| BUNKER SOLDIERS by Martin Day |
| Story ? Synopsis: The TARDIS lands in the beseiged city of Kiev in 1240 AD. A horde of Mongols are on their way to attack. The Doctor, Steven and Dodo are kept as open prisoners, since the Doctor refuses to help fight the Mongols, and change the course of history. Steven discovers a body, and is accused of murder. Whilst the Doctor proves his innocence, Steven is kept locked up to prevent trouble. With Dodo's help, he breaks out anyway. The Doctor suspects an alien killer is at large, and goes to plead with the Mongols to spare Kiev. Steven finds that Yehven, one of the governor's advisers, has opened a casket, releasing a strange beast, that is killing Russians. When he reaches the surface, he finds the governor, Dmitri, is aware of his innocence. The Doctor is brought before Batu Khan, where his pleas for Kiev are ignored, though his own life is safe. By the time they reach Kiev, the alien killer has infected many of the populace with a disease, and driven Dmitri mad. He suddenly refuses a chance for peace, instead triggering the Mongols to attack all the more. The Doctor asks to be able to join his friends in the city, which Batu allows. The Doctor begins to deduce the motives of the killer. When he sees the casket, he confirms Steven's view that it is an escape pod. With the help of the TARDIS, he learns that the alien was launched from a warring culture that could only tell either side apart genetically. Hence, the soldier was devised to be launched into enemy strongholds, where it would destroy their bases from within. It has only attacked Russians because Yehven opened it, seeding his gene into the machine. Batu arrives in Kiev, and allows the Doctor his freedom to take his friends into the TARDIS. Kiev has been taken, and the few survivors (who were not Russian) are left alive. |
| Review:- Trapped in time, facing dangers from all sides, the Doctor & co have their work cut out this time... Day chooses a strong historical setting, and chooses to consider the power of the Mongols via the most honest approach - rather than basing an alien race on them, he uses the real thing. The knowledge of history weighs heavily on the Doctor, and the ticking-clock to the arrival of the Mongols in Kiev works to powerful effect. Kiev's chief struggle, other than with the Mongols, is a religious one. Yehven represents a rather harsh orthodox view, whilst Isaac, a Jew, is somewhat more moderate. Both have to exercise their attitudes without alerting governor Dmitri, but whereas Isaac is calm to fate, Yehven makes a last-ditch gamble, which turns out to be decisive. Dodo makes the most of her lot, making a good friend in Lesia, but Steven has more trouble, swiftly framed for murder. The Doctor's reluctance to help out is used against him, but he seeks a different solution, offering to plead with the Mongols. It's a wonder Yehven allows him to go, really, having accused him of being a spy. But the alien killer begins to cause more trouble, and Yehven takes the law into his own hands. It's a lucky call that Steven is able to save Isaac from attempted murder. And all the time, the Mongols move ever closer to Kiev... The madness of Dmitri is the last tragic twist in the tale. Yehven is taken to meet Batu Khan, and meets a gruesome, if fitting, end. The Doctor has to blind himself to the human horror, and track down the alien. Day is shrewd with his clues, and the motives for the specific nature of the alien threat are guessable, just about. Another point in the book's favour is that Steven narrates much of it in the first-person, which does him and the book a lot of good. For once, both he and Dodo are far ahead of their own times, forcing them to adjust to a different, more simple way of life. Dodo fares well, as the author treats her as a human being. As for the Doctor, whilst his horse-riding antics are a bit odd, his efforts to find peace and willingness to risk himself to save what he holds dear are worthy characteristics to show. Overall, it's a very good book. |
| Disclaimer: I've read the book. |