Doctor Who - The Sands of Time

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STORY PLACEMENT

THIS STORY TAKES

PLACE BETWEEN THE

NOVELS "FEAR OF THE

DARK" AND "ZETA

MAJOR."

WRITTEN BY

JUSTIN RICHARDS

RECOMMENDED

PURCHASE

OFFICIAL VIRGIN

PAPERBACK

(ISBN 0-426-20472-7)

RELEASED IN MAY 1996.

BLURB

Arriving in Victorian

London, the Doctor,

Nyssa and Tegan run

straight into trouble:

Nyssa is kidnapped in

the British Museum by

Egyptian religious

fanatics; the Doctor

and Tegan are greeted

by a stranger who

knows more about

them than he should

and invited to a very

strange party.

Why are rooms

already booked for

the Doctor at the

Savoy? How can Lord

Kenilworth’s butler

Atkins be in Egypt and

London at the same

time? What is the

history of the ancient

mummy to be

unwrapped at

Kenilworth’s house?

And what has all

this got to do with

Nyssa?

The Doctor’s quest

for answers leads

him across continents

and time as an

ancient Egyptian

prophecy threatens

1990s England. While

the Doctor attempts

to unravel the plans

of the mysterious

Sadan Rassul,

mummies stalk the

night and an ancient

terror stirs in its

tomb.

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The Sands of Time

MAY 1996

I have come to realise that I just do not get on with Justin Richards’ books. He may be one of Doctor Who literature’s most respected writers, but I am afraid that his work just does not do it for me. His sequel to the classic fourth Doctor serial “Pyramids of Mars” is a slow and measured story, the author wasting too many words on description and ambience to the detriment of plot and character.

On the face of it, “The Sands of Time” is based on a fascinating premise: Nyssa is kidnapped and ‘mummified’ for centuries, the intended receptacle of the Osiran Nephthys. It is up to the Doctor, Tegan and an old butler named Atkins to cross continents and time zones in their hunt to prevent her from becoming host to a creature of pure malevolence.

Sounding good so far? Well unfortunately the execution leaves much to be desired. The main story line is completely encapsulated by the above paragraph; all I need do is tag on a line about a cop-out ending featuring a certain Nyssa lookalike and that is the entirety of the plot revealed. There is little else in there.

However, whilst Richards’ story and supporting characters may be unremarkable, I do have to admit that he does write marvellously for the bickering duo of the fifth Doctor and Tegan. At times he even makes them seem like they care about one another – the magic of the printed word, seeing into their heads. Fascinating stuff.

The true highlight of the novel for me though has to be the back-story that Richards gives to the Osirans. We learn that they hail from Phæster Osiris, that they instructed Scaroth (from “City of Death”) to build the Pyramids, and that the Pyramids are in fact a map of Orion. Wonderful, evocative stuff… that could not fill more than a page. And Nephthys? Badder

than Sutekh, apparently...

Pity she is relegated to a non-speaking role.

I suppose that if you liked Richards’ previous novels, then you will probably like this one. It is unquestionably a step up from “Theatre of War”, if not from “System Shock”. On the whole though, I did not get a lot out of this one. Give me “Pyramids of Mars” or even better still Stargate any day…

E.G. Wolverson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This novel’s blurb places it between the television serials Arc of Infinity and Snakedance. We have placed it within this gap, between the novels Fear of the Dark (which is set directly after Arc of Infinity) and Zeta Major (which was released later).

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