It has always been my intention to read (and review) all three books during my two week stay in the Greek sunshine. This is not because of any tie to Iain Martin (we only vaguely know each other through Twitter and that only really came about via a mutual friend) and I'm certainly not getting any recompense for these reviews, nor would I expect any. No, the important thing is that I genuinely feel that independent authors need and deserve all the exposure that can get, and I want to help in whatever small way I can. If I was to write a review of the latest Stephen King tome, it might be a nice positive review and it might get a couple of people to buy the book, but in the scheme of King's sales figures it would be a teardrop in the Atlantic Ocean. However, spreading the word about an independent new author may help raise their profile and any sales they make will hopefully be of benefit. Now I'm not saying that I consider this blog to be influential enough to turn Iain Martin into a worldwide publishing phenomenon (much as that would please everyone I'm sure) but word of mouth counts for a lot more in the 21st century Internet world - and if YOU think "You know what, it's only 99p for the first book and it sounds like fun, I'll give it a go" and you enjoy it and you tell your friends and they enjoy it and - well you get the picture. As a certain supermarket chain in the UK keeps telling us, "Every little helps"...
Anyway, enough of that and onto the book itself, and it's the longest of the three so far, with seven rather than the usual six adventures (although the finale is actually split across two parts, so technically it's still six). The stories are even more intertwined than before, with the first being pretty much a scene setting prequel or extended pre-credits sequence, reminding us of the primary players and their situation (there is no "Previously..." page this time round), setting up a new quest and an amoral new bad guy. It's all told in the first person point of view, rotating through the four leads, so we also get a nice window into their heads.
One thing I noticed immediately with this third book is that there seems to be a slightly more adult tone - with quite a bit more swearing and violence and even a mild sex scene. Now I am certainly not being critical of this and these things are always in context within the novel as the characters interact and move through their trials and tribulations - it just surprised me. You might just want to be aware for the younger reader. However, I'm less content with the instance where nurse Kati describes a supporting character as "well gorge". I get that she is meant to be young and attracted to this man but it just seemed less like one of Iain's well written and we'll rounded female protagonists and more like something out of one of those terrible "scripted reality" shows. It's a small quibble though, so maybe I'm just getting old...
If the nature of the stories, their content and their connectivity have evolved, then so have the episode names. I'll admit that I've not always been able to fully work out the meaning of some of the story titles and their relevance to the adventures themselves. Take "The Ethers Tragic" from book one for example. Research revealed to me that it is name of an instrumental version of a Smashing Pumpkins song called "The End Is The Beginning Is The End", which comes from the soundtrack to the fondly-remembered-by-nobody-including-George-Clooney 1997 movie "Batman & Robin". What that has to do with a story of being space shipwrecked on a tropical island, featuring a thinly disguised Tori Amos I'm not entirely sure - although it's true that the tale does start at the end and fills in the blanks as we go along, so maybe it's no more than that. In the same vein, I don't think that "The Quantum Of Justice" in book two in any way relates to the recent foreclosure crisis in America, even though there is a documentary with that name. It could be just that it sounds cool. My point is that I'm a sucker for an odd sounding title. Give me a "Castrovalva" over "Revenge of the Cybermen" or a "Blink" over " Daleks In Manhattan" any day. Something to spark the imagination and keep the mystery of what the story is really about hidden until you actually watch/read it, not lay out all your cards on the contents page. This kind of thing is certainly going on more in book three than in the previous volumes and I'm all for it. Who can fail to be intrigued by titles such as "Elvis Presley and the Monsters of Soul" or "Serum3:Evolution5"? More of this please Mr. Martin.
Elsewhere we have our regular battle with the hideous Arachana (swiftly becoming the Winterhill version of the Daleks, so how long before we meet their Davros? After all, someone or something must be providing them with those cybernetic upgrades...) and a return visit to the home of the Talifero crime syndicate - the latter story importantly moving forward the sub-plots concerning Maddy's family and associates and hinting at the finale to come. The Professor and Blackjack and LadyJane are now interesting characters in their own right and are certainly more shades of grey than out and out black hats (another link back to those beloved 'Stainless Steel Rat' novels I mentioned in my review of book one). What also seems evident from the third story, "The Human Invasion of Earth" (with its sadly familiar human dictator) is that Iain knows his way round Cairo. The descriptions of the locales used seem too accurate to be just from research. Oh, and the final paragraph gives a small nugget of information in the underlying mystery of 'Professor' Winterhill. Once again what seem like incidental characters come to have greater significance down the line and in the name-spotting game we have a comic strip writer, a Superman actor (maybe) and a 1980s Doctor Who script editor. Plus a very clear mention of the 'Battle of Reykjavik.
Significantly, as we are now three books (or nineteen episodes) into the Winterhill series, there are an increasing number of sub-plots being juggled - the Earth Bureau of Investigation work against the Talifero family (plus one of its number on a private revenge mission), the ever-expanding evil influence of UbiCorp (with possibly some employees running their own secret agenda), the unresolved questions around Qalqavekkian and The First, plus not forgetting the Tick-Tock Man and who is exactly working for (or controlling) whom. Can you trust your friends and family - and what exactly is Bloodgate?
The double-sided finale is kind of a heist movie crossed with 'Die Hard' with a *great* twist and the (at least partial) resolution to one of the oldest simmering storylines. It also has not one, not two, but three excellent cliffhangers, which leave things in a interesting state for the next installment. I do wonder though that as much as I praised the use of original episode titles above, how hard it must have been not to call this caper "Rebecca Winterhill and the xxxxx of Death" (it'll make sense when you read it).
If you enjoyed books one and two, then this is more of the same quality fun and adventure. Volume four is due imminently and I'll be getting that as soon as it comes out. I'm also hoping to be able to conduct a Q&A session with Iain Martin for the blog around the time of the book release, which should be something to really look forward to.
A quick reminder that Iain Martin is on Twitter @theIainMartin and the Winterhill series website is here. Iain's lovely podcast, Five Minute Fiction is here.
Time for some Greek mezze and a beer I think...
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