Home Truths

The first part of the “Sara Kingdom Trilogy”. It’s a great showcase of how to get the most out of a, in theory, limited character.

This story is narrated by Sara, who meets with a detective.

The Doctor, Steven and Sara arrive at a house with mysterious circumstances. Appliances seem to react to thoughts and a happy couple is found dead. Their smiling corpses found in different rooms.

I like a good mystery, and it is set up well here. Random events keep us engaged, but not informed enough to figure it out. We find that the well-dressed male corpse wears a jacket that is too large for him, but perfectly fits Steven. Steven suddenly disappears without a trace. And one of the corpses suddenly has its eyes closed.

From here on we get into deeper spoilers, so leave now if you want to experience it yourself! It turns out that the house is psychic, made to fulfill every need from its guests and inhabitants. The problem is that the house has no conscience. No limits. If you ever think a bad thought, like wishing your lover dead for a split second, the house will grant your wish. That;s how the people died and all the mysteries happen.

This leads to some great moments for Sara. Because the house is built on the wants of the characters, we get some real insight in what is happening. Even though she shouldn’t wish any further, Sara wishes that there was still a mystery to solve. Even when the house is revealed. There are several times where she could’ve taken the “easy way out”, but her pride doesn’t allow for that. She has to solve the mystery in earnest. Which puts the Doctor and Steven in dire situations.

Yet we keep rooting for her. Her situation is somewhat relatable and, while potentially foolish, we want her to succeed. She explains her inner thoughts and rationale, so we get on board.

And she does solve it. In the end, the house gets a conscience. Her conscience. The mental processes of the house have become a total copy of her own. Which leads to the twist that it wasn’t Sara who was interviewed by police, but the house itself.

This story is pretty notable. It found a way to add a lot of character to someone who had basically none. It made room for a lot of internal processes of that character, which built that character up well and it had a fun twist to round it all out. It’s a true piece of foundation that gets built on in later stories.

Is it perfect, though? No, I don’t think so. The copying of Sara to the house feels sudden and a tad unsatisfying. By no means a dealbreaker, or out of the scope of the story. But it happens quite suddenly and could’ve been presented better. For example, like an actual solution to the mystery.

But it is still darn good and puts in miles for Sara’s character. Considering this is a part of a trilogy, it really makes you wonder where we’ll go next.