The Master of Callous: The Persistence of Dreams

"People forget about me all the time."

Writer: Guy Adams
Format: Audio
Released: December 2018
Series: The War Master 2.03

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 Persistence of Dreams was a great little audio and a much-needed improvement to The Master of Callous. I am probably going to sound a little contradictory in some of what I say for this blog entry, but this was definitely a lot better than the first two instalments of the series. Now, I'll get my big issue out of the way first and that was the incredible lack of the War Master once again. I was pretty shocked if I'm honest and I just can't comprehend why in a boxset of just four stories, you have someone as great as Derek Jacobi in just half of them! Ugh, it's so frustrating. I go back to what I said in my previous blog entries for this series in that I bought this set to get to know what the Master did in the Time War. But so far we have hardly had a mention of the Time War and the Master has only been prominent in one of the three stories so far. Maybe these blogs will come to look ridiculous after I listen to the final adventure and it will all be a great and grand plan. I do hope that is the case, but I'm not sure how confident I am regarding that. Now, back to the positives of what was a terrific individual story. I was very surprised with the direction taken by Guy Adams as he takes over the series from James Goss, but I very much enjoyed the torment that Martine underwent. The Ood were, or rather was just for the individual, used brilliantly and I was very glad that they had a more prominent role in the adventure. Martine was having a constant disagreement with reality and what was happening which was fantastic and I thought it was great to get to go into her head. We got to meet her mother and learn all about her relationship there, and we also got to fully understand how she currently feels about Cassandra. That surprised me a little, and I thought the apparent conclusion with her wife coming to rescue her was good. However, the Master had another idea and whilst the basics of what was going to happen were a little predictable, I enjoyed the anticipation very much. Martine really must have been going mad if Cassandra truly hadn't contacted her, but the Master seemed adamant. I look forward to finding out whether he was just trying to convince her of the fact or if that truly was the case. The presence of the Master in the form of the apparently deranged Orman was decent, but I would have much preferred some more time with Jacobi's proper incarnation himself. Alas, that wasn't the case but his decision to just leave Martine floating around in space after she revealed she had left the base was heartless and chilling and exactly what I want to hear more of! It was delightful and I do hope there's an abundance in the finale. The revelation that there wasn't even an Ood on the base with Martine was unexpected and I did like how this story truly showed us the effects of the swenyo and what it can do. It was pretty deadly and I do not see how Martine will survive now with the full circling of her oxygen levels running out. That was good writing. Overall, a fantastic story and I look forward to seeing what the finale offers us. Hopefully some chilling Jacobi and a link to the Time War. Fingers crossed!

Rating: 8/10