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STORY PLACEMENT THIS STORY TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE NOVELS "FEAR OF THE DARK" AND "ZETA MAJOR."
WRITTEN BY JUSTIN RICHARDS
RECOMMENDED PURCHASE OFFICIAL VIRGIN PAPERBACK (ISBN 0-426-20472-7) RELEASED IN MAY 1996.
BLURB Arriving in Victorian London, the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan run straight into trouble: Nyssa is kidnapped in the British Museum by Egyptian religious fanatics; the Doctor and Tegan are greeted by a stranger who knows more about them than he should and invited to a very strange party.
Why are rooms already booked for the Doctor at the Savoy? How can Lord Kenilworth’s butler Atkins be in Egypt and London at the same time? What is the history of the ancient mummy to be unwrapped at Kenilworth’s house? And what has all this got to do with Nyssa?
The Doctor’s quest for answers leads him across continents and time as an ancient Egyptian prophecy threatens 1990s England. While the Doctor attempts to unravel the plans of the mysterious Sadan Rassul, mummies stalk the night and an ancient terror stirs in its tomb. |
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The Sands of Time MAY 1996
I have come to realise that I just do not get on with Justin Richards’ books. He may be one of Doctor Who literature’s most respected writers, but I am afraid that his work just does not do it for me. His sequel to the classic fourth Doctor serial “Pyramids of Mars” is a slow and measured story, the author wasting too many words on description and ambience to the detriment of plot and character.
On the face of it, “The Sands of Time” is based on a fascinating premise: Nyssa is kidnapped and ‘mummified’ for centuries, the intended receptacle of the Osiran Nephthys. It is up to the Doctor, Tegan and an old butler named Atkins to cross continents and time zones in their hunt to prevent her from becoming host to a creature of pure malevolence.
Sounding good so far? Well unfortunately the execution leaves much to be desired. The main story line is completely encapsulated by the above paragraph; all I need do is tag on a line about a cop-out ending featuring a certain Nyssa lookalike and that is the entirety of the plot revealed. There is little else in there.
However, whilst Richards’ story and supporting characters may be unremarkable, I do have to admit that he does write marvellously for the bickering duo of the fifth Doctor and Tegan. At times he even makes them seem like they care about one another – the magic of the printed word, seeing into their heads. Fascinating stuff.
The true highlight of the novel for me though has to be the back-story that Richards gives to the Osirans. We learn that they hail from Phæster Osiris, that they instructed Scaroth (from “City of Death”) to build the Pyramids, and that the Pyramids are in fact a map of Orion. Wonderful, evocative stuff… that could not fill more than a page. And Nephthys? Badder than Sutekh, apparently...
Pity she is relegated to a non-speaking role.
I suppose that if you liked Richards’ previous novels, then you will probably like this one. It is unquestionably a step up from “Theatre of War”, if not from “System Shock”. On the whole though, I did not get a lot out of this one. Give me “Pyramids of Mars” or even better still Stargate any day…
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Copyright © E.G. Wolverson 2006
E.G. Wolverson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. |
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This novel’s blurb places it between the television serials Arc of Infinity and Snakedance. We have placed it within this gap, between the novels Fear of the Dark (which is set directly after Arc of Infinity) and Zeta Major (which was released later).
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