The Rameses Connection

by Nigel Robinson

published by Sapling, London

©1995 Boxtree Limited
"We're up against someone who's got tremendous power here. Someone who can take possession of the mind of a Tomorrow Person, and make them go against their natural inability to kill . . ."
- Adam Newman in The Rameses Connection

The Rameses Connection is one of the novelisations of a serial from the new Tomorrow People, (1990s version). I'm going to keep this review as free of spoilers as possible, in case you haven't had a chance to read it or to see the episodes, and so the review is basically an analysis of what I liked and disliked about the story. For those of you who want to know, which of your favourite characters are in the book, only Adam, Ami, and Megabyte appear.

The book is, on first impression, a good one. It makes an attempt at trying to analyse some of the things that make the Tomorrow People tick. It embraces a broad tapestry of history, and has some excellent characters - both adversaries and allies to the Tomorrow People. The story is an interesting one and has a few unexpected twists.

These things which make the book a good one, are also the points which left me feeling a bit let down. It's analysis of the Tomorrow Peoples nature is very cursory, when I feel that there could have been a bit more discussion of it in the text, without it having any profound effects that would alter the storyline (bear in mind, that we are dealing with a novelisation of a TV show here, and that does limit the author). Secondly, while it does mention a great deal of history, it is in very obvious ways, using very obvious people. They story could have been better served, by utilising obscure figures and artefacts of history rather than the famous ones, which required a fair bit of suspension of disbelief. The other characters are rather strange and unusual, and this could have been taken too far. On reflection, I don't feel it was, but it did come very close at times.

The book is well written, and is as good as or better than most children's science fiction. I suppose my views are coloured by the fact that I believe children are entitled to the same respect as viewers and readers as adults (one of the reasons I like the Tomorrow People).

Should I Read The Book?

The answer to this question is a 'yes' if you can find it. Despite having only been published last year, the book is very hard to find in the UK and all but unobtainable in the United States or Australia. The price at the time of publication was £3.99 in the UK and in Australia, the book (if you can find it) should retail for about $12. The book is worth reading, despite its faults, and is certainly a good addition to any Tomorrow People fans library. If you do see it, buy it. You may not always have the chance.

This review © 1996 Shaun Hately, but pleasse feel free to link to it, or copy it.
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