Millennial Rites

Title: Millennial Rites
Author: Craig Hinton
Genre: SF, Tie-In
Series: Doctor Who Missing Adventures
Copyright: 1995
Ranking: Good
Binding: paperback
LibraryThing: Title:Millennial Rites WorkId 580775
Type: Owned
Read: 1995

Once in a blue moon, you come across one of Those covers.

I mean, the cover of a book that fits the story so perfectly, that draws the main character so vividly, that while you read the story you keep on going back and looking at the cover. I have only encountered four such covers in my life. One, for Gillian Bradshaw's "Hawk of May", the second, for Tanith Lee's "Kill the Dead" the third, for Robin McKinley's "The Blue Sword" (all those editions, alas, have been replaced with other covers since) - and the fourth, for Craig Hinton's "Millenial Rites".

Of course, when one is reading the first half of the book, one wonders what on earth those funny pictures of the Doctor and Mel mean, why they are dressed so oddly - and then you get to the second half of the book, and it all comes clear. The second half of the book is what sticks in my mind, what makes it worth reading; a blend of magic and science, the atmosphere of fairy tale and the dilemmas of the characters. I really liked it. The first half - heh, I've forgotten it, even though the second half needs the first half to build its echoes of reality upon.

Camelot on the Sid & Nancy scale.