| EYE OF HEAVEN by Jim Mortimore |
| Story ? Synopsis: Easter Island, 1842. Horace Stockwood barely escapes with his life, and a scared tablet, the rongo-rongo. Thirty years later, he realises he must return, before someone else beats him to it. The Doctor sees his advert seeking financial backing, and brings Leela along. The Doctor buys a ship at Portsmouth, the Tweed, but finds the TARDIS accidentally loaded onto a ship headed for India. Leela thinks Stockwood is imperilled by his friend, Dr Royston. The Doctor is attacked. Leela suspects something is wrong, and tries to track him down. Finally, Stockwood and Royston try to track them down. They awake in danger from drowning. They break free, but when they reach the boat, find it under new orders - those of Alex Richards' sister. He was left behind, for dead, in 1842. The journey out to Easter Island is fraught, and during a storm, Leela and Royston fall overboard. They evade sharks, and use a dying whale to follow the Tweed. After it dies, they are caught in a tornado, eventually reaching the island. The Doctor and Stockwood are making early examinations when they are attacked by Peruvian slave traders. The Doctor is shot, but recovers. Leela manages to organise an attack on the slave ships, and rescues the Doctor. Royston is mortally stabbed in the process. The Doctor is told the only way to cure him is to see one of the moai statues. Through it, Leela, Stockwood and Royston are transported to another world. The Doctor eventually follows with Richards, who is also hurt. He realises that a long time before, an alien race were under attack, and sent DNA seeds out to other worlds, to protect them should they die out. The seeds prompted the Islanders to build the moai statues. But Stockwood's 1842 expedition introduced a virus to the system. By creating a cure from Leela's blood (as she is immune to all viruses), the Doctor can ensure the aliens live on a while longer. Stockwood remains on the Island. |
| Review:- This story apparently began life as half of a 2-part New Adventure. As recounted at the time in Dr Who Magazine, this would be the first half, with the conclusion from Paul Leonard the month after, called Conjunction. That never happened, so it was a welcome surprise to see this turn up as a Past Doctor Adventure a few years later. But that's only the beginning. This is one of the few books to list the chapters at the beginning. This turns out to seem like a way to pay attention, once the story gets going. For Mortimore tells his tale with the narrative device of telling his story through alternating chapters set in the present, and the recent past. Slightly confusing, it nevertheless works. He also writes every chapter in the first person, which he also manages brilliantly. Most of the book thus comes from Leela's point of view, though he does sneak in a couple of chapters from the Doctor. Leela passes a lot of time reminiscing about her past, where we learn her parents' names, and the fate of her sister. None of this feels like padding, though, even when compared to scenes as the Tweed dashes on ice, or of Leela stranded in the sea with only some sharks for company. And that's before the story even gets to Easter Island, which must surely be the crux of the book. What might have seemed like a simple meeting between Stockwood and the natives is skewed by the presence of the Peruvian slavers, who imperil the Doctor and the ship's crew. The idea that the statues represent an alien attempt to retain life, and some can be used for planetary travel, is pretty good stuff. The famous statues have cast fascination ever since the island's discovery, and the island seems as alien an environment as any seen in the series. The characterisation is good, with the dramatic mystery of who is threatening the mission filling up the first half of the book, whilst the true importance of the rongo-rongo, as well as Stockwood's punishment, make for plenty of depth in the latter. It's one of Mortimore's better books, and though it asks a lot of the reader, is well worth the effort. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |