Rebecca Winterhill's life is a mystery - especially to herself, since she woke up in a crate in the cargo hold of a space cruise liner with no memory of who she is or how she got there. Before you can say "Fecky doo-dah" she is thrust into a battle against numerous monsters, psychotic madmen and denizens of the criminal underworld, alongside party girl, galaxy-class data pirate, information hacker and holder of a degree in Leisure & Tourism, Madagascar Taliferos. And Maddy has some secrets of her own...
The book is structured like the episodes of a TV series, with six complete adventures told in short bursts, plus prologues/epilogues to fill in some of the history of this universe that Mr. Martin has created and offer glimpses of things to come. The initial few tales might have simple and well trodden ideas at their core (undead space vampires, giant augmented spiders, a long lost jewel in a booby trapped temple) but they rattle along with nary a pause for breath and each one adds a nugget to the underlying narrative. Rebecca seems to have retained some important tactical skills deep in her memory (useful when you are trying to get away from a horde of rampaging Cyber Spiders) but nothing to give her a clue about where she comes from or why she can do what she can do.
Iain obviously knows his SF stuff. There are elements of some classic genre TV shows woven into the DNA of his stories - especially (as you would expect from a self- confessed fan) Doctor Who. The character names are also a treat, with several coming from SF film and television and novels. There may be some non genre literary ones in there too, but I'm nowhere near enough well read. Plus there are some nice Easter eggs to pick up on: certain crab-like creatures in an aquarium, an alternative name for a forest world, references to Polar bears and ghosts on a tropical island - it all adds to the fun. I did spot that absolute rotter Maxymylyan DeVere bears more than a passing resemblance to Judge Dredd character Devlin Waugh - although admittedly he himself is based on comedy film legend Terry Thomas so I could be seeing connections that aren't there. Although that bad guy with the goatee and the cylindrical spaceship?......Nah.
The background arc plot seeding throughout the stories is reminiscent of modern Doctor Who or perhaps Babylon 5. Indeed one could also say that there is a soupçon of River Song (or perhaps Lara Croft?) beneath the skins of Professor Rebecca Winterhill and the redoubtable Maddy - ready with a cunning plan or a suggestive quip whatever the situation. But you know what, when the stories are this much fun and the dialogue sparkles like Douglas Adams on a good day, any similarities, deliberate or unintentional are more that allowable. I'm inclined to think that Iain is similar in age to myself (I know we are from the same English county) thanks to some nice references to UK kids TV shows and some vintage school playground banter, especially the classic of "Chinny reckon...Jimmy Hill" to indicate that someone might be telling porkies. That takes me back.
What the adventures of Ms Winterhill and her friends actually remind me of most - and this is a very good thing - is the tales of Slippery Jim DiGriz, the Stainless Steel Rat - who scampered his way through eleven novels from the pen of SF master Harry Harrison between 1961 and 2010. The first four novels are generally considered to be the best (well by me anyway) and Winterhill reads like those - full of capers, mis-haps, miraculous escapes from sudden death and suitably evil and esoteric alien menaces.
The book also doesn't outstay it's welcome - I managed to demolish the whole thing in under two days. It's bright, breezy and a great read. I don't want to say much more about the plot as it's far more enjoyable if you don't know what's coming. Crucially though this first set of Winterhill adventures doesn't resolve all the plot lines. Some important plates are left spinning and there is a humdinger of a cliffhanger to end on. Just who is the Tick Tock Man and what is his role in Rebecca's memory loss? I guess I'll find out (maybe) in book two...
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