Blake's 7, Origins Boxset - various authors

 

A distress call is coming from a Federation research base…

A crack team is assembled to take over the Liberator…

A band called the Dangerous prepare to ‘Rock the Rock Planet’…

***

Heroes or villains? Things are not always black and white in the dystopia ruled by the ruthless Federation. The crew of the Liberator are passionate in their opposition to the injustice and corruption of the government, but this group of convicts and outcasts aren’t exactly angels themselves… Whether it’s a large scale rescue mission, or a simple act of kindness, these stories explore an important question: what really makes a hero?

Back in 1978 an 11 year old me  was at a stage where Doctor Who was the bee's knees as far as TV Sci-Fi went but I was looking for something 'more'. That 'more' as it turned out was Blake's 7. The characters here were not as clean cut as the Doc and his companions and that appealed to me. It still had the dodgy sets and the scenes filmed in quarries that stood in for alien planets but it also had that gritty, slightly grubby feel to it, the characters argued amongst themselves, this was what I wanted, my next step on the Sci-Fi ladder and I took that step gladly,

Now comes this gorgeous looking (limited edition) box set of 7 books by renowned Sci-Fi authors based around the first series. Each book contains 2 stories which expand events in the episodes and so far (I still have 2 1/2 books to go) there's not a duff one amongst them. All the authors are fans B7 and it shows. They keep the feel of the original but also bring a touch of modernity to it as well (not too much though, it's still B7 from the 70s and 80s at heart and Orac still looks like something slapped together on Blue Peter to this reader - and I wouldn't have it any other way)

The stories are not long ones, novellas I guess, but they feel bigger and it's great to be spending time with 'old friends' again.

PLEASE NOTE :- These books are only available as the Boxed Set not individually.

Many thanks to Black Crow PR for inviting me on to this Blog Tour (and to revisit my youth) and supplying review files - all opinions are my own and not influenced in any way at all.

Please have a read of the posts by the other bloggers on the tour (below)