Heart of Orion

Charlotte Pollard: The Further Adventuress #4

Released: 19 January 2022

Listened: 1/23/22

This is the only story that makes a direct reference to a story from this era, in this case, “Sword of Orion.” This is pretty much a direct sequel to that story, with Charley and the Doctor returning to Garazone to answer a distress call that may have come from Deeva Jansen, an android they met in the previous story, whom they saw die. This one is fairly twisty, and spends a bit of time pondering the nature of consciousness – how does an android know it’s alive? How does a human? Is there any difference? It’s a little deeper than Nick Briggs stories usually go, to be honest, and it’s got some twists in it as well. It really does help if you remember “Sword of Orion” well, or at least know what the Orion war is all about, but it’s not an absolute requirement. And we get another trip to the Garazone Bazaar, with its very odd electronic tune in the background, which manages to be a nice touch without bludgeoning listeners with it. There isn’t a big body count, which is good; really none of the stories in this set have had that. There also isn’t a sense of closure or finality, because Charley is off to her next set of adventures, but it’s very nice to return to this era.