| THE MENAGERIE by Martin Day |
| Story ? Synopsis: The TARDIS lands in a grimy village. Visiting a pub, they are arrested. Jamie flees, and Zoe is sold off to a freakshow owner, who also buys a creature in a casket. The Doctor tries to get to see someone in charge, succeeding only when he reveals he is a scientist - a profession frowned on. The Knights of Kuabris rule the town, and their leader, Grand Knight Himesor, wants to undertake an expedition to find the mythical Menagerie of Ukkazaal, said to be beneath the town. The Doctor goes along, but the Knights are attacked by moth-like creatures, the Taculbain. Only the Doctor survives, and is freed by a Dugraq, a shrew-like creature. Jamie manages to infiltrate the Castle of Kuabris, rescuing a young woman, Kaquaan, from execution. She in turn helps him escape captivity. At the freakshow, the creature in the casket comes to life. It's a killing machine called a Mecrim. It kills indiscriminately. Zoe deduces it hunts from heat, and leads it back towards the town she arrived in. The Doctor learns some of the town's past from the Dugraqs. There are ape-like creatures, Rocarbies, who worship the Taculbain, who in turn are working for one of the humans above ground, because he has their Queen as hostage. The Taculbain free the rest of the Mecrim, and their ally is revealed as Zaitabor, Himesor's deputy, who has usurped the title, and is also a member of the Brotherhood of Rexulon, who have slightly different aims to the Knights. The Doctor and Zoe learn the Mecrim were a scientific experiment that went wrong. People were sent to sort it out, one of whom turns out to be Zaitabor, who is part-mechanoid. He plans to destroy the Furnace, but the Doctor leads the Mecrim there, destroying him and them in the process. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe leave in the TARDIS, with the town looking to a future where the disparate races can work together. |
| Review:- Gloom is prevalent in this book, in an environment of ignorance and inclement weather. But that's the least of their problems... Day presents a desperate society, where science is frowned on and people's lives are a grim struggle. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are promptly arrested and split up, which allows the story to develop from different angles. Whilst Jamie attempts to find and rescue his friends, he stumbles on the Brotherhood of Rexulon, and makes a firm friend in the comely Kaquaan. Zoe is sold off to a travelling freakshow, where her knowledge of cryogenics proves useful when a cold creature revives and begins killing people. Meanwhile, the Doctor makes the most cosmopolitan journey, helping the Knights, searching under ground for the Menagerie, meeting the Dugraqs, and learning of the other groups. Slowly, the threads come together, with rogue magician Defabrax seeming dodgy and villainous, but he's more of a red herring. Zaitabor, the real bogey, is as mad and evil as they come, although the revelations about his origin seem rather slapdash, as if trying to tie together too many strands in one go. It's fun that all the separate races come together to stamp out the Mecrim and dispose of their common enemy, although Day does allow the comment whether their apparent unity will last. But it does allow for a bright ending to an otherwise gloomy book. Whilst not really inspiring any affection, it's not a bad book. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |