| TWILIGHT OF THE GODS by Christopher Bulis |
| Story ? Synopsis: The TARDIS lands on a strange planet which the Doctor finds familiar. Victoria falls down into a tunnel, and the Doctor and Jamie are taken prisoner. During a skirmish, they escape and are then taken prisoner by the other side. They realise they are on Vortis, where their kidnappers, the Rhumon, are fighting a civil war between Imperial and Republican factions. Victoria is taken prisoner by rebel Menoptera, but freed when they realise she is not a Rhumon, and are glad to hear of the return of the Doctor. They disguise her so she can try and rescue the Doctor and Jamie, but is exposed, and they are already gone. Jamie explores underground tunnels. The Doctor realises the division between the Rhumon is unnecessary, but then they're attacked by replicas of the Rhumon, and forced to dig for minerals. With tanks loaded up, they're all taken to an island in the centre of a sea, where the Doctor learns that the mineral they were finding was isocryte, and the force guiding them all around is the Animus. It is growing stronger all the time. He opts to use the TARDIS to land next to the creature, offload a nuclear device and destroy it, but his ship is drawn off course to a strange giant laboratory. There, they learn that Vortis is a mere experiment under surveillance by students, one of whom introduced the seed of the Animus. Their teacher tries to destroy the infestation, but it is already too great. The Doctor manipulates the technology so that the Animus can be attacked in its own dimensions. This done, Vortis is returned to its own destiny, and the Rhumon vow to leave the Menoptera in peace. |
| Review:- Sequels can be tricky things. To avoid making a direct rehash of its predecessor, The Web Planet, Bulis introduces two new plot elements that drive the story along, with varying success. The Rhumon are a fairly well-devised new race whose lives seem to be beset by their ongoing struggle against each other. This adds a new dimension to the Vortis antics, where several differing species generally get on harmoniously, normally, but who cannot cope with either set of aliens. The Menoptera seem to generally be the bystanders caught in the crossfire of the Rhumon conflict. And into the mix comes the TARDIS, and the Doctor eventually realises where he is, by which time, he's lost touch with Victoria. He loses Jamie, too, and all three have the strength to move events along as best they can. The characterisation is very well done, although the landscapes and events are at times too spectacular to comprehend. By the time the story moves towards the end with spectral battles on Vortis and in a giant laboratory, things get rather too visual for the printed page to cope with. The Imperial/Republic divide amongst the Rhumon is a classic example of two groups who share many facets but won't recognise it through their own mutual hatred. It takes the Doctor to show that a simple chemical imbalance is part of the problem, although obviously things are never that simple in real life. But, nice try. In particular, the fanatics, Nevon-two and Modeenus, make for impressive individual dangers without to have the respective "mad leaders" cliche. The lab rats, Bris, Twel and Ilex, are rather less fortunate, owing to their rather obscure mode of speech and character. Whilst their situation is just about explicable, and their casual mis-treatment of Vortis makes the situation on the planet even more tragic, their brief appearances are so oblique as to be irritatingly odd. Their tutor is slightly more bearable, but by the time they try to correct their mistake, its too late, leading to a rather cobbled climax, which seems to be just improvised on the spot, which may be a fitting homage to Season 5, but is otherwise rubbish. The Animus, sadly, is little more interesting than the first time around, and the Menoptera serve merely to give us a parallel of slavery, and to have their unlikely flight explained. This comes in the form of scientific waffle, losing any interest the reader may still have. Overall, it turns out to be a fairly solid story after a pretty boring start, but overeggs its pudding with far too many ingredients, which leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |