''The Albino's Dancer'' is the ninth in the series of "

Time Hunter The ''Time Hunter'' series of books is published by Telos Publishing Ltd. and features the characters Honoré Lechasseur and Emily Blandish from Daniel O'Mahony's ''Doctor Who'' novella '' The Cabinet of Light''. Each novella is issued in a st ...

" novellas, and features the characters Honoré Lechasseur and Emily Blandish from

Daniel O'Mahony Daniel O'Mahony (born 24 July 1973) is a half-British half-Irish author, born in Croydon. He is the oldest of five children, his siblings including Eoin O'Mahony of the band Hamfatter, and Madeleine O'Mahony, who has designed and made hats for C ...

's ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

'' The Cabinet of Light''. It is written by Dale Smith, author of the

BBC Books BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Consumer Publishing and BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidia ...

Past Doctor Adventure ''

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...

''. The novella is also available in a limited edition hardback, signed by the author () The series is not formally connected to the

Whoniverse The Whoniverse is a British media franchise and shared universe consisting of the BBC television series ''Doctor Who'', its Doctor Who spin-offs, spin-offs, and other associated media. The shared universe nature was established by crossing ove ...

. It has been suggested that the

Ninth Doctor The Ninth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Christopher Eccleston during the first series of the show's revival in 2005. Within the serie ...

makes a brief cameo in the novella, although Smith has neither confirmed nor denied it.

Synopsis

An encounter with the mysterious Catherine Howkins warns Honoré Lechasseur that Emily Blandish is about to die. However, even with this knowledge, can he prevent her death? At the same time, the Albino, a gangster operating in post-rationing London, has also taken an interest in Emily.

Background

Smith created the character of the Albino prior to ''The Albino's Dancer'' in a ''Doctor Who'' short story, "Virgo the Virgin", which was submitted for the

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'' ...

anthology '' Short Trips: Zodiac'' but ultimately rejected. It was available on Smith's webpage together with an introduction for the novella in the style of the introductions for the

Telos Doctor Who novellas The Telos ''Doctor Who'' novellas were a series of tie-in novellas based on the long-running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', officially licensed by the BBC and published by Telos Publishing. Each novella was published in tw ...

and a missing chapter from the novella hidden as an

Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...

. Smith's previous novel was dedicated to "Cathy Howkins", the same name as the main character of the novella. In a downloadable interview, Smith has suggested that the novella bears some similarity to '' The Time Traveller's Wife'', although he states he had not read the book before writing the novella.

References

External links

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Sci-Fi Online Review
2006 British novels 2006 science fiction novels British science fiction novels Novels by Dale Smith Time Hunter Albinism in popular culture Doctor Who novellas Telos Publishing books {{DoctorWho-stub