[quote]
If you're a TNA fan, you must, must, must read
Fighting Men, one of the all-time best Avengers novels in terms of characterisation. The Purdey/Gambit dialogue is so priceless, you'll wish it was said onscreen. [quote/]
Well, I'm late coming in to this conversation as I wanted to reread "Fighting Men", first and just got around to it. While some of the banter is exceedingly good in this novelization, some was very problematic.
For one thing, in "Fighting Men", Steed is presented like Bertie Wooster, his dialogue full of "I say", and "Old chap" and "Jolly good", "Hard luck, my boy" and all those phrases Steed never said as an Englishman. Also, his character is greatly underused; he is either drinking (way too much), while Purdey and Gambit are in dire straits, or relying on other characters to help him out and guide him. We see him come through in the end by convincing a rebel "king" to help him, but the author creates this mystery as to why the king agreed to trust Steed and neither Gambit, very understandably, nor the reader has any CLUE to the answer. Probably the author has no idea why the king would agree and so wrote himself out of having to explain it!
As to Gambit and Purdey, the initial Gambit dialogue in the early pages is, again, annoying, Gambit simply trying to have sex with Purdey; I counted four episodes of him trying to get her into bed in the first 33 pages. I don't find that charming or fun; neither, apparently does Purdey, who has to constantly refuse his overtures. FINALLY, Gambit gets around to actually asking her out to dinner, and then she is willing to consider it. So, when Gambit gets around to viewing her as a woman, instead of a sex object, she is willing to at least have a meal with him. (Even when they are tied up in a crate, Purdey is concerned Gambit is trying to fondle her!)
In the rest of the book, no matter the circumstances, we get very light-hearted bantering exchanges between Purdey and Gambit--at times that is very nice to read, and as Timeless states, very well done in capturing the conversations we have seen and enjoyed many times on the show. Certainly, Gambit and Purdey are well paired as partners in adventure, get along well, and work out problems together as a team.
In other circumstances, however, the wit seems greatly out of place. What I most like about The Avengers, and TNA, are the moments when we learn something deeper and human and darker in our characters--when the light fun fades for a view into what haunts their minds. Learning Steed, when visiting Father, has to open drapes as he doesn't like being in a dark room, seeing Emma show mindless fear under the helicopter, watching Steed throw his glass in sheer frustration and anger when he's lost Emma on the base, seeing Purdey struggle with her ex's nefarious doings, and such, is incredibly interesting to me. Much more so than Purdey and Gambit somewhat unbelievably sending out little jokes and quips as they are tied up in a claustrophobic crate under piles of other crates, in the dark, waiting to be dropped in the ocean; or, making quips about their muddy clothes when Africans are running for their lives and others are getting blown up by missiles. Not that I don't love the banter of The Avengers and TNA--I do love it!--but I like it combined with seeing our characters in a whole, real manner. It's like so many folks saying they enjoyed the scene of Steed with Piggy Warren--that wasn't very witty at all, but it sure showed an intense side of our secret agent!
I would have liked to see the author show more of the substance of Purdey and Gambit in some harrowing scenes, but unfortunately Cartwright's adapted storyline did not do so.
Also, it was a little dark for this TNA book to have Miller kill a child--that seemed unnecessary; we already knew he was indeed mad.
So, this book was okay. I liked the other TNA books a bit better.
Of course, as no doubt folks can imagine, the ending of "To Catch A Rat" was the best, with Purdey winding up in bed with Steed.
Mona
