Time Hunter

-The Cabinet of Light

-written by Daniel O'Mahony

-reviewed by Five_Hundredth_Drax

Originally conceived as a Telos Novella, but eventually evolved into an obscure spin-off, The Cabinet of Light is a hidden gem. How so? Let's find out.

Quick summary of the plot:
1949.
Honore Lechasseur (who, despite the name, is from New Orleans) moved to London after the war ended, and now works as, what he likes to call, a "fixer" - he tries to help people for money. And one day he receives a very interesting request - a woman called Emily Blandish is looking for her husband, who she can't properly describe. The only tip she gives is that his name is the Doctor (or Dr Smith, if you're reading the Time Hunter tie-in reprint).
And as Honore digs into the case, he finds out even more sercets.
How is "the girl in pink pijamas", who was found amnesiac on the streets of London many years ago, connected to this disappearance?
Who is the mysterious pale woman and her almost 3 meter tall henchman covered in armor?
And what on Earth is the Cabinet of Light?

Review:
I listened to the audiobook, so I wanted to briefly comment on that first.
This audiobook has no soundtrack and soundeffects whatsoever (except for the title sequence, which is pretty fitting for this series), yet it works perfectly well. How? Thanks to the wonderful narration done by Terry Molloy.
I've never heard any of his narrations before, but now I can safely say that Terry is one HELL of a narrator. He plays with his voice a lot to show different characters, even almost cries at one point. And most importantly - in the intence action sequences he starts talking really really fast, creating the tension for the listener out of thin air!

As for the story - it is also great.
We are introduced to Honore, who will lead this spin-off, and he is a great character. It is very interesting to watch as he looks for clues or uncovers information about the Doctor.
An interesting part about Honore - he is time sensitive. He can see and feel people's past and future. He first felt it after a shellshock and since then thought he was crazy, but the Doctor explained it to him (also it's not a spoiler, Honore's time sensitivity is mentioned in the annotation of the novella).
As for the Doctor himself - the incarnation is unidentifiable. It's a new Doctor. And I love his characterisation.
You kind of get a feeling of Rose or Scream of the Shalka because this Doctor is written in way as if we are introduced for the first time not to this particular Doctor, but to the Doctor in general.
And it works - it actually feels like a series' reboot and it is a great start for this spin-off.
Honore is interesting to follow after because of his time sensitivity and overall chemistry with other characters in the story.
The antagonist - the pale woman, is also mysterious and sort of charming, despite appearing only twice. She is more of a looming threat, but enough to feel dangerous. Yet her henchman Abraxas is a clear and present danger. Thanks to Terry's narration he became very imposing because of how Terry imitates his voice and how he reads out action scenes.

I speak about Honore so much and not about the Doctor because it is a Doctor-lite story. The Doctor appears only twice, but the mystery surrounding him in this book makes up for it more than enough.

Also, fun fact - some might find the characterisation of this Doctor similar to that of the Doctor from Scream of the Shalka. Believe it or not, this is a total coincidence - Daniel O'Mahony wasn't aware of the webcast being in the works when he was writing this.

Overall, a great start for the series, great introduction of key characters and the atmosphere of looming mysteries all around.
I can't wait to get more stories with Honore.
I actually can't think of anything bad about this book. It is phenomenal. One of my absolute favourite Doctor-lite stories.
A solid 10/10. I can't recommend this book enough.
The audiobook is on Apple Music or Spotify if you're interested.