Friday 25 November 2016

A Time Lord For Change - unused Drabble for 'Alien Bodies'

As I mentioned in another recent post, I submitted a couple of Drabbles for Chinbeard Books' A Time Lord For Change that weren't used for one reason or another. Here then is the second of those. I had the temerity to propose one for Lawrence Miles' brilliant EDA Alien Bodies. The editors decided in the end they weren't going to go down the route of spin-offs or novels, to keep the book focussed on the TV adventures - which is a fair decision and probably makes the book generally more accessible. Including areas such as the original novels of the 'Wilderness Years' would most likely open a can of (Time)wyrms anyway.

You can find out more about Chinbeard Books and A Time Lord For Change, plus links to purchase it here:

http://www.chinbeardbooks.com/p-o-d-beard

Proceeds from the sale of this book go to the mental health charity MIND http://www.mind.org.uk/

You can follow the editors and publisher on Twitter on @cliffchapman, @eltownendjones; @BarnabyEJ; @ChinbeardBooks

My thanks go to Cliff for conceiving the project and allowing me to contribute, and also to Elton and Barnaby for picking up the baton when needed and pushing the whole thing through to fruition. I sincerely hope the book does well and raises lost of money for such a good cause.

So here then, for your perusal, is my other unused Drabble:


Alien Bodies: ‘Don’t Try The Slurry’

Scientific unit Delta reporting. Meteor F7 found unsuitable, mining resulted in breakup. No loss of resource, but structural damage to saucer. Emergency repair landing on planetoid designated K120t0Ω. Crystalline slurry discovered on planetoid surface. Substance inert, but exhibits high energy potential. Siphoned into hold for further investigation.

Report ends.

Supplemental: Substance shows signs of activity post-launch, bubbling and solidifying at edges. Operatives observing. Behaviour contradicts accepted change of matter states upon injection of energy. Unit leader advises caution.

Supplemental ends.

Further supplemental: Assist! Urgent assist! Slurry has invaded several Dalek casings and-
KROTON WARNING: THE HIGH BRAINS HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED!

Saturday 19 November 2016

Review: Evil UnLtd Vol 1: The Root Of All Evil, by Simon A Forward



Evil UnLtd Vol 1: The Root of All Evil, by Simon A Forward
Subtitled ‘The Farce Of The Dark Side’ as are all the subsequent volumes.
I must point out at the start that this, and the subsequent three volumes (at the time of writing), are all charity publications – whether e-book or hard copy, all proceeds from the sales of these Evil UnLtd books go to Cancer Research. That, in itself, makes this a very noble undertaking by the author since this is not a short book and it is brimming-over with ideas.
The basic premise is refreshing – we follow the ‘baddies’ , Dexter Snide and his evil troupe, as they plot and attempt to carry out their wicked schemes, often in the face of ill fortune and ineptitude, countered by ‘goody’ opposition from muscle-bound hero Rolph Stengun (think Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rainier Wolfcastle and Dolph Lundgren all rolled into one). Forward plays to the old actors’ adage that the best roles are the villains; they’re the ones with the most interesting lives, the meatiest raison d’etre. None of the crimes perpetrated are particularly gruesome or violent, and there is a constant level of humour, thus the reader is not encouraged to dislike Snide or his colleagues despite their openly evil intent; our perception is comfortably manipulated so that the baddies become the heroes - a bit like  in the TV series Blake’s 7, where the characters we should be looking upon as terrorists are actually the ones we relate to and root for. In fact if the reader is encouraged to dislike anyone it's certainly dull, stupid and pedantically obsessive Stengun, who seems to right wrongs or prevent crime simply by the power of being there. Snide, on the face of it, appears to have a solid plan: he wants to set up a company, the titular Evil UnLtd.
Forward’s influences are clear from the offset. This is a very lexical book, delighting in the English language and the humorous interplay of words. Add to that the sci-fi setting, the eccentric or exaggerated characters and you have a work heavily reminiscent of Douglas Adams. That’s not to say the book is derivative in any way; Forward is not emulating Adams, he merely subscribes to a similar style of humour, and unlike many of Adams’ novels there is a clear and specific storyline running through all three consecutive mini stories that constitute this book. Other influences abound as well – Doctor Who, Blackadder, more that I could list and doubtless plenty others of which I am not personally aware. All authors carry their influences on our sleeves when putting finger to keyboard. One of the bonuses for the reader here is spotting these influences when they raise their heads and wink at you before ducking back down beneath the parapet, but enjoyment of the book is not dependent on you knowing these references or influences by any means – a bit like watching the Channel 4 sitcom Spaced, for example.
Breaking the book into three story sections is definitely in its favour. Word wit of this ilk can become taxing for the reader after a while. It is a very funny book and a very energetic and lively narrative with some real laugh-out-loud moments. But I was reminded of reading Austen’s Northanger Abbey, or Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, where after so many pages of repeated wit I could only sigh ‘enough already’ and put the book down in frustration. One needs a break from the relentless onslaught, and this tripartite structure does at least relieve the reader from time to time and allow them time to settle and recharge before taking on the next stage. It would be a disservice to the author and his creativity to get to the end and complain about humour fatigue.
I probably enjoyed the first section the most, but then I was rather enchanted with the set up and the various roles the characters were playing in their scenarios.  The middle section is a transition, allowing for some interesting character developments within the group dynamic which then facilitates much of the third section, giving the whole book a coherency that on the face of it one might erroneously believe it lacks. Stengun is amusingly dull and slow-witted, but you wouldn’t want to read any more about him than you do. Snide is a classic villain: focussed on his goals, blinkered at times, often unwilling or unable to listen to advice, yet he seems to engender the support of others who look on him as a natural leader. Professor Doomladen is probably my favourite character, starting off as a restaurateur with an ingenious way of getting payment from disgruntled patrons. Tanith Troy, the stunningly beautiful actress, is possibly where the audience perspective lies – at least initially; as hostage she is the recipient of much of the exposition and explanation that the reader requires, without the author having to settle for an omniscient narrator figure. It is also in Troy that we can see plenty of opportunities for the future within these stories.
I was aware before venturing into this book that there were a further three titles in the series to date. Having read this first one that doesn’t surprise me, and I shall be picking them up to read. Forward has created a universe which offers plenty of scope for development and where pretty much anything can happen.
I urge people to purchase and read this for two reasons – it’s a very funny book and it’s for a very worthwhile cause.
Find out more about the range, plus purchase copies here:  https://4devil.wordpress.com/
You can follow the author Simon A Forward on Twitter on @prefect4d

Friday 18 November 2016

A Time Lord For Change - unused Drabble for 'The Moonbase'

I submitted several pieces for Chinbeard Books' A Time Lord For Change which, for one reason or another ended up not being used. Here's one, as a taster...


The Moonbase: ‘We’ll Always have Coventry.’

Dearest Jane,

I hope this letter finds you well? I know we agreed that this six month placement would give us the space we both needed, but I miss you terribly and I know in my heart that I still love you. It’s awful up here; I’ve a constant headache from the gravitron, Hobson is a mardy old bugger and there’s all these fey European-types everywhere. I don’t know why they don’t allow women up here. Or maybe I do, thinking about it. I wish I was back on Earth with you, in Coventry. I’m sorry.

All my love,

Evans