| INSTRUMENTS OF DARKNESS by Gary Russell |
| Story ? Synopsis: Earth, late December 1993. The Doctor brings Mel to London by mistake. But he sees an article in a newspaper that leads him to Norfolk to his old companion Evelyn Smythe. He gets a message for help from an old friend, and they all head for Derbyshire. Unbeknown to him, a former UNIT operative, John Doe, is i/c of an operation called the Network, based in Paris. He has lost part of his memory, and wants to get revenge on UNIT, and the Doctor, for it. Whilst Evelyn and Mel make a sidetrip to Sheffield Hallam University to do some checking, the Doctor meets his old enemies Ciara and Cellian in the town of Halcham. They claim to have turned over a new leaf, and ask the Doctor for help. They ask him to talk to Sebastian Malvern, who turns out to be a gifted ESPnet trying to control one of the Cylox. The Doctor agrees to help. John Doe sends two assassins to kill Evelyn and Mel, but they escape. During a stand-off near a cave mouth, Ciara is shot, and dies, and Cellian dies too. The Doctor manages to persuade one of the Cylox to leave Earth, and he heads for Micronesia to track the other Cylox. But he is tricked, and both Cylox are killed. The Network is brought down, and John Doe dies. As countries try to clear up after the mess, the ESPnets whom the Network brought together pledge to renounce their links to society, so their skills cannot be misused. The Doctor apologises to Evelyn for leaving her in 1988, and agrees to take her home. |
| Review:- So, the story begun in The Scales of Injustice, and continued in Business Unusual, comes to a halt. Trey Korte and the Irish twins are back... but whose side are they on? Continuity fan Russell writes the first meeting of companions Mel and Evelyn, using them to give a doleful portrait of the bombastic 6th incarnation of the Doctor. And also because they're such good characters. Evelyn works almost as well in print as she does in sound, and when they do finally team up it's to good effect. But the Doctor has his hands full with worry over the intentions of his old adversaries Ciara and Cellian, not to mention a war of mental powers and a nebulous secret organisation led by someone with a long standing grudge... The story comes together slowly, with various strands not seeming to make sense or even feel connected. But once they do, the pace takes hold. And it's certainly well-written, with even small characters who only feature briefly get vignettes that allow a reader to see and understand motivation, fitting the pieces together into one big and colourful jigsaw. The problem is that the story is so boring. The Cylox are presented as nothing much more than magical faeries, and the whole mental powers angle degenerates into laughable one-upmanship. "I'm a Level 6!" "Hah, I'm Level 12!" "That's nothing, I'm Level 50!" "Yah boo sucks, meet Mr Level 1000!" And it's not as if these measurements really mean anything anyway, because after a certain stage, they would all seem the same to the outside world. So if that angle is pretty worthless, what about the rest? The rehabilitation of Ciara and Cellian is done well, although it's perhaps a shame that the Doctor can't seem to forgive and forget. The deadly duo are counterpointed with a new dangerous team, who are saddled with the really rotten names of Ms de Meanour and Ms Feasance. Though compellingly described, they are only seen as killing machines, which rather wastes their potential. Their run-in with Mel and Evelyn in a library is ludicrous, when they bring about their own downfall against two much weaker opponents. Then there is the Network, run by the elusive John Doe, who turns out to be none other than radio companion Jeremy Fitzoliver. Quite why he should be considered competent enough to run the place is just another unresolved mystery. Perhaps the point is that without the knowledge of his past inadequacy, he is a better person? Or else he's just a pawn in somebody's game, a rather nasty idea if so. So it's good that the Doctor, Mel and Evelyn are so engagingly presented, because not a lot else in the book is. And I ought to mention of the return of Trey "named after a real person, you know" Korte, and the rest of the titular Instruments, but I think that might cross the line into abuse. And besides, it's Gary's book, he can name who he likes for what reason he feels. A sequel nobody needed. |
| Disclaimer: I've read the book. |