"There's nothing good on the telly until 1963."
Writers: Alex Kingston & Jacqueline Rayner
Format: Novel
Released: May 2021
Series: BBC PDA 03
Featuring: River
Synopsis
She's got ice in her heart and a kiss on her lips...
1939, New York. Private Eye, Melody Malone, is hired to find a stolen ruby, the Eye of Horus. The rub might hold the secret to the location of Cleopatra's tomb – but everyone who comes into contact with it dies. Can Melody escape the ruby's curse?
1939, New York. River Song, author of the Melody Malone Mysteries, is forced to find a reality-altering weapon, the Eye of Horus – but everyone who comes into contact with it dies. River doesn't believe in curse – but is she wrong?
From the top-security confines of Stormcage to the barbarism of first-century Egypt, River battles to find the Eye of Horus before its powers are used to transform the universe. To succeed, she must team up with a most unlikely ally – her own fictional alter ego, Melody. And together they must solve another mystery: is fiction changing into fact – or is fact changing into fiction?
Verdict
The Ruby's Curse was a pretty average read I am sad to say. I was so looking forward to this one and it has been long overdue me getting around to reading it! I'm a massive fan of the character of River Song so to have a whole novel with the input of the brilliant Alex Kingston herself as the credited author was awfully exciting. Unfortunately the book fell a little way short of what I was hoping for. It's annoying because at the heart of the novel there really does feel like there's a very strong story there, but the way it was presented was just all wrong. I thought the format of the book hurt it a great deal as it was just a bit of a mess to be honest. I think the premise of a River Song story where she meets her own creation in the form of the Melody Malone character is exciting and something that sounds magnificent. However, the convoluted execution here with chapters shifting between the book we were reading and the book that featured within the story was not a great stylistic choice in my opinion. Starting each chapter with the year and location was also a little odd as there were quite a few in a row that stayed in the same place and time. The scale of the story was impressive with the range going from Ancient Egypt all the way to the Stormcage facility. I thought it was quite fun that River had reached a point where she was breaking into the supposedly impenetrable prison for a place to have some quiet time for writing and reading. Something that is unfortunately ironic about the book though is that despite the author being who she is, the first person format really didn't feel like River was captured authentically. That really isn't lost on me but unfortunately I think it's true. I would have much preferred a third person format as when Melody arrived in full fashion, it wasn't always clear who was speaking. Also, this is just a personal preference but I bloody hated the accent and the incorrect grammar in the way that Melody was depicted. I thought River addressing that within the story was good and I liked that she was having regrets, but crikey it didn't half annoy me! I thought the plot was actually strong with the ruby at the centre actually being genuinely interesting. I liked the idea of a curse but after a lengthy build it seemed something of a throwaway to come up with the idea of it only being able to be held by those who weren't actively seeking to take it. River being that person and having the power of the Eye of Horus behind her was exciting and she did put it to good use. Her relationship with Melody was quite amusing and I enjoyed the concept of them being sisters. River being placed within the book of her own making was fascinating, but things had been changed by her Stormcage buddy Ventrion. He was a decent character although I felt his setting up of booby traps in the past whilst simultaneously sending messages to River through the book he had taken authorship of was a little difficult to believe. I couldn't believe there wasn't a reunion either! Mrs Jones as the secretary actually turning out to be the murderer was something I didn't see coming, but I did like that she was actually Ruby Badger! That worked well. I thought Phil was going to turn out to actually be Horace P. Wallace but alas he turned out to be the lost to history son of Cleopatra, Caesarion! That was a little weird but I liked the idea of him being a character that River had not written into the story. The search for Cleopatra's tomb was a lot of fun and River having to admit to taking on her appearance in The Pandorica Opens was pretty fun stuff. I was less keen on Cat Malone due to the ridiculousness, but what a name! For me, whilst the plot was strong just in a convoluted and messy form, the highlight of the book has to be the idea of Meldoy having dinner with Amy and Rory post-The Angels Take Manhattan. That was glorious and it coming to explain how Amy took over writing as Melody was wonderful. Overall, some strong stuff but a very slow start and not a format that lent itself kindly.
Rating: 6/10