Lucifer: Revelation

Blake's 7 - Books and Ebooks #5

by Paul Darrow

A Chinese empress, head of a formidable space fleet, and keeper of dark secrets...

A beautiful killer, known as 'the Huntress', on a deadly mission fuelled by money and revenge...

A figure from the past, still fighting the system, and desperate for help...

Avon is back, and there's trouble brewing! Look out for old friends, new enemies and startling revelations in the second part of Paul Darrow's epic trilogy, Lucifer: Revelation, telling the story of Avon's life in the far future, beyond the events of the TV episodes.

Many years have passed since the death of his companions on Gauda Prime, but Avon is still very much on the minds – and a thorn in the sides – of those in power. On the run in a stolen spaceship, Avon has world leaders, warlords, aliens, bandits and hitmen on his trail, all hoping to seize control of the super computer Orac, and to be rid of Avon once and for all.

But those who underestimate Avon do so at their own peril...

Genres: Science Fiction

211 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2014

Reviews

[P. Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

What did I think of Paul Darrow's Lucifer Revelation? Not much if you ask me. Mr. Darrow has written a few books in his life but none as badly-written and tedious as Lucifer Revelation. His earlier forays into Blake's 7 inspired fiction were dodgy at best: Avon: A Terrible Aspect was badly-written and the science of it was laughable, but he persisted and now with his three book deal with Big Finish, he is at it again, writing stories which have no basis in the Blake's 7 universe. He takes an interesting and compelling character from the series and turns him into an amoral, psychopathic mass murderer with no redeeming qualities. He has made Avon a sort of a no-name cowboy who kills easily- even to the point of letting his supposed lover in the first Lucifer book, and his friend/colleague Grant be tortured and killed by the 'enemy' and then photographed for all to see on meat hooks of all things. This is not the man from the Blake's 7 series, even after decades of hard living and abuse- this is not the character we have come to know, which is perverse in a way as the author was the actor who played the character Avon for 4 years in Blake's 7. You'd think he would know the character the best, but obviously he does not at all.

The science again is poor as is all the references to our modern world, which would not be mentioned in the world of the Federation in Blake's 7. Examples which come to mind are as follows: the Federation being taken over somehow on Earth by the Empire of Cathay (China), and Pandora Ess, being Russian. If these people were of the Federation then there would be no country affiliation but only one Federated peoples- as in the series Blake's 7. There are references to heliplanes, submarines, Bowie knives, pump-action shot guns, and leagues instead of spatials as it was described in the series. The most laughable part is the continual scenes with either ex-Federation, or Quartet, or Duet, or any of the various thugs or Grey Aliens, repeatedly stopping to quaff champagne out of crystal flutes and smoking the obligatory cheroot, for effect it seems. The first scene with the submarine is laugh out loud funny. The craft rises out of the Arctic sea, breaking ice to do so, only to have Gabriella Travis, yes, daughter of Travis in the series, sitting there on the ice as if on her veranda, again sipping champagne and smoking a cheroot. Priceless it is not. Another minor niggle is that the author uses the phrase "Well,now"- one that the character Avon used only on occasion in the series, ten times in this book, and twelve times in the first Lucifer book. Enough already.

I think the main problem of the entire series of books by the author is that we are led to believe that the stories are about Blake's 7 and its characters but in reality, they are all set in a universe of his own making which jars terribly with the known universe of the television series. What characters he does use for his books are used in name alone as they do not match with what we know of the characters from the series. Sad. I for one would not recommend this book if you are a Blake's 7 or Avon fan. It would be like comparing apples to not oranges, but apples to orangutans! By that I mean there is no visible comparison.

It's a mockery of all things good and interesting about the Blake's 7 series. Pass on it.

[Robert Butler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was bought this book (and the first in the series) as a gift being a long time fan of Blake's 7. I thought it would be interesting to know what happened after the series ended.

To be honest this isn't the best of books. The pace of the book is extremely quick with very little time given to character development or the subtleties of telling a story. The story just goes bang bang bang through the plot, written like an essay by a school pupil.

I also found much of the plot unbelievable (if you can find Sci-fi unbelieveable) as everything is fixed with a bit of stealth mode and Orac's vastly improved superpowers. Orac is no longer in character with the rude arrogant Orac we know from the TV series and Avon has lost the hidden humanity he displayed in the TV series.

Disappointing - on the basis of this book I won't be getting the last in the series...

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, I enjoyed the politics in the background, Avon's journey and the bleak tone that B7 is known for. but sadly not without its faults. Its a middle of a trilogy and it feels like it.
The biggest problem is the change in Orac its completely different
Avon has become a sort of Ramboesque figure and his journey seems rather disconnected from the political powerplays happening, hopefully this will come together in the last book. The character truly misses a crew to bounce off of and it seems a missed opportunity to bring either new characters on board or have another survivor of Gauda Prime.
An enjoyable read for a Blakes 7 fan. Onto the third

[Jon Arnold · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mild improvement on Lucifer. Darrow’s style remains as idiosyncratic as his acting - this reads like an SF version of one of the cheap Bond knock-offs of the 1970s, with plenty of blood, sex and ultraviolence rather than anything so mundane as a plot. Avon moves through it all like a dull psychopath, proving largely uninteresting as a protagonist without the contrast of memorable or familiar characters. There’s no texture or emotion to it, just a relentless march through a bloodbath of people who are supposed to look clever and ruthless but end up as clowns. Dead clowns.

[Chris Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of Shakespearean machinations going on here, and it gets quite difficult to follow as the story proceeds. As with the first Lucifer book, this one would have benefitted from a good revision or two.
I keep wanting to love Paul Darrow's books, because I loved him as Avon when I watched Blake's 7 as a kid, then again as an adult (several times). But I have to admit that Mr. Darrow was a better actor than he was a writer.
I'm still going to read Lucifer: Origins though.
You never know - I may love it.

[Lucy Takeda · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, Avon is on the run ( as usual). Everyone wants him dead so they can access Orac. Everyone and every group is double crossing everyone else. Lots of killing. I find it disconcerting that Orac is the most compassionate character.

[Debra Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Avon fights the quartet with orac and runs into an old friend.

[Barry Bridges · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit hit and miss although it improves towards the end. Not sure he quite captures Orac in this interpretation!

[Jill Rooney · Rating 1 out of 5]

No thanks.

[Steven Kellett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a very big fan of Blake's 7
This book is ok .
I had to read it because it's Blake's 7

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, it's better than the last one of the Lucifer books. Since it's a little shorter, I'm going to go with Paul Darrow must have gotten an editor. He still has a lot of issues with telling instead of showing.

The other thing is that Avon is coming off as fairly Mary Sue-ish. He's suddenly become a much better fighter than he ever was in the series (Granted, it's not like he had a lot else to do, being marooned on a planetoid for 20 years...) Every time he goes and does these supposedly very dangerous things, against people much younger and more professionally-trained, he has no problems wiping them out. Not even a little hint of trouble.

Then there's Orac. "He's" much more humanish than he ever has before. He's downright chatty, and generally seems out of character as well.