and also the Cthulhu Mythos created by H. P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft lent his name to one of the principal characters in the story, Dr. Howard Phillips, who at one point presents the Doctor with a copy of the Necronomicon, which was given to him by Aleister Crowley and written in the original Eocene language.

Publisher's summary

'We believe that death should always be part of life. '

The Doctor’s last three visits to the scattered human colonies of the third millennium have not been entirely successful. And now that Ace has rejoined him and Bernice, life on board the TARDIS is getting pretty stressful. The Doctor yearns for a simpler time and place: Earth, the tropics, the early twentieth century.

The TARDIS lands in Haiti in the early years of the First World War. And the Doctor, Bernice and Ace land in a murderous plot involving voodoo, violent death, Zombies and German spies. And perhaps something else -- something far, far worse.

Characters

The Doctor
Ace
Bernice Summerfield
Howard Phillips
- currantly has a remaining copy of an Eocene Necronomicon, which was given to him by Aleister Crowley.
Nkome/Mait
- possessed a copy of The Beginner's Guide to the Necronomicon and other related tomes.
Eugene Petion
Leopard Chief
Leutnant Katze
Henri
Kapitan Weber
Carrefour
Dumarsais Leclerc
Jean Vilbrun Guillame Sam
Lecomte
Tancred Auguste
Francois Lacombe
Claude
Joseph
Kapitan Reise Heinrich
Professor Victor von Stein
Dr. Ingrid Karnstein
Leutnant Klenze
Colonel LV Mortimer
Admiral Caperton
General Charles Oscar Etienne
Major Paul Richmann
Charvius Dubois
Captain Glen

References

Cultural references

There are various James Bond references, including Q Branch and Dr. No.
Given the Lovecraftian flavour of the story, the presence of a character called "Howard Phillips" must be a homage to Howard Phillips Lovecraft himself.
The Doctor is compared to "our man in Havana" because of his linen suit (which debuts in this story).