Story: This adventure takes place in 15th century Venice, where a group of seemingly unrelated (or so you would think) characters are brought together to make the events transpire as they do. Firstly the Doctor, along with Steven and Vicki, are invited to Venice by an unknown person or persons. Of course, along the way there are ample opportunities to engage in all the classic storytelling cliches. The Doctor is mistaken for a high ranking Cardinal, visiting Venice on important business from the Vatican. Galileo is preparing himself (mostly through excessive drinking) for an audience at the Doge, in order to show them his new invention. And who is the strange man who is expecting the Doctor, but upon seeing him in his first incarnation, does not recognise him? But then again, what is Shakespeare doing skulking in the shadows wearing a strange disguise? And all the while, in the skies above, large, beetle-like aliens fly over the city, spying on its inhabitants.
Review: What do all these things have in common? In reality: Nothing. But that’s just the point! It all gets woven together quite well. I was surprised it worked as good as it did, as I was told it was a bad book. All in all it adds up to a very playful read!
Sometimes when you read a book, you have to let yourself suspend disbelief in order to fully enjoy it. That is what I did with Empire of Glass. If Id’ve looked at it as a pseudo-historical adventure, I would have found it not only stupid, but impossible. If I looked at it as a Doctor Who story, I wouldn’t have liked it. But instead of being so judgemental, which I usually tend to be, I suspended disbelief and let the story pull me along, and enjoyed the ride.
Granted, the characterisation of the First Doctor isn’t that good. He seems to spend a lot of the time looking down his nose with his thumbs hooked under his lapels. And his verbal traits are abused to the extreme, using way too many “Hmmm”s at the end of his sentences. But, if one decides to picture all the Italians as having British accents, and all the sets as standard 60’s BBC stock, it couldn’t be better.
There are many ways of looking at things. I put on my rose-coloured glasses to read this book, but hey, why not! After all, being a critic doesn’t always have to mean that I have to be critical! 8.5 out of 10! So there!
Year: 1995
Author: Andy Lane
Publisher: Virgin
