There's a very good reason why I finished "A Device Of Death" more than a week ago, but am just getting around to it now. Much as with his previous effort, "Twilight Of The Gods", Christopher Bulis seems to be running in neutral with his latest Missing Adventure, and the result is a book which, while not exactly bad, is nonetheless very forgettable.

Bulis' apparent ennui is most evident in the basic construction of the plot. So many of the elements here are derived from sci-fi and Doctor Who cliches you'd swear he drew up a short list of standard plot devices and just ticked them off as he went along. We have the protagonist with amnesia; the quick (in this case, instant!) division of the Doctor from his companions; the enslaved companion (Sarah must be experiencing a serious case of deja vu after enduring an almost identical scenario in "Genesis Of The Daleks"); the artificial war; the sheltered people laboring under a massive delusion; the suddenly sentient robot with a liking for Sarah; and so on. There is simply nothing new and original in "A Device Of Death" to really reach out and grab the reader's attention -- no "Wow!" factor, if you like.

And while this seems less grievous in the first half of the book, thanks to Bulis' workmanlike (if unspectacular) prose, it becomes far more noticeable as the book grinds toward the various plot revelations toward the end. It seems pretty clear that Bulis had not thought out the situation in much detail before sitting down to write the book, because the whole conspiracy turns out to be almost laughably encumbered and unbelievable. I find it impossible to suspend my disbelief when three individuals each independently uncover the trickery of the Alliance leaders (or at least strong hints of this trickery) in days while planetsful of beings hadn't been able to do the same in twenty years. There is simply no way a plot as complex as the one "Device" could have succeeded without far more intelligent planning than the cast of this novel demonstrate.

Plot matters aside, Bulis does at least continue to portray his lead cast decently. The Fourth Doctor, in particular, is very well handled (though his amnesia proves more an aggravating plot contrivance than anything else, and not very relevant either) and Harry enjoys some much-needed exposure and respect, if not actual development. Given that so much of her material is snatched wholesale from "Genesis" and "Robot", Sarah Jane's characterisation proves decidedly unmemorable, but at least accurate. The supporting cast is, to a man, unmemorable, peopled by more stereotypes and one-dimensional characters, most of them existing simply to fulfill their role in the plot.

After rising to moderate greatness with "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", Bulis has seen the quality of each successive book drop just a bit more than its predecessor. Indeed, with "A Device Of Death", Bulis is almost back into "Shadowmind" territory (though not quite that bad!); one has to wonder if the stepped-up pace of his releases isn't at least partly to blame for this deterioration in quality. Some authors -- Kate Orman, for instance -- can handle writing books in intervals of six months or less. Christopher Bulis isn't one of them.

5/10.

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