Lucifer: Revelation (2014) Review

 

Lucifer: Revelation might not be perfect, but it's made with such passion that it almost doesn't matter. 

WRITTEN BY

Paul Darrow, whose confidence in his questionable skill as a writer elevates him to the literary equivalent of a Tommy Wiseau or Ed Wood. Something about their very particular idiosyncrasies and love for their craft makes their work enjoyable in spite of their obvious shortcomings.

PLOT

Gabriella Travis sets a family of assassins to hunt Avon down and retrieve Orac, using his former comrades Del Grant and Magda as bait for a trap. Meanwhile, Dr Pandora Ess's growing ambition results in the disintegration of the Quartet and the rise of Cathay as the supreme power in the galaxy.

ANALYSIS

One of the biggest issues I had with the original Lucifer was that Avon seemed to be surplus to requirements - he was there as a plot device and an indulgence, but Darrow's real focus was on the internal politics of the Quartet. Whilst there's no less scheming and backstabbing to be found in the sequel, it is structured in a more compelling way that made Revelation far easier to get through, and even enjoyable.

We get to follow Avon on his journey through the galaxy as he struggles to come to grips with his own identity in the post-Gauda Prime setting. There's a surprising amount of emotional self-awareness here, a recognition of the fact that Avon is not okay after all he's been through and that he is incredibly lonely, reflected in his sentimental fondness for Orac and a new computer, George(the interactions of the three, and their running commentary of events, are particular highlights that keep things from becoming too stolid as they sometimes did in the previous book). I genuinely did not expect this from Darrow's pen.

Avon is also very much the driving force of the book narratively, since Orac's existence has become common knowledge and all of the decisions made by the various factions in Revelation are all based around either acquiring or destroying the computer. Avon has sort of become like Crichton from Farscape. If the villains get his deus ex machina, it's game over for the entire universe. And if that doesn't ratchet up the tension, there's also Darrow's trump card: Del Grant. Whether intentionally or not, Grant's straightforward, honest presence carries an immense amount of weight amongst the slimy bunch that's usually featured in these books. I was invested in Avon's mission largely because I was dying to see the two of them reunited, and at least in that regard, Darrow does not disappoint. I could see the aged Chadbon in my mind's eye during their scenes.

There's a few other details that let me look at Revelation with fondness: having Avon on the run like old times made this feel much more like a Blake's 7 story, rather than sci-fi Rambo. We got more variety of locations, and it was cool to see the various villains pit their wits against Avon, even if Darrow hates to give them even a chance at winning. 
There's also no time skip, so the scheming remains largely consistent(whereas in Lucifer, we went through three different groups of factions plotting against one another, resulting in burnout) and more or less reasonably coherent. Let's just say I managed to keep a grip on what was going on. Just about. 

All of the familiar Darrow tropes are still here, however, including, but not limited to: his comical lack of knowledge about astronomy, names plucked from classical writings, Bondian treatment of women and other cultures, overt fascination with contemporary military weaponry and tactics, and a consistent lack of empathy. So if any of these things are a problem for you, well, they haven't gone away. I just think Paul does what he does better than he did last time. 

CHARACTERS

Avon's directionless lifestyle was briefly touched on in Lucifer, but it's brought to the forefront here as he openly(or as openly as Avon can be) expresses his depression and lack of desire to keep on living. These are complex subjects for any writer to be tackling, so it's a credit to Darrow that I think he actually does a decent job elaborating on Avon's moody, increasingly apathetic personality without making it feel too melodramatic or overwrought. There's subtle glimpses of his remaining humanity(primarily involving Grant and Orac), we find out that he's not actually interested in fighting the Federation/Quartet/Empire of Cathay/Alien Greys/everyone so much as he is in outwitting them as a way to pass the time until he's found where and how he wants to die. It's certainly a unique approach, that is obviously meant to invite conversation between the readers as to what's happened to him, and how one should approach death and apathy and loneliness in general. 

Another running theme in the book is that of machine life. Avon himself has been frequently compared to a computer, and now finds himself even feeling like one, going through the motions and doing what he's always done without a soul. Yet that machine perspective seems to give him, and Orac and even George to a degree, the most humanity out of almost anyone. A running gag in the book involves Avon chastising Orac for thinking beyond his supposed parameters, culminating in Orac expressing actual human sorrow at Avon's predicament. Probably the most heartfelt words in Darrow's bibliography, and they came out of the proverbial mouth of a box of tricks! It's a genuinely intriguing notion, reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Is there something more 'honest' and innocent about them as children of Man, unhampered by complex emotions(Orac's cantankerous persona being arguably more of an imitation of his creator than anything else)? Does their fact-based intelligence give them such an understanding of the universe that they are incapable of genuine resentment? And where does that leave Avon? On the bridge between the freedom of ultimate understanding and the emotional bias dragging down humanity, perhaps. 

Never say Paul Darrow isn't a thinking man's writer!

(I am aware that all of this is grossly out of character for Orac, but it doesn't bother me. He's completely different, but still entertainingly snappy and has a fun rapport with Avon, so I'm willing to let it slide.)

What I really enjoyed about Del Grant's presence is the sense that him and Avon are part of a different era. In the Lucifer novels, Darrow has crafted a world that is so far removed from the original Blake's 7 that everything that's not part of that world feels like an ancient relic. Grant in particular still comes off as a Terry Nation character, a good-hearted Robin Hood type with a stiff upper lip. You won't catch him smoking cigars or plotting to slit people's throats. I couldn't help getting emotional over the melancholy and nostalgia of his interactions with Avon, and the offer to join forces again. Just for a moment, I could see them teaming up and bringing this book to some kind of a bittersweet ending, a ray of hope in a dark abyss. 

But then I was harshly reminded that this is a Paul Darrow story, and nice things are anathema to him. Nice things like not doing Tom Chadbon dirty. Yeah, I'm not happy about Grant's ending. 

Speaking of not being happy, what's the deal with Magda? She's inconsistent even by Darrow's standards. After supporting and loving Avon for the entirety of the previous novel(and having grown up with a freedom fighter parent), we're supposed to believe she's become a turncoat just because she thinks she'll get a nice life if she gives Orac away? It's completely unnecessary and doesn't even go anywhere, but it made me not care when she died. I don't get it at all. She could've just become Grant's sidekick or girlfriend if Darrow wanted to dispose of her that badly. Or not even been in the novel at all. As it is, it's just another lame twist for the sake of one. 

Not much to say about the rest of the characters, as they're all pretty much onenote, each with some slightly different villainous motivation. About 95% want ultimate power, and the rest are lackeys. I did find it amusing that Gabriella Travis is the only member of the Quartet who's managed to make it through both books, as she seems to be by far the least competent one, consistently being outwitted and caught off-guard by everyone else(so, the daughter of her father). 

NOTES

• How in the name of sanity is a guy supposed to be safe from Servalan's reach by going to Mars?
• Apparently, champagne is a wine. The more you know. It's just weird to hear it be called that. 
• For some reason, almost every single time the Quartet is mentioned, there's also a reminder that "it was once called the Federation". I assume that's because the Quartet, whilst a decent name for a leading council, is a very strange rebranding for the empire as a whole. 
• Forget murder and torture - the most evil thing the Quartet's ever done is litter Antarctica. Who leaves their tables and umbrellas behind for no reason??
• The use of leagues as a measure of distance in space... well, of course! I love those kinds of details. Paul is a king of nerds.
• Look out for reuse of lines that he put particular stock into, such as "we'll be powerful enough that Servalan and Travis will seem like pygmies" and "better the devil you know than the devil you don't!"
• Speaking of the first one, when did Servalan and Travis ever hold sizeable power? Together, they were only in control of Federation military. And as a ruler, Servalan was constantly on the verge of losing control after the Intergalactic War. 
• What exactly is "stealth mode"? When did Orac gain the power to make things invisible?
• One of the worst tropes in this book is the tendency of every character to be constantly up to date with Avon's every move, and narrating his actions and potential future actions. Let me wonder a little, Paul! 
• The exposition reaches its high point when the Chinese officials discuss the assistance they gave Avon in the first book. "Remember, you helped a terrorist a month ago." "Ah yes, that terrorist I helped a month ago. I remember that."
• Whatever's going on at the Hub? We hear news that Grant raided it, but Grant is working with the Chinese... and they conquered the Hub in the last novel. That plot point seems to disappear entirely.
• I know Avon's an action star, but I feel like even Schwarzenegger would struggle with a six-barrel shotgun. 
• Judging from the drawn-out descriptions of Xian erotically eating a croissant, I'd say Paul has himself a fetish. I'm sure it'll fit nicely in his collection.
• I quite like the description of habitable planets as a "Goldilocks zone". It's one of the few genuinely clever references. 
• Never thought that anything would top the spaceship Revenge from Afterlife, but here comes the spaceship George. 
• There comes a point, where Avon visiting the Chinese and having tea with them despite being on opposite sides becomes more than a little ludicrous. Just shoot the man already! It can't be that impossible, especially when he's away from Orac. 
• Spaceship fuel grows on trees, apparently, as the Quartet and the Empire of Cathay are compelled to go find planets in the Beyond that have some(the only other mentioned source is Uranus... and when Uranus is dry, you know you're in trouble). 
• It's a bit dickish of Orac to recommend a suicide mission to Avon. Not to mention that this idea gets dropped almost immediately and Orac later recommends against it for no clear reason. I guess he realised that he accidentally gave Avon the plans he'd kept for Vila. 
• Blake's 7 has Mutoids, but sure, let's introduce cyborgs that do the exact same thing into the mix.
• So the cyborg has two wires, one obvious and one concealed. And to kill the cyborg, you go for the concealed one as the obvious is booby-trapped... except a devious mind will have thought of that and booby-trapped the concealed one instead. My question is this - what happens if an ordinary bloke tries to kill the cyborg? Terrible design. 

INFORMATION!

• Lucifer: Revelation is a sequel to Lucifer. It's not made clear how much time has passed, but it seems to be a few months.
• The prologue mentions Servalan seizing the presidency, which occurred in Star One, and her fall from grace after Death-Watch. China was renamed the Empire of Cathay during the events of Series D.
• Solomon Fisch claims that his father was in charge of the Federation Banking System that Avon attempted to embezzle shortly before Space Fall, and that the former was subsequently exiled to the wastelands of Earth as a result. Amusingly, Darrow himself depicted a character named Maco as the person in charge of the Bank in Avon: A Terrible Aspect, although in that book, Avon killed him. 
• During his briefing with Absalom, Solomon recounts Servalan and Travis's hunt for the Liberator crew in Series A and B, and Avon's murder of Blake in Blake. 
• Grant appeared in the original series episode Countdown(and retroactively was a member of the crew in the Big Finish audios, but this book only came out a few months after The Armageddon Storm). The Quartet discuss Avon killing his sister in Rumours Of Death. 
• Orac briefly references the deaths of Blake and Anna in his expression of sorrow.

BEST QUOTE

ORAC: "Are you familiar with the phrase 'Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer'?"

GEORGE: "I have never heard it."

ORAC: "Well, Avon hasn’t got any friends and he kills all his enemies. So, you know exactly where you stand."

CONCLUSION

'I think the devil will not have Avon damned, lest the oil that's in him should set hell on fire!'

(See, I can do this too!)

That Blake's 7 gang, eh? 'Give them great meals of beef and iron and steel, they will eat like wolves and fight like devils!'

Poor Avon, though. 'A devil, a born devil on whose nature, nurture can never stick, on whom my pain, humanly taken, all lost, quite lost.' 

But in all honesty though, I had a lot of fun. It's a hell of a ride if you have the guts.