Tears of the Oracle (novel): Difference between revisions

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{{real world}}
{{real world}}
{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story
|image=Tears of the Oracle.jpg
|image           = Tears of the Oracle.jpg
|series= [[Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures|Virgin <br /> Bernice Summerfield New Adventures]]
|series         = [[Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures|Virgin <br /> Bernice Summerfield New Adventures]]
|range = Virgin New Adventures
|range           = Virgin New Adventures
|number in range = 81
|number in range = 81
|number= 20
|number         = 20
|main character= [[Bernice Summerfield]]
|main character = [[Bernice Summerfield|Benny]]
|featuring= Irving Braxiatel
|featuring       = Irving Braxiatel
|featuring2= Clarence
|featuring2     = Clarence
|enemy=  
|featuring3      = Chris Cwej
|setting= {{il|[[Dellah]], [[2595]]|[[KS-159]], [[2595]]|[[Worldsphere]], [[2595]]}}
|featuring4      = God (The Almost People)
|writer= [[Justin Richards]]
|featuring5      = Skutloid
|cover= [[Fred Gambino]]
|featuring6      = B-Aaron
|publisher= Virgin Books
|featuring7      = Joseph (Oh No It Isn't!)
|release date= [[2 June (releases)|2 June]] [[1999 (releases)|1999]]
|featuring8      = Wolsey
|format= Paperback Book, 294 Pages
|enemy           =  
|isbn= ISBN 0-426-20533-2
|setting         = [[Dellah]], [[KS-159]] and [[Worldsphere]], [[2595]]
|prev= Dead Romance (novel)
|writer         = [[Justin Richards]]
|next= Return to the Fractured Planet (novel)
|cover           = [[Fred Gambino]]
|featuring3=Chris Cwej}}{{prose stub}}
|publisher       = Virgin Books
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' is the twentieth [[Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures]] novel.
|release date   = [[2 June (releases)|2 June]] [[1999 (releases)|1999]]
|format         = Paperback Book, 294 Pages
|isbn           = ISBN 0-426-20533-2
|prev           = Dead Romance (novel)
|next           = Return to the Fractured Planet (novel)
}}{{prose stub}}
'''''Tears of the Oracle''''' was the eighty-first [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel.


It is a return to the "main narrative" after the two previous novels, which went down different avenues. [[Irving Braxiatel]], [[Clarence]] and [[Chris Cwej]] return.
It was a return to the "main narrative" after the two previous novels, which went down different avenues. [[Irving Braxiatel]], [[Clarence]] and [[Chris Cwej]] returned.


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
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Benny would have to be mad to go back.
Benny would have to be mad to go back.


[[Jason Kane]], Bernice's one-time husband and all-time opportunist, has found the ancient remains of the Oracle of the Lost on an obscure planetoid known only as KS-159. Or so he says.
[[Kebara|Jason Kane]], Bernice's one-time husband and all-time opportunist, has found the ancient remains of the [[Oracle of the Lost]] on an obscure planetoid known only as [[KS-159]]. Or so he says.


Benny would have to be mad to believe him.
Benny would have to be mad to believe him.


The mysterious Irving Braxiatel is looking for somewhere quiet to house his huge collection of... everything.
The mysterious [[Irving Braxiatel]] is looking for somewhere quiet to house his huge collection of... everything.


Benny would have to be mad to suggest [[KS-159]].
Benny would have to be mad to suggest KS-159.


The [[Oracle of the Lost]], legend says, can answer any question. But the cryptic answers she gives are never helpful, and often dangerous.
The Oracle of the Lost, legend says, can answer any question. But the cryptic answers she gives are never helpful, and often dangerous.


Benny would have to be mad to reawaken her.
Benny would have to be mad to reawaken her.
Or ask a question.
Or ask a question.
Or believe the answer.
Or believe the answer.


Line 117: Line 125:


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
Although [[the People]] have negotiated a new treaty with [[Time Lord|their rivals]], [[God (The Also People)|God]] is 87% sure that [[war]] remains inevitable because of the [[religion|religious]] fervour spreading across [[Dellah]]. He has [[!Cin-ta!x]] of the [[Temporal Interest Group]] help engineer [[time travel]], which is permitted by the new treaty, and it is rumoured that he is receiving advice from a man outside of the People whom he decides to send to [[KS-159]]. He also sends [[Clarence]] to give a small box to [[Bernice Summerfield|Benny]].
On Dellah, [[Skutloid|Commander Skutloid]] and his [[Neo-Aretian]]s defend the people hiding in [[St Oscar's University]]'s [[Advanced Research Department]] from the religious fanatics, protected from the madness themselves by [[alpha-wave suppressor]]s. He realises that [[Santos Silvera|Director Silvera]] too has succumbed to the illness and decides to defy his orders and send a message to Braxiatel for help despite the planet being in [[quarantine]].
[[Irving Braxiatel|Braxiatel]], no longer with [[Renée Thalia]], invites Benny to meet him at a [[spaceport]] and informs her that he intends on establishing a permanent collection with her help. He also shows her to Clarence, who updates them on goings-on in the [[Worldsphere]] and tells them that [[B-Aaron]] is looking into the new treaty and that God believes that she and Braxiatel are to be key players in the war. He gives Benny the box from God, which contains a [[holocube]] of one of [[Edward Watkinson]]'s lectures, and Braxiatel later receives Skutloid's message.
''to be added''
''to be added''


Line 139: Line 153:


== References ==
== References ==
=== Food and drink ===
* [[!Cin-ta!x]] makes [[pancake]]s.
* Braxiatel drinks [[coffee]].
=== Locations ===
=== Locations ===
* Braxiatel wins [[KS-159]] in a card game on [[Vega Station (Demontage)|Vega Station]].
* Braxiatel wins [[KS-159]] in a card game on [[Vega Station (Demontage)|Vega Station]].
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== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* God mentions the "[[Babylon]] incident". ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Walking to Babylon (novel)|Walking to Babylon]]'')
* Braxiatel uses a [[hypercube|communication cube]] to contact his people for assistance in the same way the [[Second Doctor]] does in [[TV]]: ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]''.
* Braxiatel uses a [[hypercube|communication cube]] to contact his people for assistance in the same way the [[Second Doctor]] does in [[TV]]: ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]''.
* Chris was exposed to the lethal dose of [[radiation]] in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Dead Romance (novel)|Dead Romance]]''.
* Chris was exposed to the lethal dose of [[radiation]] in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Dead Romance (novel)|Dead Romance]]''.
* Benny mentions getting a [[Mary-Sue]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Mary-Sue Extrusion (novel)|The Mary-Sue Extrusion]]'')
* Benny mentions getting a [[Mary-Sue]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Mary-Sue Extrusion (novel)|The Mary-Sue Extrusion]]'')
* [[PROSE]]: ''[[Demontage (novel)|Demontage]]'' features the [[Vega Station (Demontage)|Vega Station]].
* ''[[Demontage (novel)|Demontage]]'' features the [[Vega Station (Demontage)|Vega Station]].
* There is a brief revisit to Benny's wedding in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Happy Endings (novel)|Happy Endings]]''.
* There is a brief revisit to Benny's wedding in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Happy Endings (novel)|Happy Endings]]''.
* [[!C-Mel]] (the ship Clarence once was) first appeared in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Also People (novel)|The Also People]]''.
* [[!C-Mel]] (the ship Clarence once was) first appeared in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Also People (novel)|The Also People]]''.
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* Skutloid, Drexton and Garshal all first appeared in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Medusa Effect (novel)|The Medusa Effect]]''.
* Skutloid, Drexton and Garshal all first appeared in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Medusa Effect (novel)|The Medusa Effect]]''.
* Emilia Winston first appeared in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Dragons' Wrath (novel)|Dragons' Wrath]]''.
* Emilia Winston first appeared in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Dragons' Wrath (novel)|Dragons' Wrath]]''.
* In [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'' Cwej's new form was explained to have been designed by the [[House Military]] to be resistant to [[the Fat]].
* In ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'' Cwej's new form was explained to have been designed by the [[House Military]] to be resistant to [[the Fat]].


== External links ==
== External links ==

Revision as of 13:20, 29 December 2022

RealWorld.png

prose stub

Tears of the Oracle was the eighty-first Virgin New Adventures novel.

It was a return to the "main narrative" after the two previous novels, which went down different avenues. Irving Braxiatel, Clarence and Chris Cwej returned.

Publisher's summary

"Benny, you're ill. Let us help you. We want to help you. Really we do. This paranoia. These delusions. What you've done — it's driven you insane. Nobody wants to hurt you. We're your friends."

On Dellah, the shattered former home of Bernice Summerfield, only the Advanced Research centre survives — the last remnant of the once famous university. But it's under siege from fanatical groups of religious inquisitors, searching for new converts or dangerous heretics.

Benny would have to be mad to go back.

Jason Kane, Bernice's one-time husband and all-time opportunist, has found the ancient remains of the Oracle of the Lost on an obscure planetoid known only as KS-159. Or so he says.

Benny would have to be mad to believe him.

The mysterious Irving Braxiatel is looking for somewhere quiet to house his huge collection of... everything.

Benny would have to be mad to suggest KS-159.

The Oracle of the Lost, legend says, can answer any question. But the cryptic answers she gives are never helpful, and often dangerous.

Benny would have to be mad to reawaken her.

Or ask a question.

Or believe the answer.

Chapter titles

  1. Finale (1)
  2. An Account of a Meeting of the Funding Council of the Colloquian Museum of Ancient Artefacts
  3. Conversations
  4. Faith Healing
  5. Storage Facility X One Nine
  6. Transcript of a Lecture by Professor Edward Watkinson at the Colloquian University (Extract)
  7. Communication
  8. A Plea for Help
  9. Finale (2)
  10. Rescue and Survival
  11. Escape and Death
  12. A Visitor
  13. Jason's Story
  14. Mikelz's Message to Watkinson from the Delfus-Orestes Expedition (Extract)
  15. A Gamble
  16. Arrivals
  17. Extract from the Diary of Bernice Summerfield
  18. Departure
  19. Recollections of Divson Follett
  20. Excavations and Discoveries
  21. The Oracle of the Lost
  22. Finale (3)
  23. Post-Mortem
  24. Mikelz's Second Message to Watkinson (Fragment)
  25. Heat Seeking
  26. Report of Captain Riva Gordenski, Duty Officer Extraction Unit Five, Cavanora System - 11 September, 2515 (Extract)
  27. Links
  28. Gregor's Log (Extract)
  29. Correspondence of Louisa Mikelz (Fragment)
  30. Questions
  31. Merely Players
  32. Diagnosis
  33. Anomaly
  34. Research
  35. Extract from Living Archaeology, the Biography of Edward Watkinson, by Herve Pottle
  36. Conversation
  37. The Oracle's Story
  38. The Ship
  39. Visual Log
  40. Evidence
  41. Guilt
  42. Finale (4)
  43. Discovery
  44. Changes
  45. Answers
  46. Contacts
  47. Paracletes
  48. Personal Journal of Professor Edward Watkinson (Extract)
  49. Personal Journal of Ableet Gorvalis (Extract)
  50. Background Reading
  51. Transcript of Watkinson's Final Lecture (Extract)
  52. Observations and Arrivals
  53. Freedom of Information
  54. Identity Crisis
  55. In the House of God
  56. Confrontation
  57. The Tears of the Oracle
  58. Showdown
  59. Preoccupations
  60. Last Message to God
  61. Data Input
  62. Sanctuary
  63. Simulation
  64. Poisoned Chalice
  65. Finale (5)
  66. Fallout
  67. Question and Answer
  68. Closure

Plot

Although the People have negotiated a new treaty with their rivals, God is 87% sure that war remains inevitable because of the religious fervour spreading across Dellah. He has !Cin-ta!x of the Temporal Interest Group help engineer time travel, which is permitted by the new treaty, and it is rumoured that he is receiving advice from a man outside of the People whom he decides to send to KS-159. He also sends Clarence to give a small box to Benny.

On Dellah, Commander Skutloid and his Neo-Aretians defend the people hiding in St Oscar's University's Advanced Research Department from the religious fanatics, protected from the madness themselves by alpha-wave suppressors. He realises that Director Silvera too has succumbed to the illness and decides to defy his orders and send a message to Braxiatel for help despite the planet being in quarantine.

Braxiatel, no longer with Renée Thalia, invites Benny to meet him at a spaceport and informs her that he intends on establishing a permanent collection with her help. He also shows her to Clarence, who updates them on goings-on in the Worldsphere and tells them that B-Aaron is looking into the new treaty and that God believes that she and Braxiatel are to be key players in the war. He gives Benny the box from God, which contains a holocube of one of Edward Watkinson's lectures, and Braxiatel later receives Skutloid's message.

to be added

Characters

References

Food and drink

Locations

Species

Time travel

Titles and offices

Notes

Continuity

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ REF: I, Who 2
v • e
Virgin Books New Adventures
Seventh
Doctor
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
Bernice
Summerfield
1997
1998
1999
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