Pity, I was looking forward to this....
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A friend bought this book for me, and delivered it with the words "I don't know why you read these things - you're bound to know more than they do." In this case he was right.
I am an avid fan of Blake's 7, and was interested to read a serious critical review, rather than an analysis penned by fans. It is true that we fans are generally able to recognise flaws, mistakes, inconsistencies and discontinuities. We do not subscribe to some myth that the series was in any way perfect, but I was keen to read something written by someone with a good grounding in sci fi, and a degree of detachment. My problem with this book is that it is inaccurate, and, on occasion, the author bases his theories on misconceptions. Although to the non-enthusiast the fact that we are told several times that Cally died on the Liberator (demonstrably not true), may seem trivial, it is intensely irritating. Similarly, the author seems not to be able to recognise guns in the hands of women. In Rumours of Death, Anna Grant is killed by Avon because she betrayed him (actually she was quicker on the draw, if not on the trigger, and would have killed him). In Power Avon murders Pella (a woman who the author suggests would have made a good ally) in cold blood (she was armed and firing at him). The former mistake is important in that the author projects forward from this episode to the final denouement, and while betrayal is a common theme, the killings are under quite different circumstances, and this leads to flawed assumptions about, and analysis of a leading character.
Oh yes, and the writer of the splendid "Assassin" in Season 4 was Rod Beacham, not Rod Beachman - inexcusable, really.
I have the impression that the author watched the early episodes with far greater attention that the later ones, or perhaps his analyses of later episodes were written more from memory.
His views are interesting, and I enjoyed the analysis of series one and two, but had to force myself to read the second half of the book, such became my irritation. This was a pity as the author has some very interesting ideas. Unfortunately he skims over some major issues, and occasional episodes get only a cursory review.
Finally the finale - the author, like so many before him, propounds his theory as to what lay behind the freeze frame smile - odd, and not remotely believable. I have heard any number of ideas about this, and they generally centre around irony, and occasionally defiance, not this convoluted messianic nonsense.
"When Avon smiles at the conclusion of Blake,' he is amused because he is the butt of a cosmic joke. Avon, the one who trusts nobody, will die because he should have trusted Blake. . . . Avon's last act is completely heroic and idealistic. He protects Blake's body from the storm troopers, and realizes that Blake's way was the only way. He learns that the only way to win is with ideals, honor and ideas, not with rationality and cold logic. With a last smile, Avon does the only stupid but noble act of his life. Surrounded, he brings up his gun. . . A lone character learns, adapts, and changes for the better in a single, explosive moment"
Frankly, apart from endless other reasons, he simply didn't have time for all this...
This is a book that is unlikely to be read by anyone other than fans, and it is important that they are satisfied by accuracy, even if they disagree with the critical viewpoint. The author might consider employing a fan(atic) as proof reader should he ever embark on a similar project. Perhaps he could also consider using filmed instead of lensed? It was interesting the first time, but tedious from then on.
Try Liberation by Alan Stevens and Fiona Moore. This has the possible drawback that it is written by fans and may lack detachment, but it is accurate, and some of the theories are thought provoking if occasionally off the wall!!
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