Occam's Razor

Kaldor City #1

by Alan Stevens, Jim Smith

"You are dealing with a professional. Probably a hired killer. Resourceful, highly intelligent. A computer specialist."

Kaldor: A city of robots on a world of robots. The Board runs the Company, and the Company runs the planet. Nothing happens in Kaldor City without the Board’s approval. So how come its members are dying?

Company Chairholder Uvanov is faced with an escalating problem: political allies and enemies are being killed and nobody knows who will be next or why. Even Carnell, the ex-Federation psycho-strategist, is at a loss to provide an explanation.

One man may hold the answers-- a man who crossed the border into Kaldor City six hours ago: Kaston Iago, a man with a past and maybe an agenda. A man with the skills to set everything right.

Kaldor City - Occam's Razor uses characters and concepts from Chris Boucher's Doctor Who novel Corpse Marker to tell a dark, aggressive tale of ultraviolence and political intrigue.

Genres: Science Fiction, Crime

Audio CD

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Alan Stevens is a British writer and producer who is based in the Southeast of England, where he runs his own audio production company, Magic Bullet Productions.

Stevens has produced a number of documentaries, serials and dramas for radio and independent audio release, including the Blake's 7/Doctor Who' spinoff series Kaldor City and the second Faction Paradox audio series, and has co-written two guidebooks for Telos Publishing, Liberation: the Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Blake's 7 and Fall Out: the Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to The Prisoner, with Fiona Moore. He writes articles for Celestial Toyroom, the magazine of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, and has written in the past for Doctor Who Magazine and DWB.

Reviews

[Noah Soudrette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first volume of the Kaldor City audios is a spin off of both Doctor Who and Blake's 7. The cast of characters includes Uvanov from the 4th Doctor episode "The Robots of Death", Carnell the Psychostrategist from the Blake's 7 episode "Weapon", and an "original" character called Kaston Iago played by Paul Darrow. The plot concerns the murders of a number of elite citizens, all centered around Uvanov. Machinations insue and fun is had by all. If you're a fan of wither Doctor Who or Blake's 7, this is a must own title.

[Leila Anani · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a Blake's 7 and Dr Who fan - the Kaldor City audios are an absolute treat.

So we're in the DW: Robots of Death Universe, generally speaking after Chris Boucher's sequel novel Corpse Marker (well Uvanov is Firstmaster Chairholder now. However you really do have to ignore the fact that Carnell was defeated and absconded with tail between his legs and just imagine he's back working for Uvanov.) The planet is an isolated world, in the wider Blake's 7 universe and we have to assume that the Company is, if not 'officially' run by the Federation, at least infiltrated by Federation personnel. In B7 terms I guess this is likely after the last series and you have to imagine Avon survived, absconded to Kaldor City, changed his identity to Kaston Iago and became an assassin.

So in keeping with Robots of Death, this is another murder mystery with Uvanov at the heart. Bodies of key board members (of the 20 ruling families) are turning up dead in front of Uvanov (one on his desk, another sent to him through the post....) He turns to psycho-strategist Carnell to help him solve the case. The obvious suspect is assassin Iago (Paul Darrow) who happens to be on holiday in Kaldor City. However after Uvanov's military fail to bring him in, Iago confronts Uvanov privately and tells him he's innocent. He offers to help solve the case. You then get this tense rivalry between Carnell and Iago as the body count rises and they try and work out whodunnit.

The highlight of this is the interplay between Carnell and Iago. I love how they constantly try and out plot each other. Darrow is amazing as Iago, not only does he have a voice I could listen to forever and razor sharp dialogue, but his suave and cynical character is like Avon... only Avon gone to the bad which is how you imagine the character might well have gone after events in the last episode.

The voice cast do a superb job with this and the dialogue is brilliant. It is very dialogue heavy and less reliant on special effects as many of the other Blake's 7 and Who audios. I don't think that's a bad thing but it does take a little while to get into.

It's rather refreshing that although this is set in the Robots of Death universe the story doesn't really centre around robots at all but very human characters and motivations. This also brings out lots of Boucher's signature themes:
• People not being who they seem
• Assassins
• Paranoia, secret agents, spies and mistrust
• Aristocracy vs the herd
• Psycho-strategist, puppet-masters, conspiracy & manipulation
• Population control and suppression

Really looking forward to the rest of this series. I loved this one.

[David Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audio launches the Kaldor City series, a Doctor Who tie-in without The Doctor. The tie comes from the TV serial "The Robots of Death." In the Kaldor City series we get a deep look into the culture of that particular world. Returning from the Doctor Who serial is Uvanov, played by Russell Hunter, who has now gained enough money and power to become head of the government, the Chief Shareholder. It's a position he has a tenuous grasp on. The society of Kaldor City is basically a corporation melded with Renaissance Italy, but only in its political makeup. The ruling board of shareholders are like the various dukes and princes of Renaissance Italy in their power, social position, and constant backstabbing politics against the other board members. Into this boiling political volcano nearing explosion comes an outsider, a professional assassin named Kaston Iago, played with suitable menace by Paul Darrow. He manages to work his way into becoming Uvanov's bodyguard, but why? And, working behind the scenes is the psycho-strategist Carnell, a character from "Blake's 7." The story has plenty of cross and double-cross, with the question always hanging, who is working to whose plan? The cast is outstanding, with Peter Miles, Brian Croucher, Trevor Cooper, and really all of them doing great work.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Occam's Razor is an excellent little story. The plot keeps moving at a great rate, with enough variety in locations to really give you a sense of the world.

The dialogue is snappy, with some really great back-and-forth. The acting is excellent with Paul Darrow, and his unbelievable voice, giving a brilliant performance.

[Terrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting enough entry to the audio world of Kaldor City. I have been a fan of the Doctor Who scripts that Chris Boucher wrote in the Seventies, and find this continuation entertaining.

[Hone Haapu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't know this was a Doctor Who spin off until I entered the book here!

THE BAD
- Expressly made for Audiobook, this story was all dialogue. However the audio appears to think that it is a movie.... At times the dialogue would start in the background or "far away" (see: hard to hear) and then grow louder as the characters got nearer. The question that got me was 'To what?' To the camera? To the microphone? To my omnipresent, voyeuristic position? It kinda did my head in a bit.
- An uninspiring 'whodunnit' tale.

THE GOOD
- Some quality voice acting, and sound effects are always nice on an audio book.
- The all dialogue approach was actually quite easy to follow once you got used to it.
- Could be a good read for someone into a simple whodunnit tale with a sci-fi twist.