| LUCIFER RISING by Andy Lane & Jim Mortimore |
| Story 14 Synopsis: Ace piques Bernice's interest, so the Doctor takes them to a base near the planet Lucifer. There, they find unnatural energy problems, and a growing number of deaths. Ace goes to the moon of Moloch, and the Doctor and Bernice soon follow, concerned. They find only the corpses of local scientists. Ace has been taken in by IMC, where she becomes a Sergeant under the rule of Legion. With Earth bankrupt, Lucifer is put under IMC jurisdiction, and Legion's technology begins to take away the planet's atmosphere. One of the surviving scientists, Alex Bannen, uses a crude technological device to affect the morphic field of people in the vicinity, but cannot control it. The Doctor, Ace and Bernice unite to take control of it, stopping further damage. Lucifer is placed under quarantine, Bannen sacrificing himself to restore what IMC had done to it. Ace chooses to remain in the TARDIS, to consternation of her fellow travellers. |
| Review:- She went away, but she was brought back. The new Ace makes her presence felt in a novel way, turning against the Doctor and aiding IMC. Such is the march of time that despite initially reading this sometime around 1996 (I guess), I could scarcely recall any details from it. So, on re-reading it, it made a rather better impression. The setting is suitably grandiose and sci-fi, with moon bases, weird big planets, spectral aliens, and bad old IMC. The usage of these aliens to round off what was termed the Future History Cycle makes a surprising twist, and they're well-written as the villains of the piece. Of course, they're also avatars of capitalism in its worst form. The other obvious villain is the venal and self-possessed Alex Bannen, whose brilliance does not extend to people skills. The twist with his son is presumably meant to give him depth and humanity, but just reinforces what a stupid selfish git he is. Ultimately, it is he who nearly brings about catastrophe, and only because IMC played him for a fool. Legion provides some diversion, although the frequent outlandish descriptions of this multi-dimensional being soon grow tiresome, variations on the same unfunny joke. More enthralling (a bit) is Ace. Her uneasy return in Deceit leads to this, where she manipulates the Doctor (and Bernice) in order to change history for IMC. In the process, she probably makes events on Lucifer take a worse turn, but she somehow reneges on her decision later, preferring not to take more orders when they conflict with her emotions. Quite a psychological mess, it seems, and not improved by her time away from the Doctor. Worse, in the brief conclusion, she decides that she didn't love Jan after all, which made her exit in Love And War seem less sensible. Oh well... Bernice fares less well, understandably. She is little more than a cipher at times, and her ludicrous antics when she tries to escape inside a vending machine does nothing but detract from her character. At times, the Doctor doesn't seem a lot better, sadly. His mind games with Adjudicator Bishop run out of control, and the arrival of IMC takes the game out of his hands. It is his fault that Bannen puts everyone in danger at the end, and he shows little regard for his companions. Perhaps the most striking moment for him is when he shoots Legion dead, an action not often seen on telly, and a sign of how extreme things have become. He does at least manage a bit of setting-up for The Dalek Invasion Of Earth (which this book heavily pre-empts). What the book has in its favour is a good use of scope, of scale and of imagination. Whilst the finer intricacies of Lucifer's ecosystem, or of Paula Engado's murder, or Piper O'Rourke's betrayal may get a little opaque at times, there is no denying the intention to write a big story, and in some respects it works a treat. But it's not a complete success. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |