TITLE

The Infinity Race

AUTHOR

Simon Messingham

PREVIOUS FORM

for the defence: Strange England (NA); The Face Eater (EDA)

for the prosecution: Nothing. Although many people seem to dislike all his books, so it may be up to the jury on this one...

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT ALFIE?

Well, Sabbath's barmy scheme this weeks involves the planet of Selonart. Bung enough radiation into the sea there, or even better let off a couple of nuclear explosions, and the ocean starts to form huge icebergs which have the power to merge past, present, and future into a single moment. Sabbath wants to harness this power for his own ends, and jolly japes ensue!

THE 100 WORD REVIEW

Simon Messingham's books always seem to get a lukewarm reception, and that's at best. And although I admit that this one doesn't entirely end very satisfactorily, and although the narrative technique of having both Anji and Fitz as first person narrators throughout doesn't totally work, and although the Warlock of Demigest only appears to be in the book so that something actually happens between the start and the end... despite all that, I did enjoy it. A bit ploddy, a bit uneven, but curiously appealing for all its faults. Maybe I just have a thing about siding with the underdog?

THE C WORD

Well, firstly an update on the "Fitz is a stud" front. This time around he pairs up with a pretty young thing called Valeria. Now, admittedly, she spends most of the book wanting to kill him, but compared to some of Fitz' recent experiences (time-traveller groupies and ill-equipped cartoon characters) that probably counts as a step in the right direction. Nothing actually happens romantically speaking, but equally she doesn't actually go through with killing him, so that has to count for something, right?

The on-going series of insights into Anji's life before she became a time-traveller continues, this time with an allusion to "Cheers" on page 166. In fact, Anji seems to have led quite the domestic idyll, and in mourning for the possible loss of her particular universe, she pines for a world "of bad weather and toast and Saturday tea times in front of the telly." Far more interesting, in terms of Anji's innermost thoughts, and as early as page 31 Anji considers stripping off and diving naked into the sea. Sadly, 242 pages later it remains just a nice idea. Oh, the perils of false advertising...

Otherwise, aside from my lusting after Anji, and Fitz' lusting after.. well, after anything that moves really, it's all pretty quiet on the continuity front. There is a rather pointless reference to the first seven Doctors on page 11, and the character of Bloom has his name briefly spelt as Blum on page 40 (which may be a sly reference to Who author Jonathan Blum) but that really is about it!

I.T.M.A.

There are several rather juicy descriptions of yer man Sabbath here, mainly from the Doctor: "a man of many parts... Extraordinary fellow" (page 3); "Amoral, ruthless, utterly egocentric in his indifference to human suffering but not evil. He believes he is doing good" (page 93); and "Sometimes I don't think Sabbath is a man at all. Not any more... Perhaps he too is an unknowing puppet of primeval forces" (page 123). We even learn that his ship is part-sentient. Hmm, sounds familiar...

In this particular universe at least, Sabbath is a bit of a legend, and there is even an Earth-based Group committed to trying to assassinate him. I suppose that's a sort of compliment...

Most intriguingly, we get a reminder of the existence of "his masters" on page 178. Maybe I'm just seeing patterns in things that aren't there (yes, again!) but on the same page, Sabbath urges one of his stooges to deal with the indigenous population, as a part of his latest master plan. What's interesting is the word that is used: Exterminate... Could Sabbath's masters be... Hmm...

Oh, and for those interested in pseudonyms, Sabbath spends part of the book posing as one Count De Vries. Unlike the Master in the 1980s, this clearly isn't an anagram of his name, so I have to assume that Sabbath is a fan of The Stones of Blood. Or To The Manor Born.

I - AM - THE - DOCTOR!

Probably the most significant thing here is the Doctor's deliberate killing of Sabbath in chapter 12. He tricks him into triggering an explosion, with the clear intent of disposing of Sabbath. Sabbath does (of course!) survive to gloat smugly another day, but that's solely due to planning on his part, not compassion on the Doctor's.

For a man with amnesia, the Doctor seems to remember an awful lot of useful things in this book. Fine points of Imperial legislation, the Warlocks of Demigest, and even the planet Selonart itself. Maybe he's forgotten he has amnesia...

MONEY IN THE BANK ZILDA!

This Book: Another purchase via Amazon, for £4.14 all in. The seller turned out to be none other than Planet Skaro's Goldfinch99. Thanks Matthew!!

Running Score: £92.79 against RRP to date.