The Helm of Awe

Philip Hinchcliffe Presents #3

Released: 11 April 2017

Listened: 3/26/22

This story is a four-parter, and yet it packs a lot of ideas into its running time. It’s set way up north in the Shetland Islands, on an island so small and insular that official records say that it’s uninhabited, and the locals like it that way. It has an unusually warm climate for its latitude, and rather spectacular aurora (the titular “Helm of Awe,” which really doesn’t play into the plot at all). In addition to the people’s distrust of strangers, there’s the local laird, who’s heavily into archaeology, his daughter, who’s caught between the urge to see the world and her deep roots on the island, and a family curse that’s more than it seems. Because this is a Philip Hinchcliffe story, we need a local ancient ritual, this one an annual Viking celebration of the turning of the year. Which heightens the emotions nicely, but also gives Leela a chance to participate in a longboat race, which she likes very much. There’s a timey-wimey jaunt back to WWII, to determine the roots of the mystery. As before, the actual sci-fi element is a bit of a disappointment, and the story just sort of ends instead of wrapping up, but that seems to be par for these stories.