The Resurrection Casket

"Let's go find some treasure!"

Writer: Julian Richards

Format: Novel

Released: April 2006

Series: NSA 09

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis

Starfall – a world on the edge, where crooks and smugglers hide in the gloomy shadows and modern technology refuses to work. And that includes the TARDIS.

The pioneers who used to be drawn by the hope of making a fortune from the mines can find easier picking elsewhere. But they still come, for the romance of it, or in the hope of finding the lost treasure of Hamlek Glint – scourge of the space ways, privateer, adventurer, bandit...

Will the TARDIS ever work again? Is Glint's lost treasure waiting to be found? And does the fabled Resurrection Casket – the key to eternal life – really exist? With the help of new friends, and facing terrifying enemies, the Doctor and Rose aim to find out...

Verdict

The Resurrection Casket was a great New Series Adventures novel! I really enjoyed this one and the idea of a pirate and bandits story in space worked very well. I liked the immediate trepidation caused by the inabilities of the TARDIS and how it was instantly impacted by the zeg. That concept was fun and the concept of arriving on a world where all electrical items were essentially useless was excellent. The Doctor was expecting to exit the TARDIS, which in of itself was a struggle, into an oblivion but Rose announcing they were at a pub was very humorous. I thought that served as a strong basis to catch up on events and the local situation, and the Doctor and Rose really made themselves at home. Starfall was a decent setting and I liked how Sally was the bar-woman and in on all the gossip. Her makeup as part robot and part organic was great and I liked how crucial that was to her demise by the book's conclusion. I loved the story of the lost treasure of Hamlek Glint and the myth it had grown into. Counterfeits had become common, but the search and desire for the real loot of treasure was magnificent. Bobb was a good character and his insistence that little nephew Jimm not go and explore space was intriguing, but the truth was outstanding and bumped the story up a rating. I must admit that I wasn't a fan of Kevin in the slightest and the idea of a great big grizzly monster that apologised for the deaths it was causing was a little underwhelming. It didn't seem so threatening and it was a shame that this was the result of the Black Shadow which was something I liked. Drel McCavity being the one in control of Kevin was interesting thanks to the medallion sold onto him a decade or so previously, and his emotional story with his wife had gone so far now. He was still talking to her amidst a sign of madness and he still had her skeleton in the dress she died in in the hope of finding and using the famed Resurrection Casket. This device supposedly claiming to hold Glint was fun but the truth was so much better. The Doctor was trying to convince Drel that the Casket wouldn't do what he wished for his wife and the truth of him finding that she had cheated on him and then he shot her in the head was horrendous. The screaming sculpture also being the fate of the man she was with was disturbing but it perfectly highlighted how deranged McCavity was. I thought Sally assembling the team to track down the Buccaneer was very good and the Doctor having an ulterior motive in getting to that ship to get the TARDIS away from the zen and able to open again was brilliant. I thought the characterisation of the Tenth Doctor was a little cheesy but that's not a huge surprise after finding out that the book was released prior to the broadcast of New Earth, so there was only The Christmas Invasion to base the incarnation on. References to both episodes in the adventure were welcomed though! Rose had a strong showing in this story and the relationship she built with Jimm was really nice. Her being used to reveal the truth about Sally and her actually being Salvo 7-50 was a fantastic moment. The crew she assembled was actually the old Glint crew which was a lot of fun, but they never seemed overly threatening which was a shame and they were quite fun. I thought the threat of Kevin taking out the Doctor as he had the Black Shadow being a chapter cliffhanger on three occasions was overkill, and I actually sighed at the third time, but the crossword conversation at the end between them was amusing. The Doctor getting story time and revealing the truth about the treasure and Glint was terrific, and the famed and mythical pirate actually being Jimm reborn was incredible! That was the truth about the Resurrection Casket, it started life anew as we found with McCavity. That was really strong. The Doctor showing a ruthless streak with Salvo and making her own choice as she chose revenge was very good and tied things up nicely. Overall, a really great read! 

Rating: 8/10