Tag: Stephen Gallagher

Doctor Who: The Kairos Ring

Doctor Who: The Kairos Ring

by Stephen Gallagher; read by Steven Pacey (BBC Audio, 2021)

Audiobook cover: “Doctor Who: The Kairos Ring” by Stephen Gallagher; read by Steven Pacey (BBC Audio, 2021)

A novelette that would have benefited from a longer treatment. Gallagher is an accomplished writer peddling a nifty idea, but Romana has too little involvement (especially for a Doctor-less story) and the threat, having been built up, is vanquished rather too easily.

Doctor Who: Terminus

Doctor Who: Terminus

by Stephen Gallagher, writing as John Lydecker (Target, 1983); audiobook read by Steven Pacey (BBC, 2019)

Lydecker, John_Terminus

Gallagher’s second Doctor Who script gave rise to a gloomy, layered production rich in scenario and comparatively nuanced in its characterisations. The subsequent novelisation, far from the undemanding walk-through that young readers had come to expect from Target Books, proves equally accomplished.

 

 

Doctor Who: Warriors’ Gate

Doctor Who: Warriors’ Gate

by Stephen Gallagher, writing as John Lydecker

restored from the original extended manuscript (1981); audiobook read by Jon Culshaw (with John Leeson as K9) (BBC Audio, 2019)

Gallagher_Warriors' Gate

Even in heavily expurgated form, the version of Warriors’ Gate published in 1982 outshone all but a few of the original Target novelisations. The 2019 audiobook restores Gallagher’s original manuscript, revealing a dreamlike SF classic with exceptional depth of story and characterisation.

 

 

The Kingdom of Bones

The Kingdom of Bones

by Stephen Gallagher (Shaye Areheart, 2007); audiobook read by Jonathan Keeble (Oakhill, 2013)

Gallagher_Kingdom of Bones

A slow-moving but enthralling story of murder and redemption in three acts. Stephen Gallagher does full justice to England in the late 19th and America in the early 20th century. Jonathan Keeble definitively captures the characters of Sebastian Becker and Tom Sayers.

 

 

The Authentic William James

The Authentic William James

by Stephen Gallagher (Subterranean, 2016)

Gallagher_Authentic William James

As with his previous Sebastian Becker novels, Gallagher presents a consummate, apparently effortless, authenticity of both character and setting. Although Becker in this instance seems less intensely involved (hence some chronology hopping to bolster the narrative), his measured investigative style still seduces.

 

 

The Bedlam Detective

The Bedlam Detective

by Stephen Gallagher (Crown, 2012); audiobook read by Jonathan Keeble (Oakhill, 2014)

Gallagher_Bedlam Detective

If it weren’t so effortlessly engaging, Gallagher’s historical murder mystery novel might be deemed a slow burner. Moving with a grace and eloquence befitting of the setting (England, 1912), The Bedlam Detective brings about a spiralling investigation of gentrified privilege and madness.

 

 

Valley of Lights

Valley of Lights

by Stephen Gallagher (New English Library, 1987)

Gallagher_Valley of Lights

Valley of Lights is a compellingly dark supernatural crime novel (often marketed as horror). Gallagher’s first person narrative draws us into a lone sergeant’s pursuit of the archetypical serial killer: a creature who can jump between human bodies, wearing them like suits.

 

Derelict Space Sheep