Customer Reviews

Avon : A Terrible Aspect

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This novel (based on the brilliant British SF series Blake's 7) was written by Paul Darrow, the actor who played the role of "Avon" on Blake's 7. Mr Darrow is a complex, subtle actor. He brought to the character many, many levels. Avon clearly possessed kinder and gentler motives than he dared reveal, instead assuming the role of rivingly cynical logical savant, forced by apparent circumstances to be part of Blake's less-than-merry band of criminals-turned-freedom-fighters.

So too Mr Darrow aspires toward better intentions with his novel, but falls utterly into aspic...a melange of suspect lineage, more vegetable matter than meat. It's not "terrible", in the popular sense, but more in the Elizabethan tradition whence the title derives.

The plot is unwieldy, the prose oft times deadly, the character judgments highly suspect, and the astronomical and astrophysical suggestions frequently downright criminal.

Still and all, he's a brilliant actor. I heartly recommend he spend his sparetime in other pursuits.

Poorly written, stomach-churning potboiler, masquerading as science fiction. The writers of the B7 series would have been appalled, as were many of the faithful fans at this effort. The science is laughably inaccurate, the plot is pure 30's pulp and the characters are disgusting and bear little resemblence to how they appeared in the actual BLAKES 7 TV series. I've read far better fan fiction in this series universe.

Prequel book for the character of Kerr Avon in Blake's 7 (BBC scifi from the 80's).

I love Paul Darrow, I love the character Kerr Avon. Blake's 7 is one of my favorite shows of all time, the writing and dialogue were great!

I was dying to read this book when I finally got it.

Now, I would still recommend it to die hard Blake's 7 fans who want the backstory on Avon, but to no one else.

The writing (despite it being Terry Nation & Paul Darrow's creation) is not that great. The portrayal of women is horrifying. They are all one dimensional sexual objects. The book contains the worst (and some of the more sexist) descriptions of sex I've ever read. [Think Robert Heinlein's misogynistic portral of women]. I'm not saying they had to make Rogue Avon seem like a sensitive guy or anything, but his going around 'banging whores' and then killing them is not really what I was looking for in the book. A terrible disappointment.

I finished it just so I could get the full story of Kerr Avon's past.

And now I must geek out and say I was also a little puzzled at the fact that the end didn't quite match what Kerr Avon told Del Grant had happened in the episode "Countdown". Terry Nation wrote that episode and Paul Darrow uttered the dialogue - so why couldn't they keep the stories consistent? Granted I haven't seen a few episodes of season 3, so maybe this is explained later...

Blake's 7 was an exceptionally well-written series. This book (by far) does not live up to that standard. Avon deserves a good-quality past.

I enjoyed this book very much. I was a new fan of Blakes 7

When I bid on a copy of Avon A Terrible Aspect at a Fan convention charity event. Author and Actor Paul Darrow very

graciously autographed my copy...

I wanted to see the character Avon through the eyes of the

actor who portrayed him. I was not disappointed. It was an interesting read.My favorite TV show Blakes 7 and my all time

favorite character Anti-hero Kerr Avon were explained in a way

which brought me full circle as a fan and arm chair adventurer.

Mr Darrow has captured the essence that creates Avon. Power, adventure, and love all twist together to produce the background of the man we grew to admire. This book maps out the road that Avon follows and brings full circle many questions left unanswered in the series. Thank you for your achievement.

Paul has managed to develop a complex character in Avon, one of the reasons why Blakes 7 was such a huge hit, despite its cheap budget. The book shows how the author created Avon, from a small boy to the moment he appears in episode 2.

As Science fiction goes, and I've read a great deal, this book is an essential read.