The Coming of the Terraphiles was the the forty-third novel and first special release published by BBC Books in the BBC New Series Adventures. It was written by Michael Moorcock and featured the Eleventh Doctor.
In addition to being a Doctor Who story, the novel served as an entry in the continuity of the Michael Moorcock Multiverse, with Moorcock using the novel to explain the cosmology of his shared world.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
There are dark tides running through the universe...
Miggea - a star on the very edge of reality. The cusp between this universe and the next. A point where space-time has worn thin, and is in danger of collapsing... And the venue for the grand finals of the competition to win the fabled Arrow of Law. The Doctor and Amy have joined the Terraphiles - a group obsessed with all aspects of Earth's history, and dedicated to re-enacting ancient sporting events. They are determined to win the Arrow. But just getting to Miggea proves tricky. Reality is collapsing, ships are disappearing, and Captain Cornelius and his pirates are looking for easy pickings. Even when they arrive, the Doctor and Amy's troubles won't be over. They have to find out who is so desperate to get the Arrow of Law that they will kill for it. And uncover the traitor on their own team. And win the contest fair and square. And, of course, they need to save the universe from total destruction.
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Daleks are mentioned.
- Nukeball is a sport popular among Judoon, but it is forbidden on their planet so the population is not wiped out.
- There is a narrative mention of a Twelfth Intergalactic War.
- Amy does not know who Tom Mix is.
- The Roogalator has taken many forms, including the Arrow of Law, the Cosmic Balance, a sword, a cup, the Staff of Law, and sometimes a living person.
- Renark of the Rim discovered another universe which he thought represented the multiverse, leading to some theoretical astrophysicists to refer to it as Renark's multiverse.
- Various planets have been terraformed for commercial world-building. These include literary worlds based off the works of Balzac, Disney, "Austin"[sic], Meredith, James, Lansdale, Mieville, Pynchon, Mann, Sinclair, Calderon, Gygax, and Moore.
Foods and Beverages[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor likes Pop-Tarts. He is a member of the Desperate Dan Pie Eater's Club.
- Amy has coffee and muesli for breakfast.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The novel is the first one of its format, although it is quite similar to other Eleventh Doctor novels. The font is the same, as is the style for chapter numbering and the first few words of each chapter. The differences include the book's greater length, titles given to each chapter, a dust jacket and the main cast not appearing on the front cover.
- The novel is subtitled Pirates of the Second Aether.
- Moorcock originally wanted Captain Jack Harkness to appear in this novel, with this being his first meeting with the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond. However, this was not possible due to the restrictions placed on tie-in novels, and Moorcock instead used Captain Cornelius in Jack's place.[1] The novel's setting in the 511th century could be taken as a reference to Captain Jack's native 51st century.
- A version of the novel's prologue appeared in the 2008 sci-fi pirate fiction anthology Fast Ships, Black Sails under the title "Ironface: A Vignette". This was the original appearance of Captain Cornelius.
- In an interview promoting this novel, Moorcock stated that he viewed Jack Harkness as being similar to his own character Jerry Cornelius.[2]
- The BBC also prevented Moorcock from opening the novel with a scene in Amy Pond's TARDIS bedroom.[3]
- The novel was originally planned to have six interior illustrations by Mike Collins, but there ended up not being the time to have the proposed illustrations approved.[4] Contemporary reviewers who received the reviewer's copy referred to the book as being illustrated; Dan Berry's review in The DWM Review of DWM 427 claimed that the book was "lavishly illustrated".
- An element of this novel, Nukeball, was later illustrated for the NFT video game Worlds Apart [+]Loading...["Worlds Apart (video game)"].
- This novel takes place not only in the Doctor Who universe but also in Moorcock's broader fictional multiverse. Jerry Cornelius appears as Captain Cornelius, and the Doctor is implied to be another aspect of the "Eternal Champion" character that appears in many or all of Moorcock's other stories. The novel as a whole acts as a prequel to Moorcock's 1995-1996 Second Ether trilogy.
- Moorcock was not the only famous science fiction author to write a Doctor Who story around this time. Fifteen days prior to this novel's release, The Brilliant Book 2011 featured the story Umwelts for Hire by Brian Aldiss, a contemporary of Moorcock's.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This novel features the Eleventh Doctor being able to travel to other parts of the multiverse freely, despite TV: Rise of the Cybermen establishing that inter-dimensional travel had become virtually impossible after the Last Great Time War.
- The Eleventh Doctor and Amy previously saw a Judoon in PROSE: The Forgotten Army.
- New Venus was mentioned in TV: The Long Game.
- The Doctor reminds Amy that he is a "madman in a box". (TV: The Eleventh Hour)
Continuity with not-covered sources[[edit] | [edit source]]
Continuity with Michael Moorcock Multiverse[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Main article: Michael Moorcock Multiverse
- Venice and Captain Cornelius first appeared in the 2008 short story "Ironface: A Vignette", which was reworked into this novel's prologue.
- Horatio Quelch and the Chaos Engineers return from the Second Ether trilogy of novels.
- Urquart Banning-Cannon shares his first name with a mariner from the novel The Ice Schooner.
- Miggea is said to be named after an old Earth warrior-goddess. This is a reference to Lady Miggea, a corrupt goddess of the Law who featured in the trilogy of Elric novels The Dreamthief's Daughter, The Skrayling Tree, and The White Wolf's Son.
- The Ghost Worlds appear, originating from Moorcock's The Eternal Champion and notably appearing in The Sundered Worlds.
- The Doctor references Renark of the Rim, the protagonist of the novel The Sundered Worlds.
- Ketchup Cove appears, a location introduced in Blood: A Southern Fantasy.
- When the Doctor becomes the node of the multiverse, he sees the moonbeam roads, as introduced in Blood: A Southern Fantasy.
- The scientist Morphail is mentioned, a character from the novel The Hollow Lands.
- The Doctor says that, unlike most individuals in the multiverse, he is a unique being. However, he is of a heroic archetype which has echoes and shadows throughout the multiverse but has no beginning or end. This description resembles the "Eternal Champion" idea which is a key feature of the Michael Moorcock Multiverse.
Other[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor mentions the existence of Barsoom from John Carter of Mars. A four-armed Thark, a species from the John Carter stories, also appears and the Barsoomian banth is mentioned.
Releases[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The hardback edition was released on 14 October 2010 (ISBN 978-1-84607-983-2)
- A paperback version was released on 4 August 2011 with a different cover. (ISBN 978-1-84990-140-6)
- This story was also released as an ebook available from the Amazon Kindle store.
Editions published outside Britain[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Published in Russia by AST in 2015 as a hardback edition, it was one of eight books published in the 2010's.
- Published in Germany by Bastei Lübbe in 2018 as a paperback edition, it was one of three books published by them in the 2010's.
Russian edition
German edition
Audiobook[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This novel was released, in the UK, on 11 January 2011 complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by Clive Mantle.
- This novel was also released, in Germany, on 25 May 2018 by Lübbe Audio and read by Tobias Nath.
UK Audiobook
German Audiobook
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ Michael Moorcock (1 September 2010). By TARDIS Through The Multiverse. Moorcock's Miscellany Forum. Archived from the original on 14 November 2024. Retrieved on 14 November 2024. “Might interest you to know that the original captain was Captain Jack. There was a list of characters etc. I couldn't use, presumably because they have other plans. It was a little difficult to write because of the constraints but the editors were really helpful. Auntie is still Auntie. So far the response has been pretty positive.”
- ↑ Ben Graham (22 November 2010). Talking To The Sci-Fi Lord: Regenerations & Ruminations With Michael Moorcock. The Quietus. Archived from the original on 14 June 2024. Retrieved on 19 November 2024. “I mean, it’s purely coincidental, but both Jerry Cornelius and Dr Who can regenerate. In Cornelius’ case of course he can change sex; he’s more like Captain Jack than Dr Who in that sense.”
- ↑ Mayer Nissim (22 November 2010). Moorcock: 'BBC didn't want Amy Pond room'. Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved on 19 November 2024. “The only real problem with Cardiff, as we call the BBC... was, I wanted Amy to have her own room in the Tardis, so I can describe her getting up in the morning and hearing something going on in the main Tardis bit, you know, and coming in to breakfast, or whatever it was. They didn't like that, and I think it's because they've got story plans that might not fit.”
- ↑ Michael Moorcock (23 October 2010). Illustrations?. Moorcock's Miscellany Forum. Archived from the original on 14 November 2024. Retrieved on 14 November 2024. “Simply that the schedule didn't allow time for them to be submitted, vetted by 'Cardiff', and drawn from his selected roughs by the artist. There's talk of putting them in the paperback.”