Kings of Infinite Space

"Professor River Song is dead."

Writer: Donald McLeary

Format: Audio

Released: September 2018

Series: The Diary of River Song 4.02

Featuring: River Song

Synopsis

With the Discordia on their tail, River and her friends run for their lives across time and space. But when your opponent can twist cause and effect to ensure victory at every turn, then escape may well be impossible.

Verdict

Kings of Infinite Space was a pretty decent continuation of the fourth series of The Diary of River Song. I must admit it was quite different to what I expected things to be after such a strong opener, but it was still an enjoyable story and definitely did well in setting the rest of the boxset up. But that is perhaps why it didn't score quite so highly in my rating because it definitely felt like a filler rather than a great adventure in its own right. I never quite got on board with what the end goal in this audio was for River Song as she just kept on running away from the Discordia. It really was like this spinoff series version of The Chase and that was certainly fun in some parts, but I was wondering when it would come to an end. I was quite saddened by the lack of impact in Gammarae's death as she was a very good little character and a very important part of Time in a Bottle and after all she experienced there, I was surprised she was killed off so easily. There was definitely a shift in how Melak was presented as an enemy and his fascination and history with River Song definitely provided an added interest so that was a positive. I thought it was great that we got some development on Spod and he got to enjoy more time with River Song as a pairing together as he was good, but the effects of the constant time jumps were taking its toll and that was saddening to hear. The little mention of Warwick Industries was a nice touch and I enjoyed the continued use of River's sonic trowel. One thing that was fantastic about this adventure was River selling just how terrible and almost unconquerable the Discordia were. She was desperate and needed the Doctor for help. but she realised that them interfering in his timeline could have huge ramifications, something we saw on display in Turn Left. I like that dilemma and I'm sure it'll end up being how River Song is able to meet the Fourth Doctor. I'll also be very surprised if their abilities to alter time is how the Doctor will presumably hold no memory of meeting his future wife. That's all to come though and I look forward to it very much. I wasn't a massive fan of Rattus I must say and that element of the adventure just seemed to be thrown in too late to make too much of an impact. The pre-credits ending with River being mortally wounded and thrown into a vacuum was excellent and I was quite stunned with that opening, but one thing I'm never a massive fun of is the good guys (in this case River) almost always getting killed when they're actually duplicates. She was essentially a perfect copy so why does the real River never die? I'm glad she didn't though and I actually thought the android was pretty humorous. The tie in at the end with it finally getting access to the Discordia computer mainframe and disabling the time travel was terrific. I really liked that and it definitely ended things on a big positive for a story that at times fell into a feeling of filler. I'm sure things will improve from here. Alex Kingston was magnificent as River Song again and I really like the raunchiness she brings to the role. I can't wait for more. Overall, a good continuation.

Rating: 7/10