A Master of Disguise

"You are in need of my masks again?"

Writer: Mike Tucker

Format: Short Story

Released: November 2020

Printed in: I Am The Master 04

Featuring: The Master

Synopsis

The Master is forced to engineer a daring and desperate heists in order to save the architect of his many disguises from certain death.

Verdict

A Master of Disguise was an excellent short story to continue my reading of the I Am The Master: Legends of the Renegade Time Lord collection! I loved how this fitted in with the continuity of the Master as a whole throughout all of his incarnations and it is something I had never actually considered. Just where did the Master obtain all of his legendary disguises? Answering that question here is a wonderful use of the short story format that this book presents and it's done such a simple but excellent way. This particular adventure mainly features the Anthony Ainley incarnation of the Master that we would know fondly from Logopolis onwards, but getting a little cameo of the Roger Delgado version that introduced us to the Doctor's arch enemy was very nicely done. With all that Moses would do for the Master, you would be forgiven for thinking that he would receive good hospitality from his forced employer. Essentially, the Master had Moses imprisoned and living off bland water and food that was enough to survive but hardly anything to provide an ounce of pleasure. Moses being an artist and starting off the book with a little character history worked really well and it was nice to know that he initially didn't think of himself as anything hugely special in the art world. Once he sold his first piece and the word of mouth that spread from there, he was on his way and that was terrific to read. He was a very likeable character. His sense of feeling abandoned was good and I liked how his reaction to the Master's new incarnation following all that occurred in The Deadly Assassin and The Keeper of Traken was one of annoyance and sadness because he believed his new guise to be a mask! That truly was delightful. I was taken back a little when the Master's mission for the story was revealed and it appeared that we were going to be getting a rare meeting between the Ainley Master and the Fourth Doctor. We had a couple of pages of conversation and explanation regarding the Doctor warning Tovin that the Master was out to capture the deadly ingredient of Carenophil that would keep Moses alive and ensure the conveyor belt of masked disguises kept coming the Master's way. The way this was written was brilliant and the reveal that the Master had taken on a disguise of the Doctor was just tremendous in every way. It was so good and put an instant smile on my face and it was probably at this moment that this story became the best in the collection so far in my opinion. The fun that can be had with the Master impersonating the Doctor is endless and it was well utilised here, even if he did split up when it came to the blueprints and Clincian Mills being a woman, not a man has he had replied. That blunder was fun because Tovin was now ready for the Master on his escape, but this forced our loveable renegade into a state of desperation and that's often where he thrives. His desire to get more of the Carenophil for him to study was good and I really enjoyed how he was annoyed that he could only obtain limited amounts before setting off any serious danger alarms. The fact that the Master's mission was ultimately a waste of time and that he had been fooled by Moses relatively easy was a superb way to end the book and the explanation of how he fed the Master's ego was really nicely done. The Master took the revelation pretty well considering the ordeal he went through, but the Carenophil was actually enough to kill off Moses as he was way past the due date to prolong his life. The Master leaving his prison as a tomb honouring the Master of Disguises was a nice touch to what was a fantastic short story! 

Rating: 9/10