✅MCGANN! → VERY GOOD!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

Nicola Bryant narrates this Six/Peri adventure, written by Nev Fountain. It’s framed as a fairly standard space adventure set aboard a spaceship on its way into the sun and needing to be stopped before it kills everyone onboard.

I love how Fountain makes the story stand out with the Ancient Egyptian-themed spaceship (the titular Sun God, shaped like a sphinx) and the interesting supporting characters, such as the blue-skinned alien Fletnix or the greatly named company CEO Spalding Revere. This makes for a fascinating mix of sci-fi, ancient cultures, and a commentary on the dangerous passion projects of millionaire industrialists.

The story features timeless themes of racism, exploited employees, and sacrificing innocent lives to save yourself.

The simple story flows very well thanks to the character relationships and the dialogue. There’s a sense of urgency early on that is effectively maintained throughout. Peri isn’t directly involved in the action, but her side of the story sees her meet and befriend a half-man, half-beetle called Brian, who brings a heartfelt element to the story.

Listening to Bryant’s narration here makes me remember that she’s British rather than American. Her Peri is perfect, of course, and she gives the supporting characters great voices as well (especially Revere and Duncan). Her Doctor doesn’t sound like Colin Baker to me, though.

The music and sound effects help greatly to give dramatic fuel to some of the more vivid moments. Additionally, some of the later plot developments bring some exciting twists that keep the story going (such as the clever twist as to why humans turn into various animals and why Peri hasn’t).