Blake 7 at its finest - well done Darrow RIP - now

Avon at large coming to grips with Servalan and his old friend Orac. classic Blake 7

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Shockingly dull

Avoid this book like you might the Federation. Dull is too good a word for it. Sad when my expectations were high.

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Paul had such a great voice

It was lovely to hear Paul Darrow once again and spend time with his character Kerr Avon. You can just imagine the smile on his face when on a good roll writing this story, shining a light on his great ruthlessly single minded character Avon. Great job all round and some nice little production touches added to the immersion back to this classic era of space fiction.

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1 person found this helpful

Fantastic! Great to hear what happened next

Disclaimer- I was a fan. Great to hear Paul Darrow as Avon. It transported me back to my childhood to hear about the scheming between Avon and Servalan! I couldn't work out how he got away, but of course he did. Great story of escape against the odds. Well written, lots of great language.

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6 people found this helpful

The spider will be waiting

A revisiting of the wonderfully nostalgic days of Terry Nation's S.F. series, Blakes's 7, following the tribulations of Blake, an idealistic reformer, and his crew of escaped convicts as they confronted the Federation, and the stunningly charismatic leader, Servalan and her evil henchmen. The series ended with the shocking and totally unexpected ambush and deaths of all of Blake's 7 - with just the possible exception of Avon, the wily and very devious computer expert. This book continues the story from some two decades after the Blake's 7 slaughter, with a new power struggle for control of what had been the Federation, and Avon stranded on a less than technical small planet just biding his time to escape and recover ORAC.

Written by Paul Darrow who was Avon in the T.V. series, in the full grandiose and, even then, rather archaic speech of the original, the book captures the spirit of Blake's 7 perfectly. There is action, plotting, backstabbing - and, of course, the glorious Servalan, no longer President but no less feared and dangerous. For a one time Blake's 7 fan, this is pure nostalgic pleasure. Who cares if it doesn't quite make sense? Neither did the original. And Darrow's distinctive voice, warm but devious, in all of it's Avon glory, puts a final finish to this excellent audio.

Please note, this review is totally subjective. The original series was iconic over forty years ago and still remembered with great affection by this reader; and favourite of the characters were Servalan and Avon, both untrustworthy schemers who only had one side - their own. How good it is to meet them both again in a story written and narrated by the voice of Avon, the late Paul Darrow.

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3 people found this helpful

Brilliant and nostalgic

Listening to this reminds me how gutted I was when Paul passed away. As son as he started to speak I grinned.

I listened to it every free moment I had for two days and loved it. The scheming and plotting and political manoeuvring was all great and I enjoyed the balance he struck between how cold Avon can be and those little niggling moments when his conscience does creep through. Some nice references to the original series and it was great to have Servelan so involved.

Avon is probably still my favourite TV character of all time so for me this was perfect and I really enjoyed it.

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Well now, this is terrible

Paul Darrow may have played Avon, but when it comes to writing he seems to have forgotten all about the universe and lore that Blakes 7 already inhabited. Nothing seems to have any connection to the series (e.g. all the weapons seem very 20th Century and not the plasma bolts and blasters of TV show). The story is also just terrible - and feels like Avon fan fiction.

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Not credible

Paul Darrow was great at portraying Avon and he delivers it well. But 7 hours of his gravitas delivery was monotonous. The character of Avon had become super human...a weapons expert and fighter?
the rest of the characters were too numerous with no depth or explanation of who and why necessary to story.

I love Blake's 7 and cried at the last episode but this was not what I expected nor enjoyed.

sorry Paul. RIP

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2 people found this helpful