Subject:      The Sands of Time - review by the Happy Guy
From:         gaffney@iconn.net (Sean Gaffney)
Date:         1996/06/03
Message-Id:   <4ov9rq$oee@news.iconn.net>
Organization: i-Conn
Newsgroups:   rec.arts.drwho

Ah, me.  I'm getting behind.  After a few years of hating comic books, and
never giving them a second glance, I have been corrupted.  Rumiko
Takahashi has taken my brain and I can't do a thing with it.  So until this
wears off, the reviews might not be as quick as they once were.

Anyway.  Most people here on radw have their favorite DW author.  A lot
of people mention Kate Orman and Paul Cornell, excellent choices.  Some
mention Gareth Roberts, or Terrance Dicks.  I could argue, but OK.  A
couple mention Barry Letts and Neil Penswick.  Let's not even go there.

But for me, it's been Justin Richards.  Three times has he released a book,
and each time have I been amazed.  Theatre of War - stunning.  System
Shock - thrilling.  And now The Sands of Time -

SPOILERS!

complex and brilliant.  This was the first of the so-called "sequel" books
that are coming out all through the summer.  A sequel to Pyramids of Mars,
regarded as the sine qua non of DW, it nevertheless manages to pull it
off.  Let's discuss:

PLOT:  Gah.  This book twists and turns like...a twisty turny thing.  Told sort
of sideways in terms of events, it nevertheless manages to drop enough hints
to keep us one step ahead of Tegan, if not the Doctor.  Has the feeling of a
Christie mystery, sort of Styles meets Death on the Nile.

THE DOCTOR:  Totally Peter Davison.  Breathless, endearing, capable of
even more righteous indignation than Tom Baker was, the Doctor marches
through the book, filling in blanks, watching as people die all round (a Davison
forte), and coming up with a brilliant bluff.  Cornell would be proud.

TEGAN:  Better written here than in most of the TV eps, this Tegan manages
to be bitchy without being annoying, and seems used to the Doctor at last.
A grown-up Tegan, something this era lacked at times.

NYSSA:  Mostly absent, but still Nyssa-ish.  I like the description of her as
the ultimate innocent.  Not if the radw fanboys get through with her...

OTHERS:  Atkins is sort of the Jeeves of the book.  I imagined Stephen Fry
playing him, which worked out fine.  Rassul is sort of the villain, I guess, but
he's mainly there to be chilling.

MOOD:  Totally gothic.  Lots o' mummys, some burning shoulder corpses, and
lamb cutlet fun - who could ask for anything more?

OVERALL:  I really liked this book.  With Happy Endings and History of the
Universe on top of it, May is perhaps the best book month...since the one with
Justin's last book.  More!

10/10.

Next:  Ah, me.  Who Killed Kennedy, which I'm 50/50 about.  GodEngine, which
I'm not really looking forward to (Craig reminds me of John Sessions at times), and
Killing Ground, which I *am* looking forward to.  But those are for later...

--Sean Gaffney
--"You git!  I thought you were dead!  Git git git!" - Benny, No Future