Forever Autumn (novel)
Forever Autumn was the sixteenth novel in the BBC New Series Adventures series. It was written by Mark Morris and featured the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones.
Publisher's summary
It is almost Halloween in the sleepy New England town of Blackwood Falls. Autumn leaves litter lawns and sidewalks, paper skeletons hang in windows, and carved pumpkins leer from stoops and front porches. The Doctor and Martha soon discover that something long-dormant has awoken in the town, and this will be no ordinary Halloween. What is the secret of the ancient chestnut tree and the mysterious book discovered tangled in its roots? What rises from the local churchyard in the dead of night, sealing up the lips of the only witness? And why are the harmless trappings of Halloween suddenly taking on a creepy new life of their own? As nightmarish creatures prowl the streets, the Doctor and Martha must battle to prevent both the townspeople and themselves from suffering a grisly fate...
Plot
Prologue
In Blackwood Falls, New England, it is the night before Halloween, 12-year old Rick Pirelli meets with his friends Scott Beaumont and Thad Steiner after school and go to prepare for the following day: every Halloween, the town has a carnival to celebrate, with food, fairground attractions, and a ceremonial burning of the "Pumpkin Man" on a bonfire, which Rick compares to Guy Fawkes in England. The three head back to Rick's house to dump their stuff and get snacks, with Rick's parents greeting them as they arrive - however, the tree in the front yard, the one the town was named after, suddenly begins glowing on-and-off with an eerie green light.
Investigating, the three see that the light is coming from underground and dig near the tree using a shovel, finding what appears to be an old book inside, made of an old fleshy/leathery substance and covered in alien symbols. Upon opening it, Rick finds that the book's foreign text automatically translates itself - believing the book belonged to a Satanist cult, Scott decides to read from the book as a joke - however, he appears to go into a trance as he recites the text, reading in perfect uniform and speaking firmly. Rick, unnerved by both the book and the tree, stops Scott, and they head inside to relax in Rick's room while his brother, Chris Pirelli, bullies them.
Meanwhile, Etra Hulligan, a local witch who lives in the town, senses a strange presence coming from the tree - she knows something bad is happening, having inherited an ability from her ancestors to sense disaster, but feels she is unable to warn the townsfolk since they regard her as a bad omen. As she examines the tree in Rick's yard, however, green mist begins to flow from the tree, enveloping the entire town.
Chapter 1
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Chapter 2
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Chapter 3
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Chapter 4
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Chapter 5
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Chapter 6
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Chapter 7
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Chapter 8
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Chapter 9
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Chapter 10
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Chapter 11
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Chapter 12
Martha meets the Doctor at the Pirelli house and explains the Hervoken's siege to him - however, he shuts himself away to examine the Necris and find a weakness - eventually, night comes, and it is only a few hours before the Carnival begins. The Doctor knows it is too late to warn the townspeople, so his plan is to confront the Hervokens when they attack. Meanwhile, Rick decides not to dress up for this Halloween, his outlook on life having changed - he now feels too old to dress up, and wonders whether he'll live to see daylight again.
The Doctor, Martha, and Rick enter the Carnival, noticing that while the adults are still on edge, the children are unaffected by the mist and are playing with each other in their costumes. After doing a lap of the showgrounds, they run into Thad in a mummy costume, who apologizes to Rick and Martha for abandoning them when the clown attacked - however, shortly afterwards, the Hervoken use their powers to arrive in the festival. They create a blazing green vortex at the centre of the showgrounds, which creates several tendrils that envelop all of the children, including Scott and Thad. The vortex causes everyone to transform into the monsters they were dressed as, and hypnotizes them to believe they are said monsters - horrified, the Doctor and Martha realize the Hervoken intend the children to massacre their parents and each other, the terror and bloodshed providing them fuel.
Epilogue
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Characters
- Rick Pirelli
- Scott Beaumont
- Thad Steiner
- Amanda Pirelli
- Tony Pirelli
- Chris Pirelli
- Etta Helligan
- Tenth Doctor
- Martha Jones
- Earl Clayton
- Eloise Walsh
- Jim Tozier
- Cindy
- Dwight Everson
Worldbuilding
- The Doctor refers to the Eternals.
- The Hervoken use Hervoken Magic as technology.
- Martha describes the Doctor's hair as "very Sonic the Hedgehog", with the Doctor saying he was going for more of a Sid Vicious vibe.
- Scott suggests he and his friends watch Saw for Halloween.
- The Hervoken ship uses kinetic binary fusion and is powered by negative emotional energy.
- The Doctor subverts the kinetic flow of the energy generated by the Necris to destroy the Hervoken ship.
Notes
- In the Martha Jones Blog July 1, Martha Jones made note of this as "Hallowe'en in America."
- This novel came first in Doctor Who Magazine's season merchandise survey of 2008.
- This story was also released as an ebook available from the Amazon Kindle store.
- The book's title is taken from that of a song in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds (1978), where it refers to the narrator's emotional state after he is separated from his fiancée by the Martian invasion.
- The book is said to take place on Friday October 30 and Saturday October 31, making the date 2009 (Jim Tozier implies that his partner's death in 2005 was only a few years ago). Martha assumes it is her own time of 2008, but never clarifies, mentioning at one point that she is ashamed she did not check.
Continuity
- The Doctor mentions that he knew "a Ricky once. Well, a Mickey really. Except there were two of them. And one of them was called Ricky, but I didn't really get to know him all that well". (TV: Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel).
- In the book the Doctor says to one of Etta's cats "next time you're invited to a fancy dress party, don't go as a nun". Cat nuns appeared in TV: New Earth and TV: Gridlock.
- He also states he was beginning to like cats; this may be due to Novice Hame's atonement in his eyes. (TV: Gridlock)
- The Hervoken are arch enemies of the Carrionites. (TV: The Shakespeare Code)
- The Doctor mentions an alien that took whole faces, a reference to the Wire. (TV: The Idiot's Lantern)
- The Doctor still has his membership card for the Alpha Centauran Table Tennis Club, first seen in TV: Robot.
- Martha, now a fully fledged companion to the Doctor and not just on "one trip", thinks about how she has been to Shakespeare's England, (TV: The Shakespeare Code) 1930s New York, (TV: Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks) on the planet Volag-Noc (TV: The Infinite Quest) and on real-life spaceships. (TV: 42) She also recalls her encounters with a Plasmavore, (TV: Smith and Jones) the Daleks, (TV: Daleks in Manhattan) real-life witches (TV: The Shakespeare Code) and giant, pollution-guzzling crabs. (TV: Gridlock)
- The Doctor wonders if the kids have met his future self and wonders if his future self is ginger. (TV: The Christmas Invasion)
- Martha grabs the Doctor's hand and says 'Run'. An earlier incarnation of the Doctor did this to Rose Tyler. (TV: Rose)
- The Doctor mentions the Eternals. (TV: Enlightenment)
- The Doctor recalls Episode 9 of Star Wars. Fitz Kreiner had seen all nine films at a cinema in the 2040s. (PROSE: The Last Resort)
Audiobook
- This novel was released as an audiobook on 3 March 2008 by BBC Audio and read by Will Thorp.
Audiobook cover
External links
- Forever Autumn at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- The Discontinuity Guide to: Forever Autumn at The Whoniverse
- The Cloister Library: Forever Autumn
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