The Room

"There is no war on the moon."

Writer: Simon Guerrier
Format: Audio
Released: January 2017
Series: Graceless 4.02

Featuring: Abby, Zara

Synopsis

Buried under steel and iron and concrete, and protect by high security, there's a secret room. From here, General Onara Cormorant directs the Gloit forces as they wage war across the whole planet. But stopping the war will take much more than just getting into that room...

Verdict

The Room was a decent continuation of the second series of Graceless! This was a solid tale and definitely an intriguing one, although I was hoping for more of a narrative link between this and The Bomb. It felt strange with how things started as we heard Abby back in her familiar younger voice describing the war and how Shardine was the billionth casualty. The narration that was the pre-credits was definitely informative, but it seemed a little left field for the series as a whole. The talk of the moon was good and I liked the idea of it being defended and just the subject amidst a war. Abby seemed to be a general and launched missiles towards the moon instructing to wipe out all 20,000 inhabitants! Obviously, once the opening theme occurred we would learn how we reached those events and throwing Abby and Zara into a swamp was quite fun. The latter sister was inundated with the serpent they had come across and had planned to be there just before the imminent destruction of the entire habitat. Zara wanting to save Chris the snake was somewhat a reach when it came to justifying their efforts to alter history yet again and interfere with the war, but I couldn't help but find it amusing. I liked how Abby wasn't so keen on wanting to get involved in history again because of all those they had hurt in the past and I thought she had a pretty strong outing in this story. Their togetherness was excellent again and I liked how they were persuading Onara to bring about peace in the war that was costing so many lives. Them bringing her and Slink to the Moon for almost a peace conference was nice and their intentions were right fir diplomatic discussion. The threat of the moon dust was good and could have been utilised a little more in my opinion. I was a big fan. The incoming security vehicle that ended up separating the group worked well and it was great to play with the idea of Abby and Zara being given new family now. They didn't have an immigration pass which was a capital offence, and in order to become citizens they had to carry out work. It was a sound concept in theory but you lived as long as you worked which was a nice twist. Abby not believing that Zara was dead was good and I enjoyed how she knew that it was just to make her conform. The war itself against the Gloit was a good focus for the adventure and the desire to win on both sides was clear. Abby not being used to her younger body was great and I thought the shower humour she shared with Onara was lovely. Their relationship throughout was definitely a story highlight. Less could be said for Zara and Slink and the latter's story of how she quite literally had a story scratched into her skin was shocking and just screamed torment. Onara and Slink coming together and both being hardened to the persuasion techniques of the sisters was great and I liked how the anger between the pair was clear to hear. The way things circled back to the audio's beginning was pretty good, but the conviction in Abby's voice didn't sound as clear which didn't make much sense. Abby's desire to force Onara into asking Slink for help to stop the missiles was terrific though! However, the sisters had failed in their mission and that's become a sad theme associated with them. They try to do good, but they don't often get it right. Abby knew it was right to try which I appreciated and her confidence in believing she had ended the war anyway was magnificent. I like her a lot. The forces apparently had combined to destroy the missiles, and these were now heading for the sisters to avenge what had happened to the moon. Abby wanting it to actually succeed was a momentary surprise, but it would enhance their partnership and stop then war with the sisters just being able to absorb the impact, right? The cliffhanger finish might suggest otherwise. Overall, a decent little tale!

Rating: 7/10