The Medusa Effect

Bernice Summerfield: Virgin New Adventures #12

by Justin Richards

Medusa - an experimental spaceship developed by the Advanced Research Department of St Oscar's University. Missing since it was launched, presumed lost in the wars, it was a project so secret that it has never been declassified. Now, twenty years on, Medusa is coming home. After one of the investigation team dies suspiciously, Professor Bernice Summerfield is assigned to help discover what went wrong. But to do so she must solve a riddle. What is the strange link between the original crew and the team now on board the drifting ship? And why do their ghosts still haunt Medusa?

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction

Paperback

First published May 1, 1998

About the author

Justin Richards was a British writer of science fiction, fantasy, and adventure fiction. He wrote science fiction and fantasy novels, including series set in Victorian and early 20th-century London, as well as contemporary adventure stories. He was best known for writing numerous spin-off novels, reference books, and audio plays based on the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. Richards served as Creative Consultant for the BBC Books range of Doctor Who novels until 2017.

Reviews

[Gareth · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s something very familiar about this expedition to a spooky old spaceship, where the new people on board start to see things and relive the experiences of the old people on board, including (inevitably) their doom. You get the feeling that Justin Richards just wanted to spin a good yarn and leave it at that, but Bernice goes on to uncover the sci-fi reasons for it all and they are decidedly, incongruously bonkers. I think I liked the book better when it was creakier than the ghost ship.

[Jacob Licklider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is there a name for the trope where characters become possessed by people from the past and are forced to reenact the circumstances of their death? Buffy the Vampire Slayer employed this one in “I Only Have Eyes for You” in its second season and I’m fairly certain Supernatural probably did it at some point. Yet before Buffy the Vampire Slayer attempted it Justin Richards wrote The Medusa Effect, one of the New Adventures novels featuring Bernice Summerfield, predating “I Only Have Eyes for You” by nearly a month complete with its own science fiction trappings. Now, I don’t believe Richards is originating the trope, nor was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Stephen King’s The Shining, both the book and Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation, could be considered an adaptation of the trope to a degree and demonic possession stories dot human history in general, though William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist features the idea specifically. The variation on the trope on effect here in The Medusa Effect, is a melancholic affair when all is said and done. It concerns the reappearance of the experimental ship Medusa, a ship missing for twenty years after its maiden voyage, appearing back on Dellah empty as St. Oscar’s Advanced Research Department puts together a team to investigate the ship and discover what exactly happened twenty years ago.

The Medusa Effect is a novel where Richards is intentional in writing a novel where Benny is meant to feel out of place. Much of the preamble of the novel to the point where the Medusa reappears is from Benny’s perspective and is used to really bring out how the Advanced Research Department is an organization that would clearly be under the thumb of Irving Braxiatel, except it isn’t. Braxiatel is in the novel, Richards being the character’s creator means that he is characterized at his best, especially in the final pages of the novel where he and Benny have this utterly devastating conversation. Brax is a character who clearly has his own agenda, but his care for Benny is genuine, in its own way and he doesn’t actually seem to like the ordeal she has gone through. Benny herself is intentionally portrayed as the odd woman out on the expedition, is the one added last to the crew and the one outside of the ARD which is several red flags all at once. There’s already a sense of things going wrong because of Benny’s position in the novel as on the back foot. Richards doesn’t actually waste time by paralleling the two crews before the possessions start. The possession trope is one of those things that really finds their way into the novel quite slowly. Benny being a suitable replacement is one aspect of the novel that doesn’t work. Richards makes Benny being a match for original crewmate too close that the suspension of disability is just off. The other characters work because they were hand selected and it’s implied moulded at points into their roles, but Benny as an outsider really needed Richards to show how different she actually was.

Despite the possession narrative driving the plot down the route of a murder mystery with Benny as detective, Richards also has the novel end with a stand-off with a villain. The shift towards the more science fiction, genetic engineering elements of the novel that leads to Benny dancing with a skeleton as depicted on the cover. The identity of the villain is fairly obvious, again Richards as a novelist has never been one for his great twists, but the motivation for the villain is a bit underwritten. The villain is one motivated by a lost love and a knowledge of genetic engineering essentially trying to create artificial lifeforms out of the identities of those on the Medusa. There is one particularly effective twist as to why there is an extra member of the new expedition in regards to the original crew of the Medusa, though again in hindsight it’s a fairly obvious twist that keeps in line with a lot of the book.

Overall, The Medusa Effect is a surprisingly effective novel. Justin Richards actually manages to make a memorable read out of a science fiction murder mystery where the twists have a tendency towards the obvious. What really works is the characterization that allows the main trope that’s the conceit of the novel to really work, the first third is devoted to characterization and it’s clear that Richards not having to just write Doctor Who, but a spin-off leads to some very solid work in this second Benny novel. 8/10.

[Julia]

Un’astronave sperimentale creata dal Dipartimento di Ricerca Avanzata dell’Università di Dellah è andata dispersa 20 anni prima. Ora sta tornando alla base e Benny fa parte dell’equipaggio che salirà a bordo per indagare l’accaduto. L’elegante nave da crociera ora è invasa da polvere e ragnatele e i corpi dell’equipaggio originario raccontano di una tragedia violenta. Ma presto Benny e i suoi colleghi iniziano a vedere strane apparizioni: le stanze appaiono per brevi attimi restaurate al loro splendore originario, e i fantasmi dei morti si aggirano per i corridoi. Ciò che è più strano però è che piano piano il team inizia a comportarsi e pensare esattamente come i membri originari, ripercorrendo passo passo tutte le azioni che li hanno portati alla loro prematura dipartita, inclusa Benny stessa.

Inquietante ma senza cadere troppo nel macabro e con un concept così intrigante, per me questo è un ennesimo successo per Justin Richards (lo sto amando troppo).

[April Mccaffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Braxiatel placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "Technology," He whispered. "I love it. Come on, we've got things to do."

-

Justin Richards just understands the world of Bernice Summerfield & Braxiatel. After the disappointing read of Oblivion by Dave Stone, this book was the pick-me up I needed. There hasn't been a single Justin Richards story I dislike and he is one of my favourite doctor who authors.

I loved the concept of this idea of emotions and creating new beings from emotions. I also loved the friendship between Benny, Skutloid and Braxiatel and it was so nice to see them interact more and solve weird science fiction things happening on board the Medusa.

I also loved the character of Stuart and learning who and what he is.

Also, the very last page made me laugh.

[Richard Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought this was good but not stunning. Spent a lot of the time trying to remember which of the crew was which and who was getting taken over by who. There was a lot of history repeating itself and reading from old journals so I lost track of which time zone I was in frequently.

[Benedict Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting concept, not fully logical but the novel is pacey enough that you don't really have time to dwell on the holes in the "evil plan". As a reader it was a great reminder how the New Adventures were able to explore more complex sci-fi ideas than the Dr Who novels of the past 20 years.

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mix of The Shining and Metal Gear Solid 2

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2577191.html#cutid3

I feared at first that The Medusa Effect, in which Benny and a bunch of others are sent on an expedition to find a lost spaceship (the Medusa), was going to end up in a similar place to this year's Deep Time, in fact it ends up much closer to the Buffy episode "I Only Have Eyes For You" (which, interestingly, also dates from 1998) in that Benny's expedition find themselves being taken over by the personalities of the Medusa crew and re-enacting their fate. I thought it was well enough done, though has few links to other continuity. The central third is particularly strong.