Dreams of Empire by: Justin Richards

The chess master incarnation of the Doctor is always described as Sylvester McCoy’s portrayal of the Seventh Doctor.  The Seventh Doctor manipulates situations in such a way that he knows the outcome when going in, manipulating friends and enemies alike.  So, the obvious choice for a Doctor Who novel written as a large game of chess is to give it to the obvious Second Doctor, as portrayed by Patrick Troughton.  Yeah, Dreams of Empire, which proudly displays an abstract cover with chess pieces and includes chess as a major theme, is a Second Doctor novel.  This seems to be down to looking at the Doctor in The Tomb of the Cybermen, at the time one of the most popular Second Doctor stories.  The Tomb of the Cybermen has the Doctor manipulating a group of archeologists into going into the tombs on Telos to potentially seal things off.  Dreams of Empire sets the scene in the midst of Season 5 with the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria arriving in the Haddron Empire, which is on the verge of collapse much like the Roman Republic after the assassination of Julius Caesar.  Author Justin Richards mentions this intentional parallel in his introduction to the 2013 reprint, as he attempted to tell a sort of alternate history set in the far future with characters who are analogous to historical figures.  The reader does not need any historical reference to enjoy the story, Richards does an excellent job of fleshing out this Empire while sticking close to one setting.  The chess metaphor for the novel works as Richards has the characters having a run around through this castle, being captured, released, and captured again.  Richards also excellently captures the feeling of Season 5, which is a tremendous feat as at the time this was written only The Tomb of the Cybermen was available in its entirety and Episode Two of The Abominable Snowmen, Episode Three of The Enemy of the World, and Episode Three and Episode Six of The Wheel in Space were available.  While it is never stated, I believe The Enemy of the World and its political machinations and James Bond-esque story inspired the novel.

Also in Richards introduction mention is made of the difficulty in capturing the Second Doctor in prose, which oddly enough is something Richards seems to have had little difficulty with.  Patrick Troughton’s spirit is felt throughout the novel with very few points which are out of character for this incarnation.  This is most obvious in a brick joke involving sandwiches which feels like it is attempting to be something Troughton and Frazer Hines might have snuck in, but it falls flat.  Richards also characterizes the Doctor as the version seen in The Tomb of the Cybermen, which may rub people the wrong way, but it doesn’t get in the way.  The novel does suffer slightly in its portrayal of the Doctor’s companions.  Victoria Waterfield is far too close to the stereotypical fan held belief of a young woman who cannot fend for herself, once again partially due to the lack of her best material being available to Richards.  Victoria has little presence in the novel and only feels like a springboard for dialogue between the Doctor and Jamie.  Jamie fairs slightly better as Richards gets his historical heritage and general demeanor right, but really only has him bluster into situations.  It’s really the supporting cast where Richards shines throughout the novel.  Hans Kesar is a prisoner who kind of fits the Julius Caesar role, put into prison instead of being assassinated has some great moments with the Doctor about chess.  Trayx works well as a mix of a stock comic character and ally to the Doctor and the villain himself, which is kept a mystery so I will not spoil it, is executed with aplomb.  It becomes easy to see why Dreams of Empire would be reprinted for the 50^th anniversary celebrations, though it is not without its flaws.  It’s a good mystery with plenty of twists and turns to keep readers interested.  The characters are fun, and it is really the main characters who feel almost out of place as it’s one that could easily be converted to just a science fiction text.  7/10.