| FEAR OF THE DARK by Trevor Baxendale |
| Story ? Synopsis: The TARDIS is invaded, and Nyssa finds her mind visited, and her thoughts turning to the loss of Traken. When the ship lands on a cold moon, things seem bad, but then the ground collapses, as a team in caves below use explosives which bring the TARDIS team down to earth. Tegan and Nyssa are injured, and the Doctor is grateful to Jyl Stoker, leader of the team, who claim to be archaeologists, but are soon found to be "rogue traders", i.e. pirates. Repairing a spectron analyser, the Doctor is able to tell the crew that the moon, orbiting the planet Akoshemon, is rich in a valuable mineral, lexium. One of the team, Vega Jaal, senses impending doom, and soon the team are finding the remains of a previous scientific expedition, all but one of whom died. The survivor, Oldeman, helped create a human-Akoshemon hybrid, dubbed the Bloodhunter, and it has been taking blood to its master, a creature known as the Dark. Bunny Cheung, another of Stoker's team, sends a Mayday signal, which brings in the Consortium, rivals to IMC, led by Captain Lawrence and his 2IC, Cadwell. Cadwell appears to want to revive the Dark, and the Doctor is unable to stop its resurrection. He then says he was trying to destroy it, as it destroyed his ancestors on Akoshemon. The Doctor has helped it free. With time running out, the Doctor confronts the Dark in its birthing chamber, and manages to incite it to attack the Bloodhunter, and vice-versa. Then, using a mechanical arm, he creates a fire that kills the Dark creature, although at the loss of all those remaining, including Stoker and Lawrence. The Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa return to the TARDIS, free of the Dark's influence. |
| Review:- Well, a 4th DW adventure for Trevor Baxendale. One criticism he usually faces is that he is a little too traditional. Which isn't a criticism, in my view. This book is a little space romp, unlikely to offend, and it thrills as it goes. The fear/scare theme gets a little out of hand, but a nice try. The Doctor spends a lot of time diagnosing, analysing, and speculating, but still manages to sneak in some aggression. Considering he gets increasingly influenced by the Dark, his desperation and frustration are well written, so although he seems to be pushing the envelope, he still comes up trumps, although he knows this has been a bad day. Tegan manages to seem quite well-rounded, has much to do, and doesn't seem grating or irritating. A brief flash of romance, even. Nyssa is unfortunate, inasmuch as the idea that she is a weak link waiting to be preyed on by superior forces seemed old hat in Zeta Major, which seemed to echo Goth Opera. Also, we had the audio Primeval, which garbled on about Traken. Frankly, the more this goes on, the more I want to cheer the Master, although if he hadn't destroyed Traken, we might have been spared the retreads. Anyway, she is well-written, just shabbily characterised. Stoker runs the gamut, although lapses at times into cliche. Lawrence is stoic, loyal, romantic and heroic, and just about stays true. Cadwell is snide, becomes sneery, then harsh, and is a hissable villain all the way. Bunny Cheung is rather short-changes by events, although he loses himself at his end. But a nice character. Vega Jaal is kindred to Vega Nexos, from The Monster Of Peladon, and makes the Vegans seem quite a fascinating race, should the TARDIS ever get there on its travels. The Bloodhunter is a pretty vile monster. The Dark echoes Twilight Of The Gods (so did Zeta Major) towards the end, and it seems a bit too obvious to merit deep explanation. But there's probably very little that could be added. So, on the whole, a quite straightforward book. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of this book. |