Blakes 7 – Uprising by Christopher Cooper
Review by Natasa Tucev

Here are some thoughts on Blakes 7 novel Uprising, written by Christopher Cooper and published by Big Finish in 2019.

The plot of the novel revolves around two major events. The first is an attempt by Blake and the Liberator crew to join forces with rebels on the planet Istria and help them overthrow the Federation's rule on that world. The second deals with destroying a facility where the Federation conducts mutoid modification.

The storyline is interesting and the characterisations are more or less satisfactory – by which I mean that upon reading, I haven't come across any scenes where Blake or Avon or Cally, for instance, behave in a way that would be inconsistent with canon. However, these characterisations are also rather shallow. I have read numerous fanfics where the depiction of our heroes and their interaction is much more carefully explored, and the observations made about them are much more insightful than in Cooper's novel.

Actually, the character that Cooper developed most, and to whom he devoted most space and attention, is his own original character: Jade, a mutoid gone rogue and working as a mercenary for the rebels. I find this a bit disappointing, as I certainly haven't purchased the book in order to read about Jade's adventures.

On the plus side, it is still an entertaining novel – a good adventure yarn, fast-paced, with well-written dialogue, so you may still want to get it if this is the kind of reading you're looking for.