Green cheese, painted pink

A few pages into Imperial Moon and one could be forgiven for wondering if the influence of Faction Paradox - the history-mangling cult of recent eighth Doctor adventures - has started to permeate a second range of books. Can Christopher Bulis really be asking us to accept that, unbeknown to us here and now in the Space Year 2000, British scientists achieved manned space flight in the late 19th century?

Well, yes he can, and to some extent convincingly too. That particular high concept provides a suitably enticing basis for this tale of a Victorian expedition to the moon, one with acknowledged debts to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells among others. And notwithstanding a somewhat clumsy framing narration which introduces the Doctor and Turlough to the narrative, the opening chapters really do exude potential.

The main problem thereafter is that there isn't really enough plot here for a novel. In fact, there's barely enough for a short story. It's as if the writer is so besotted with his admittedly beautiful central inspiration that he has forgotten to develop it in anything approaching sufficient detail. Not that the pace flags as such, as there is plenty of actual incident. Upon arrival at the moon - amusingly claimed for the British Empire long before Neil Armstrong stuck a different red, white and blue flag into the dusty surface - dangerous expeditions, nasty ambushes and shockingly believable accidents account for several chapters. But these incidents neither progress any individual story strand, nor particularly enhance understanding of the - acceptably archetypal - characters. Perhaps the intention is to present an odyssey; a journey of discovery wherein the travel and the choices made along the way are more important than the destination or the ultimate goal. A laudable objective certainly, but unfortunately unfulfilled - the Victorian SF trappings of the early sections promise much more than the fairly flimsy alien parable in which we eventually find ourselves.

A sadly empty epic, then, but not completely without merit. You can enjoy the ethos if nothing else.