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Milkweed Triptych
"A major talent... I can't wait to see more."
—George R. R. Martin
"Mad English warlocks battling twisted Nazi psychics? Yes please, thank you. Tregillis's debut has a white-knuckle plot, beautiful descriptions, and complex characters-- an unstoppable Vickers of a novel."
—Cory Doctorow on Bitter Seeds
"Ian Tregillis triumphantly concludes his astonishing, brilliant, pulse-pounding debut trilogy, The Milkweed Triptych."
—Cory Doctorow on Necessary Evil
"Tregillis' conclusion of the Milkweed Triptych is the pièce de résistance of the series. Necessary Evil is a perfect marriage of science fiction, fantasy and alternate history."
—RT Book Reviews (4.5 stars, Top Pick) on Necessary Evil
"Darkly fascinating…A thoroughly fascinating conclusion to an imaginative tour de force."
—Kirkus on Necessary Evil
"A cross between the devious, character-driven spy fiction of early John le Carré and the mad science fantasy of the X-Men... Despite the jaw-dropping backdrop and oblique plotting, the narrative is driven by character and personal circumstance...
Grim indeed, yet eloquent and utterly compelling."
—Kirkus on The Coldest War
"The characters come alive via [Tregillis's] imaginative dialogue and his storyline will keep readers spellbound and on the edge of their seats with an intense sci-fi/alternate history thriller plot."
—RT Book Reviews (4.5 stars, Top Pick) on The Coldest War
"Well-drawn characters and a feel for time and place make this an excellent journey into an alternate Britain."
—Library Journal on Bitter Seeds
"Engrossing... Tregillis ably mixes cold war paranoia with his mythology."
—Publishers Weekly on The Coldest War
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Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith
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The End: NECESSARY EVIL Is Out! - 5/1/2013, 10:29 AM Because I Haven't Posted About tDCS In A While - 4/8/2013, 04:07 PM Announcing the NECESSARY EVIL Signing Tour - 4/5/2013, 05:15 PM Nuclear Deterrence in a Blood Magic World - 2/22/2013, 09:41 AM Guest Post #2 at Charlie Stross's Blog - 2/17/2013, 04:41 PM Guest Post at Charlie Stross's Blog - 2/15/2013, 09:17 PM A Conversation with Charlie Stross - 2/8/2013, 11:06 AM NOW OUT in the UK: THE COLDEST WAR - 2/7/2013, 12:22 AM Clarion Is Accepting Applications for the Class of 2013 - 1/27/2013, 06:38 PM Holy Smokes! Cover Art for Something More Than Night - 1/23/2013, 09:44 PM

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Tuesday, April 19 2011, 09:20 PM

I was saddened to hear that Elisabeth Sladen passed away today. 

Back in the 70s, she played Sarah Jane Smith:  one of the most iconic companions from the decades of the original run of Doctor Who.  Sarah Jane eventually got her own spinoff show, many years later, but I always thought she belonged in the TARDIS.

The BBC has an announcement here.  Tor.com and io9 also have commentary.  [Addendum, 20 April 2011: And Tom Baker himself has a remembrance here.]

Sarah Jane was the human character on Doctor Who whom I most admired when I was 5 years old.  She got to ride around in a time machine with her friend the alien, and she had all sorts of gross adventures with people covered in slime and brains in jars and one time she even got replaced with an android that looked just like her.  Sure, she almost got killed on a regular basis, but overall it seemed like her life was amazingly cool.  I wanted to take her place.

It's possible the travails of Sarah Jane Smith gave me a slightly unrealistic notion of life as an adult. 

I've said this elsewhere, but Doctor Who was (clearly) a major influence on my highly suggestible child brain, and Elisabeth Sladen was a huge part of that.   After I came home from my first day of kindergarten, I discovered Doctor Who on our local PBS station.  It was showing The Ark in Space that week.  And as soon as Sarah Jane Smith saw the guy covered in slime (or whatever that was supposed to be, it was a little confusing at first (hey, I was 5 years old, cut me some slack)) I knew this was something wonderful.

For me, the Tom Baker/Elisabeth Sladen years will always be the Golden Age of Doctor Who.

I still remember the episode when she said goodbye to the Doctor and left the TARDIS behind—it made me so sad that the Doctor accidentally dropped her off in the wrong place.  (And for years after that, I really worried that he might have dropped her off in the wrong time, too.  It was a time machine, after all.  I'm not kidding about the worry.  It seriously ate at me.)   Many years later, Sladen broke my heart when her character returned for a one-off episode of the new series, where she meets the Doctor again (though neither of the Doctors she knew back in the day).  "I waited for you," she says.  "But you never came back."

Often, and unfortunately, the show relegated Sladen's character to a damsel in distress.  Even as a kid that bothered me because Sarah Jane was clearly capable of more.  I loved her interactions with Sergeant Benton and the Brigadier at UNIT.  I always wanted her to get to do more stuff, because she was the proxy for me the viewer.  Charlie Jane Anders over at io9 puts it right in saying that Sladen helped to pave the way for the more modern Doctor Who companions of the new series.

I admit I never got in to the Sarah Jane Adventures, even though I liked knowing she was still out there, and no longer waiting for the Doctor to save her from week to week.

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Comments (2)
Well said - Steve Halter, Wednesday, April 20 2011, 08:08 AM
Well said, Ian. Yeah, this news sucked.

sad - Andrew, Wednesday, April 20 2011, 12:40 PM
This is totally shocking news.

We are big doctor who fans here. My family used to stay up every saturday night to watch doctor who until 1 am. My brother introduced his daughter to doctorwho (she's nine now and in maine while my brother is in california) years ago and each new season has become my brothers christmas present to her.

Of course for us Baker/Sladen years were the foundation to everything. Sladen becoming the Iconic sidekick (though I still have a thing for leela:)). When they gave Sarah Jane her own show I was very excited but I guess the ratings were not so good.

I guess I'm rambling. It just becomes strange when a foundation character (or archetype) in one's life is gone, even (or especially?) a fantasy character. Time to process...

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Interviews
Interview with SFX Magazine
Unwalkers interview [English | French ]
Interview with Speculate! Podcast Interview with Adventures in SciFi Publishing
Ian Tregillis on the Sword and Laser Podcast
Ian Tregillis on John Scalzi's The Big Idea
Interview with Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
Interview with SFRevu
Interview with Mad Hatter Book Review
Interview with Apex Books

Interview at Literary Musings Interview with Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
An interview with the authors of Busted Flush at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
Interview with Travis Heermann at The Write Line
9-way interview with the contributors to the Wild Cards novel Inside Straight at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
Interview in the February, 2008 newsletter of the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
An extended interview with Ian Tregillis by Ty Franck, on www.wildcardsbooks.com.