The Minister of Chance (novelisation)

"I know the formula for doors," says the Minister, vanishing through the one he has just created in mid air. Teenage barmaid Kitty isn't the sort to be dismissed easily, though. Armed only with her bad attitude, foul mouth and mysterious strength, she follows him through the glowing doorway, onto the frost bridge between worlds, and into adventure.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Chapter One: On a Rainy Night, a Traveller[[edit] | [edit source]]

It had been too weeks since Sezuan had invaded the island nation of Tanto. From the window of The Traveller's Inn stood Kitty, the barmaid, and watched out as two Sezian soldiers manhandled a woman carrying a stack of books and threw her onto the muddy, rainy streets and dragged her away, behind them her husband and two children came running after them.

Kitty was about to storm out to protest, but the landlord Porcher grabbed her hand and told her to go to the cellar to change the barrel of ale, looking nervously at three Sezian soldiers by a nearby table. Kitty protested that she had had enough, but Porcher warned her to keep her voice down otherwise they’d all be taken away, while faking a smile to the soldiers, who seemed to not have heard a thing, got up and paid, thanked Porcher and then left the bar.

Kitty inquired why the soldiers couldn’t do something about all the bad things in the World if they could do magic, to which Porcher replied that they either would not or could not. Gurk, a rosy-faced regular at the Inn, and Porcher agreed that it was a mystery, to Kitty's annoyance. Porcher then said that on the bright side, the Sezians liked a beer, once again asking Kitty to change the barrel.

Kitty aggressively asked Porcher why he didn’t serve them if he liked them that much, to which Porcher repeated that she should keep her voice down, again looking at the table where the soldiers had sat, telling her that the count of people taken had went up since the invasion and praised himself lucly that some of the soldiers had manners. The miller, Match Werming, said that they had taken old Bettle, a gardener at the university, with no word of him. Gurk added that there was no word from anyone else, wondering if that was the magic, to which Kitty snarled that they were taken in wagons. And the squabbling fell on the university,

Match then told Porcher he should have left Kitty in the forest where he found her, and asked why he didn’t buy her shoes. Porcher replied that she won’t wear them, nor comb her hair. Gurk asked why he doesn’t hire a lad, to which Kitty snarled that he would have to pay him. There was some more back and forth, then Porcher told Kitty to watch the bar while he went to get some tinder, and if any Sezians came in, to be respectful and not hit anyone, and to sell some beer.

Match tried to flirt with Kitty by telling her the Sezians carted off Madge's son, but that he would protect her. Kitty insulted him and he turned to talk to the tailor. Kitty went to put some tankards away on a shelf, when a green-cloaked figure, dripping from the rain, stood by the bar. The figure took off the hood, revealing a man, who said he was looking for a Professor Cantha.

The room went silent, and Kitty whispered, asking if he was out of his mind, telling him to go away at the same time. Kitty then tried to cover up, offering him a tankard of ale, to the man's confusion. Kitty then tells him to get out of the bar, as Porcher comes back in. Shocked, he tries to handle the situation, ending up sending the man out, to his protests.

The regulars at the bar then started discussing who the man could be, Porcher said he might know him from somewhere. Kitty retorted that this was unlikely.

Chapter Two: A Skip Through the Night[[edit] | [edit source]]

To be added

Chapter Three: Cathedrals in the Sky[[edit] | [edit source]]

To be added

Chapter Four: The Theory of Fields[[edit] | [edit source]]

To be added

more to be added

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

(in order of appearance)

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Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Tanto is a small island nation situated between Sezuan and Jura.
The Traveller's Inn is a small pub located in the city of Tantillion on Tanto, owned by Porcher.
Kitty is a barmaid at The Traveller's Inn, found by Porcher in the forest as a child.
Gurk and Match Werming are frequenters at The Traveller's Inn.
The people of Sezuan are known as Sezians.
The Minister wears a long green cloak with a hood.
Ever since the Sezuan invasion of Tanto, science has been outlawed and replaced by magic. Any person seen dabbling in science would be escorted away by Sezian soldiers.
Professor Cantha is Kitty's teacher.

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Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

The novelisation was announced on 8 December 2016,^[1]close to six years before its release on 30 June 2022.
Rathen was played by Paul Darrow, a male actor, in the original audio series, but is described as a woman in this novelisation.