Kalendorf’s victorious fleet has entered Earth’s solar system, but what has happened to Jupiter and where are the Daleks?
Kalendorf’s victorious fleet has entered Earth’s solar system, but what has happened to Jupiter and where are the Daleks?
DALEK EMPIRE II: DALEK WAR
CHAPTER THREE
The best way to hold an audience is to keep them guessing, and Nicholas Briggs accomplishes this in the third part of Dalek Empire II: Dalek War. Was it obvious that the terraformed Jupiter was a Dalek trap? Yes, but the nature of the trap wasn’t so obvious, and the scenes of the besieged Alliance soldiers on Jupiter are gripping sci-fi horror material. The Vaarga plants are a nice throwback to the classic Doctor Who series, referencing an episode few fans will ever have seen. Of course, this Dalek plan is needlessly overcomplicated, but as these are the same Daleks who launched an entire galactic invasion just to conceal the flight of one ship to one planet, the ludicrous plan isn’t exactly surprising. Chapter Three also seeks to demonstrate the evil nature of the “friendly” Daleks, but Briggs takes this a step too far. The “punished planets” remove any moral ambiguity from the story — how much better if these Daleks hadn’t slaughtered untold billions, and Kalendorf didn’t have a foot to stand on aside from his own suspicions? Regardless, his scenes with the Mentor are the best thus far, as Hannah Smith’s surprisingly intimidating anger comes to the fore. Indeed, Briggs uses his characters to their greatest effect in this story, with two scenes in particular standing out: first, the quiet, desperate scene of Mirana and her first officer in the escape pod; and second, the climactic confrontation between Suz, Alby, and Kalendorf which, while it ends in another silly melodramatic scream, perfectly encapsulates Briggs’ three leads and practically begs the listener to move on to Chapter Four. This is the best Dalek Empire play thus far.
8/10