Sword of Orion


Sword of Orion by Nicholas Briggs

As my experience with audio goes on and I become more accustomed to the generic Big Finish stories and what that means, as well as the failures, I can begin to see my own. At the start of this blog, I had a scathing review for Sword of Orion. Well, I can tell you now, a full probably two years on, it DEFINITELY isn't that bad. I was spoiled by Storm Warning, really. Sword is palpably worse, I still stand by that, but as it goes on it raises interesting questions on machinery, and the human spirit, similarly to how Star Trek: Picard and TNG defined the androids and the borg (and before anyone starts crapping on Star Trek: Picard, know I will ignore you) But all of this is in the second half, behind a sort of average first episode that doesn't really know where it is, to egg you on yet, unlike Storm Warning, which was a story that was exceedingly comfortable in it's direction from the start until the end.
The second episode isn't much better, so it's safe to say that Sword of Orion doesn't pick up until halfway through, where we are actually aware of the threat depicted on the box art. It then, is at least a relatively proficient Cyberman story that portrays their relentless single-mindedness and raw determinative logic well, which is something I've always liked in a villain. I always thought the best villains, when I was younger, were the one's that just didn't give up. Ultimately, it's a story I actually really enjoyed on a second listen, especially one when I wasn't so new to the company. It probably still isn't the best second audio for newcomers, especially when Storm Warning sets such a high bar, but Eight and Charley are a team you just have to love: 7/10

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