| THE RESURRECTION CASKET by Justin Richards |
| Story 9 Synopsis: The TARDIS lands on Starfall, and promptly stops working. The Doctor likens the effect to an EMP, and assumes they've landed after a nuclear attack. But in fact, he and Rose find themselves in a spaceport where the lack of electrical power has caused a growth in steam power. They visit a pub, the Broken Spyglass, to find information. Starfall is stuck in a zeg - a zone of electromagnetic gravitation. Also, there have been a couple of savage deaths recently. They also learn of Hamlek Glint and his lost treasure. The Doctor goes to visit Drel McCavity, the bigshot around Starfall who has a controlling interest in local business, and who has a fanatical interest in Glint. Rose tracks down the friends of the recently deceased, and witnesses a huge demon come along and kill them. When the Doctor returns, he too gets visited by the demon, whose name is Kevin. The Doctor manages to escape certain death. He determines it is vital to find Glint's lost ship, and his treasure. He persuades McCavity to fund an expedition, though Drel wants to come along. The Doctor and Rose find a crew in the pub. They set off into space, but the journey is slow. As they leave the zeg, the TARDIS begins to return to normal. Down in the kitchen, Rose finds the crew may not be as hospitable as they thought. In fact, they are the remains of Glint's crew. When they leave the zeg, they are able to go on the offensive. The Doctor tricks them into shutting them in the escape pod. From there, he pilots them to Glint's lost ship, where they meet Kevin again. They find the Resurrection Casket, but Glint's treasure is gone. Drel is angry that the Doctor insists that the Casket can't be used to revive Drel's dead wife, so orders Kevin to kill him. But the Doctor manages to survive. The Casket is opened, and found empty. Drel is trapped inside it. The mutinous robots react badly to the loss of Glint, especially when the Doctor explains that Glint was rescued years ago from the Casket, which had restored him to being a baby - the same fate that now befalls Drel. The robots are all killed, and Kevin is released from his bonds of command. The TARDIS safe, the Doctor and Rose leave. |
| Review:- Pirates! In Space! Not promising, frankly... The set-up is dramatic, with a gruesome death and a grizzly monster, countered with the breakdown of the TARDIS, and the discovery that the Doctor and Rose are not trapped amid nuclear winter, but rather a steam-powered space colony. Things limp onwards from there... the Doctor and Rose luckily meet friends quickly, and the Doctor makes an enemy, whilst Rose witnesses the monster in action. A little chit-chat about pirates later and everyone's off in a ship to find a lost pirate and his treasure. And so on. The crew turn out to be mutinous, and the bad guy is irredeemably bad, whilst the treasure is missing, and the lost pirate isn't that lost, and doesn't want to be a pirate any more anyway. And the TARDIS starts working again, so when the Doctor puts the story together, he and Rose can nip off at the end. Despite this lack of drama, it is at least an enjoyable read. Kevin the apologetic monster works well because his extreme violence is actually presented, and the contradiction with his manner is surreal. He is clearly built as a threat, so that when the Doctor is marked as his next victim, it's hard to see how he will survive. There's a clear message between the piratical life, and the pursuit of treasure. Jimm thinks that the sailor's life is exciting by its very nature, whereas Drel is more interested in the hunt for plunder. Having recently re-read Dreams of Empire, the notion of a lost, central character, who later turns out not to want to go back to the old ways (approximately) isn't all that surprising. And Drel's insane belief that his wife can be restored means that the fabled Casket must have some other purpose than that which is said of it. And so it proves, when the Doctor slowly explains the truth. The story was at one stage announced as The Genesis Casket, but the rename proves more accurate. As the fearsome Glint turns out to be harmless young Jimm, so the nasty Drel will presumably grow up to take a new path. It's the same sort of thing as in Boom Town, but done more effectively, and with less desperation. Rose manages to work well, despite having little to do, and the Doctor is quite well written, within the confines of the little he does. His thwarting of Kevin, and ultimately of Drel, are high spots, as is his sensible use of the psychic paper (for once). It's not a terribly compelling book, but it reads well. |
| Disclaimer: I've read the book. |