Christmas on a Rational Planet is a novel written by Lawrence Miles. Released in 1996, it is the fifty-second novel in Virgin's Doctor Who New Adventures series and tells of the return of true irrationality to the universe.
Characters[]
- Seventh Doctor
- Roz Forrester
- Chris Cwej
- The Carnival Queen
rest to be added
Publisher's summary[]
"An end to history. An end to certainty. Is that too much to ask?"
December, 1799. Europe is recovering from the Age of Reason, the Vatican is learning to live with Napoleon, and America is celebrating a new era of independence. But in New York State, something is spreading its own brand of madness through the streets. Secret societies are crawling from the woodwork, and there's a Satanic conspiracy around every corner.
Roz Forrester is stranded in a town where festive cheer and random violence go hand-in-hand. Chris Cwej is trapped on board the TARDIS with someone who's been trained to kill him. And when Reason itself breaks down, even the Doctor can't be sure who or what he's fighting for.
Christmas is coming to town, and the end of civilisation is following close behind...
In-universe continuity[]
- This novel is the first appearance of Grandfather Paradox, who becomes a major player within Faction Paradox (introduced in Miles' Alien Bodies) and the series named after them.
- The Collection of Necessary Secrets reappears in Philip Purser-Hallard's Faction Paradox short stories De Umbris Idearum and T. memeticus: A Morphology.
- The planet Astra (from The Rescue) is mentioned.
- Convict tattoos are introduced in this novel. They are a somewhat major plot point in Miles' Faction Paradox audio drama Movers and are mentioned in The Book of the War, Cavan Scott's short story Lords and Masters (as biodata-tags), and Ryan D. Fogarty's novella Wringing Off.
- Amaranths reappear in Dave Stone's Bernice Summerfield novel Oblivion (as "the Egg") and Lawrence Burton's Faction Paradox novel Against Nature.
- The pre-universe city reappears in Nate Bumber's Faction Paradox short story Cobweb and Ivory.
- Organizations such as PROBE and LONGBOW (from Lance Parkin's novel Just War) are mentioned.
- Salamander from The Enemy of the World is said to be floating in the Vortex. He (along with several other entities jettisoned into the Vortex, all merged into a creature dubbed "the Horror") reappear in Miles' Bernice Summerfield novel Dead Romance.
- The Doctor obliquely mentions the Rutans, Meglos, the Nucleus, the Macra, the Kandyman, and Kroll.
- PRIME computers are featured - referencing a series of ads for the company featuring the Doctor.
See also[]
| Title | Author | Release date | Signifigance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time's Crucible | Marc Platt | 1992 | Sets up the "irrationality v.s. rationality" which influences the Carnival Queen |
| Mason & Dixon | Thomas Pynchon | 1997 | A postmodernist historical novel set in the wilderness of America at around the same time as this novel is set |
| Grass | Lawrence Miles | 2001 | A postmodernist historical short story set in the wilderness of America by the same author |
| The Adventuress of Henrietta Street | Lawrence Miles | 2001 | Miles' next postmodernist historical novel |
| Lemprière's Dictionary | Lawrence Norfolk | 1991 | A postmodernist historical novel set around the same time as this novel (the 1780s) |
Sources[]
- TARDIS Wiki