Walking to Babylon (novel): Difference between revisions

{{Infobox Story SMW

|image          = Walking to Babylon.jpg

|series         = [[Virgin New Adventures]]

|range          = Virgin New Adventures

|number in range = 71

|number         = 71

|adapted into    = Walking to Babylon (audio story)

|main character = [[Bernice Summerfield]]

|featuring      = Joseph (Oh No It Isn't!)

|featuring3      = God (The Also People)

|featuring4      = Wolsey

|enemy           = [[WiRgo!xu]] and [[!Ci!ci-tel]]

|setting        = [[St Oscar's University|St Oscar's]], [[Worldsphere]], and [[MD 20879]], [[2594]]; [[Babylon]], [[12 December]] [[1901]] and [[BC#6th century BC|570 B.C.]]

|writer          = Kate Orman

|cover          = [[Mark Salwowski]]

|publisher       = Virgin Books

|release date   = 3 February 1998

|format         = Paperback Book;<br/>14 Chapters, 256 Pages

|isbn           = ISBN 0-426-20521-9

|prev            = Tempest (novel)

|next           = Oblivion (novel)

}}{{prose stub}}

'''''Walking to Babylon''''' is the seventy-first [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel. It features [[Bernice Summerfield]] and [[the People]]. It was the third novel to be adapted by [[Big Finish Productions]] into a full cast audio story, which was released in [[November (releases)|November]] [[1998 (releases)|1998]].

''"I'm scared of letting all these people down. Like the whole human race. At least if I get blown up as well, they can say I died heroically. Assuming I ever existed at all."''

When [[Bernice Summerfield]] visits [[the People]] — an incredibly advanced civilisation living in a [[Dyson sphere|Dyson Sphere]] — she discovers that even in utopia, they still have their problems.

An illegal time travel experiment threatens a war which could destroy them all. Rather than risk it, the People and their ultra-powerful computer, [[God (The Also People)|God]], are prepared to eradicate the source of the problem — the ancient city of [[Babylon]]. But such action would involve the death of a quarter of a million human beings, and do incalculable damage to [[Earth]]'s history.

Babylon — and the [[human]] race — have one hope. Benny returns to the cradle of civilisation to try and stop the interference. She has just one week to prevent a catastrophe that could mean she will never be born. Her only assistance comes from a Victorian linguist who has stumbled across the experiment himself. But he's no help at all — even though he has a power neither of them suspects.

 

* [[Bernice Summerfield]]

* [[God (The Also People)|God]]

* [[John Lafayette]]

* [[Clarence]]

* [[Cin-ta!x]]

* [[Ninan]] (High Princess)

* [[WiRgo!xu]]

* [[!Ci!ci-tel]]

* [[!qu-!qu-tala]]

== Worldbuilding ==

=== Biology ===

* Bernice once had [[sex]] with some [[Citdbtbed]]s by shaking hands with them.

=== Groups ===

* Several Interest Groups are mentioned, including the [[Obscure and Unlikely Civilisations Interest Group]], the [[Abnormal Psychology Interest Group]], the [[Weird Aviation Interest Group]], the [[Seriously Primitive Societies Interest Group]], the [[Apathy Interest Group]], the [[Wilderness Gardening Interest Group]], the [[Temporal Interest Group]], the [[Interpersonal Dynamics Interest Group]], the [[Weapons Development Interest Group]], the [[Primitive Cooking Interest Group]], the [[Freak Accidents Interest Group]], the [[Ke Chedani Interest Group]], the [[Immortality Through Not Pissing Off God Interest Group]], the [[Solar Mechanics Interest Group]], the [[Creative Writing Interest Group]], and the [[Celibacy Interest Group]].

* [[Cin-ta!x]] is a spokesperson for the Temporal Interest Group.

=== Individuals ===

* [[God (The Also People)|God]] speaks through Benny's porter [[Joseph (Oh No It Isn't!)|Joseph]].

* [[Clarence]] collects Benny from [[St Oscar's University|St Oscar's]].

* [[!qu-!qu-tala]] is a [[drone]] accompanying !Ci!ci-tel and WiRgo!xu. The drone is also a veteran of the war.

=== Literature ===

* Bernice Summerfield is studying some [[D'nasian]] poetry.

=== Planets ===

=== Time travel ===

* [[The People]] can't develop [[time travel]] because of their [[Time Lord-People Treaty|treaty]] with the [[Time Lord]]s.

* [[John Lafayette]] is a [[Time sensitivity|time sensitive]] and thus was able to walk the [[Time Path]].

=== Weapons ===

* This novel was adapted into an audio story by [[Big Finish Productions]] by [[Jacqueline Rayner]]. (see [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Walking to Babylon (audio story)|Walking to Babylon]]'')

* The People first appeared in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Also People (novel)|The Also People]]''.

* Benny agreed to become an agent of the People in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Oh No It Isn't! (novel)|Oh No It Isn't!]]''.

* The People make a deal regarding time travel in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Dead Romance (novel)|Dead Romance]]''.

* Benny tells the story of her solo dig on [[Capella Four]]. This was first mentioned in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Parasite (novel)|Parasite]]'' and expanded upon in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Steal from the World (short story)|Steal from the World]]''.

{{dwrefguide|who_na71.htm|Walking to Babylon}}

* {{whoniverse|na71|Walking to Babylon}}

[[Category:Stories set in 570 BC]]

[[Category:Stories set in 1901]]