Teaser

The Dynostar satellite was supposed to save the world. To bring power to a glove riven by strife. Instead, Dynostar is the greatest threat our world has ever known. It must be stopped, but at what cost . . ?

Review

If you recognise the names Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis, it’s probably not because of their novels. Indeed, until this year I didn’t even know they had written anything in prose. Like most people, I associate their names not with books, but with television, and one show in particular. For it was the partnership of Pedler and Davis that gave rise to one of Doctor Who‘s most iconic creations: The Cybermen. Second only to the legendary Daleks in their infamy, the Cybermen are a classic science fiction idea pulled off to perfection. Pedler’s background in medical science led to the genesis of a version of humanity who had become cyborgs, at the expense of their emotions. Pedler and Davis wrote several episodes of Doctor Who before creating their own BBC science fiction drama Doomwatch, about a team who faced down various, but generally plausible, threats to humanity.

The Dynostar Menace also concerns a threat to humanity, this time from a satellite designed for benevolent use, but which may in fact destroy the ozone layer as soon as it is switched on. There’s a team of trained astronauts onboard to save the day, but one of them is intent on murder and sabotage. That’s pretty much all you need to know before going into the novel. It’s a high-stakes murder mystery in space. It’s not exactly high-concept science fiction, but it elevated somewhat from a regular thriller. In fact, it put me a little in mind of James Bond’s Moonraker, though there’s significantly fewer metal toothed baddies in The Dynostar Menace.

Published in 1975, this book runs into a problem that a lot of Hard SF and Tomorrow Fiction encounters. It is dated. Particularly in its depiction of society, though that can be forgiven as it is actually set in the seventies (or perhaps the early eighties. There are some contradictions). I’m not well-versed enough in the field of cosmic rays to make judgements on the details, but it feels very much of-the-moment. Not to denigrate the importance of the ozone layer, but the level of panic feels incredibly pre-millennium. I do, however, appreciate the level of thought that went into the day-to-day nature of space-based living. There’s clearly a lot of research done there, and it really pays off. I also admire Pedler and Davis for their epilogue, in which not everything works out for the best, and there are some long-term consequences for everything we’ve just read.

The bigger issue is the writing itself. Though fine scriptwriters, Pedler and Davis are not as skilled at prose. It’s a very different format. Not only in the need for descriptive passages, but also in the pacing. This feels so much like a Target novel, there are times I thought I was reading an adaptation. Indeed, The Dynostar Menace could easily have been a BBC show in the 1970s. And once I had that in my head, I was picturing it in all its grainy, low definition glory, with shaky writing replaced by wobbly set walls and space suits made from bubble wrap.

There is some good material in here, but Pedler and Davis are not quite able to pull it off as well on the page as they did on the screen. Nevertheless, The Dynostar Menace is an interesting piece of science fiction history, especially for fans of British television.

Book Stats

• A Standalone Novel
• Published by Pan in 1975
• 192 Pages