The Master of Callous: The Glittering Prize

"The darkness is hungry!"

Writer: James Goss
Format: Audio
Released: December 2018
Series: The War Master 2.02

Featuring: War Master

Synopsis

On the mining colony Callous, Elliot King struggles to meet the demands of its governor, Teremon. The odds are stacked against him, and his options are running low. The world that once promised dreams now offers only despair.

A wild Ood stalks the forests, carrying an antiquated phone. The caller promises much – he claims he can change the world – but he always speaks a devastating truth.

He is the Master and the Ood will obey him... but to what end?

Verdict

The Glittering Prize was a pretty average continuation of The Master of Callous series. I was glad that we got a starring role for Derek Jacobi as the War Master in this one, but I was a little disappointed that he was doing good for the entire adventure! That just isn't what makes a good story for me when the Master is the main character. The Ood were used perhaps a little less which was a strange move as I would have expected something more from the Master regarding them, but instead we just got that he'd designated two of them as being called William and Mary. That was somewhat humorous I guess but I'm just wanting more to happen! This is definitely a slow burner and I can appreciate that things are being built up, but I hoped for a little more at this stage if I'm honest. Time went forward a whole year since the events of Call for the Dead which was very surprising after all of the setup work done there, but now the Colony was somewhat thriving and Cassandra and Martine were now rich. I would have liked a little more Teremon in her crafty role as the Governor, but it was enough to know that she had now raked up an agreement to have 50% of the mine's profits, and she was striving to see that increased now by a further 20%. Cassandra wasn't having any of that. The Ood basically going into shutdown mode was an interesting development, but I liked the courage of Cassandra in wanting to hide all of the valuable swenyo (sp?) for her impending arrival and inevitable search. She seemed to rather like stripping colonies rare and taking the financial benefits. That's what makes her a brilliant villain. I would really like to hear her go up against the Doctor, but the prospect of her now with the Master is something I am interested in and I hope we get an improvement in the next instalment. The Master and Martine, along with the stowaway Herschel, were transporting all of the swenyo through an asteroid belt and were oh so close to avoiding detection. You get the feeling that the Master is playing the long game throughout this story as a whole and in this moment, which I am surprised about given his excellent quote regarding the Time War that was raging on. But surely war requires action? I guess I don't know exactly what he's up to yet. I think the beauty of the Master's disguises work well when we don't know that he's about to pop out and reveal his intentions like in Time-Flight or World Enough and Time, but the idea of him doing good and aiding just about everyone in the colony as Orman doesn't fit the character. Particularly during a time of war as well! I want to just mention Kai Owen who I'm delighted to hear in a non-Torchwood role and I would be more than happy for his character's role to increase as the series goes on. A little side note as well, I am a little saddened just for the look of my blog that each individual story in this boxset doesn't have its own artwork! That's a big shame, but the cover is still sublime. So, good in parts but not a story that I'd want of the War Master so there were definite improvements to be made from my perspective. I'm glad there was more Jacobi, and I hope we get to see the Master's sinister side in the next story. Overall, pretty decent but things could be better.

Rating: 6/10