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Revelation of the Daleks

by Jon Preddle (TSV Books)

Book review by Phillip J Gray

My initial reaction to this novel was one of pleasure: finally, one of the better Eighties Dalek stories and one of Colin Baker's best had been novelised. In general I was not to be disappointed. Jon has created a very readable and well-written piece of fiction, with some excellent background detail (such as that on p.22-3 which reads very 'Saward' in nature). Thankfully he has not indulged in the kind of pretentious overwriting such as that exhibited by some of the recent series-based novels such as The Curse of Fenric. Revelation of the Daleks is a well written novel similar to John Peel's, although it has a few low points.

The character of Peri is very unsympathetically portrayed. Whether this reflects the personal opinion of the author I am unsure, but it does detract from the work, as does the other major flaw - the notable absence of any characterisation from Madame Kara Wardas, a potentially fascinating character whose role is reduced to cliched mouthings such as 'You know how hard it is to find good servants these days'.

Overall, a good novel, almost worthy of a Bidmead or a Peel, and certainly a very worthwhile addition to the novelisations of Colin Baker's undervalued era, and the range of Doctor Who novelisations in general.

This item appeared in TSV 31 (November 1992).

Index nodes: Revelation of the Daleks