| PALACE OF THE RED SUN by Christopher Bulis |
| Story ? Synopsis: Esselven is under attack, but oppressor Glavis Judd is miffed that King Hathold has scarpered before he can be killed, plus he's taken the secret codes of Esselven with him. Judd pursues, with media man Dexel Dynes coming too. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Peri have landed in a beautiful garden, although the Doctor can't pin down their location. Peri falls into a trap. Whilst the Doctor is trying to rescue her, he finds the TARDIS gone. Hunting that, he gets clonked, and sent far away from the gardens. He finds that the planet is divided into Sectors. The Blue Sector is the home of the Lords Of Esselven. He is in the Green Sector, found by Green-8, a robot who has become sentient. The Doctor gets up a disguise as Green-35, and they set off to tear a strip off the Lords. Peri has been put with scavengers, a tribal group who are punished simply for not being the lords. With Kel, a feisty scavenger, Peri escapes. They go through the gardens, then beyond a wasteland, into the woods, where Kel's people live. There Kel tries to pair-bond with Peri, who then has to fight Nerla, Kel's jilted intended. Then, Dexel Dynes arrives. He has become puzzled that if King Hathold is here, why is he not putting up a fight? Peri, Kel and Nerla hijack a big truck, and drive to the Palace, where the Lords live. Already there, the Doctor is perplexed that the Lords don't notice their robot guises. He finds that the Lords are fictions, of a sort. It transpires, that Hathold's men, in trying to strengthen their planetary shield, cocked up, and died of radiation. Also, due to some shenanigans with the Sun, a time-lapse effect has occurred, so that 500 years have passed during the 1 year that Judd has been pursuing. One of the fictitious Lords, Oralissa, has also become sentient, and she helps with a subterfuge to get Dynes and Judd to clear off. Plus, the scavengers turn out to be the descendants of Hathold, and co. The Doctor fixes Judd and Dynes, so that they return to the outside Universe, but 500 years on, so that both their careers are stuffed. Judd becomes a prisoner. Kel's descendants are raised with Oralissa and Greeneight as guides. |
| Review:- Some authors have the reputation that everything they touch will turn to gold (eg Paul Magrs). Some, though, have the opposite reputation, and no matter how well they write, or how often, they're hitting a brick wall everytime. Chris Bulis has been quite prolific a Who author. This is his 12th book, I think, since he started with Shadowmind in 1993. He is the first (and only) author to write a book for each of the 8 Doctors (plus the "bonus ball" of a Bernice book). He often wrote quite long books for Virgin, and his latest includes a comment that he has written over a million words of DW fiction. I quite like the Bulis collection. Okay, there has often been a theme of power sources in his work, and this just so happens to push my buttons. But, anyway. What about this one? It seems unusual. It flows, and considering how little incident there is in it, that's a trick. The whole red herring subplot involving Oralissa drags on interminably, and for what? A female character whose name begins "Oral", which (call me immature) distracted me throughout. Green-8 is a nice enough guy, but what does he get to do? Emote, accompany the Doctor, faff about at the end. Kel is about as heart-warming as a fridge. I would have rather had Nerla stab him, than dote like a dumbo, but hey, what can you do? The Doctor gets a strong plot role, and acts entirely in character. See, it's not that hard! Peri gets several good bits, has plenty to do, and is independent and intelligent. See, it's not that hard! Dynes gives the amusing reader-dilemma of whether to re-read The Ultimate Treasure, just to refamiliarise oneself with him. I didn't. Judd is perhaps the equally dastardly Lesley's (NB just my opinion, folks!) descendant, and he at least is simply motivated, although his lack of terror is palpable. Overall, a nice readable book, with no axe to grind, and no desire to make Doctor Who into something it's not. I like it. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of this book. |