| CAMERA OBSCURA by Lloyd Rose |
| Story 59 Synopsis: Earth, again, the 19th century. The Doctor witnesses a man named Octave perform a magic act, where he appears on stage five times at once. But Octave refuses a backstage interview. Next, the Doctor, Anji & Fitz attend a seance, where Constance Jane channels a spirit, Chief Ironwing, to contact those beyond. But Millie, anotehr spirit, questions Fitz, and lets slip knowledge about the future. Getting acquainted with another attender of the seance, Dr Nathaniel Chiltern, the Doctor deduces how it could be just a trick. But Millie comes through Miss Jane again. Visiting Octave once more, the Doctor gets him to admit that there are in fact, 8 versions of himself. They attack him, and drop a stageweight on his chest, crushing it. Anji & Fitz visit a fair at Crystal Palace, where Micah Scale is exhibiting a special mirror which shows moving images. He says that it was more impressive when he had all the mirrors, but the rest were stolen. Recovering, the Doctor finds that he is connected to Sabbath, via the heart he had removed. The link keeps him alive, whilst he recovers. Sabbath is alarmed at this discovery. He ahs made an acquaintance, Elizabeth Kelly, who is time-sensitive, and calls herself the Angel-Maker. She was arrested for multiple murder, but Sabbath takes her into his employ. She thinks the Doctor is deadly to Sabbath. She kills Octave whilst the Doctor recuperates in the TARDIS. He visits Scale, allowing himself to be kidnapped. He finds himself in Dartmoor, guest of Sebastian Chiltern, Nathaniel's twin. He is locked up in a dungeon, for being so keen to destroy the machine of mirrors. Scale is killed. Escaping, the Doctor thinks that Chiltern has some sort of monster with him. Having left a note for Fitz & Anji telling them of his intended kidnapping, and to get Sabbath to help, the Doctor is glad to get rescued. Sebastian is killed, and the Doctor needs to find where the monster could be hiding, let alone the rest of the Chilterns. He tricks the Angel-Maker, into making a better job of stabbing him than she intended, so the Doctor can try to get answers from the dead Sebastian. He gets a clue, which turns out to be a dead end, and Sabbath rescues him. Back in London, the Doctor finds that the docile, well-meaning Nathaniel is determined to use the mirror-machine to cure his other brother, who is part-rose bush amongst other things. The machine restored Miss Jane to 'normality', but the Doctor enters it, determined to detsroy it. He gets glimpses of his past selves, then the machine explodes. The monster Chiltern is killed by the Angel-Maker, who also dies. Sabbath, fed up at the Doctor's actions, returns his dead heart to him. |
| Review:- Well, there's a giveaway. I couldn't care about length in synopsing History 101, but have to go into detail here. This is a book that's quite easy to follow (i.e. I've probably misunderstood it), tells an epic, far-reaching tale, without descending into archetypal garbage, though it must be noted that this is a rare reappearance for Death. Sabbath just about keeps himself real, and the heart connection gets a decent run-out, and send-off. He finishes the story in such a way that he seems a believable semi-regular. The Doctor is absolutely full-on here, most noticeably during the escape on Dartmoor. OK, let's cut to the chase. When the Doctor is held down by 7 of the 8 Octaves, and the 8th is revealed to be about to drop a weight down, it seems like a classic cliffhanger - how will he get out of this? And it isn't! The weight strikes, crushing his chest as he expects it too! Then, it is! For isntead of killing him, we find that he has an unwitting rescuer - Sabbath! This bit really caught my attention, and I couldn't let it go. The start with the seance reminded me of The Banquo Legacy, and I felt that Fitz might mention it, but no, that would be too natural. Anyway, Anji & Fitz do well in this book, despite not really having any role, other than watching the Doctor recover. Yet, their independence away from the Doctor sets them up nicely for the future point, where one or other of them must leave. The bit near the end where the Doctor says he is growing a new heart will only send one message, so it'll be interesting to see what happens next. Oh, surprise, it's Justin Richards himself putting his neck on the block... Yes, I liked this more than I liked many of the other books lately, but it failed at times too. The Doctor escapes confinement, bashing his attacker behind an iron gate, which is surprisingly violent and unfair a response. To take an example, when confronting an unknown in The Creature From The Pit, he didn't biff the Tythonian Ambassador about, did he? So, why did he do it here? Expediency, tch tch... Then we have the Angel-Maker, with her silly unexplained name, and penchant for killing. Why Sabbath associated with someone so stupid as to go around killing people for almost the sake of it, warrants explanation. Or maybe it just shows what kind of a person Sabbath is. Oh, yes, I'm looking forward to what happens next, don't you believe it... |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |