Sally's Mysteries

Usually I would venture to review stories and television which might touch on the science fiction realm. Any of it. No matter how large or small the contributions were made into the S-F genre.

Sometimes it’s difficult to classify. Which makes it far more interesting.

The recent popularity in the Phillip Pullman novels called the Sally Lockhart mysteries are what they are. Mysteries. They were written during the age of the Victorian Era. Where the ideas of science fiction is only starting to bloom.

But there are a number of connections to the genre.

The writer Pullman is also known to be the talent behind the well-laden, high fantasy fiction of the Golden Compass or the Dark Materials as some readers like to refer to them as.

The actress Billie Piper who takes the lead role in the following mystery is also a Doctor Who veteran worth mentioning about. Her career buidling still owes a great debt to the old Doctor Who series. In which she will return shortly.

Most importantly, however, is the BBC film adaptation of "Shadow of the North." Which has several threads of science fictions which includes the supernatural, a high steamed powered machine gun-and there’s even an appearance of Bram Stoker in the story as well. All wrapped up neatly into the second book of the Sally Lockhart mysteries.

It is set in 1878. Where things are already changing for the way of life in many citizens. The idea of speaking to ghosts of the past is catching up to the public in a storm. And public mediums are cashing in their chips to make off a profit.

It is the fool’s pocket to be wasted in such drivel like the supernatural. Some people believe in such things. There are always skeptics. However, when a medium Nellie Budd has a real vision of a man killed by another in a dark pocket of the forest, she says it is “a shadow in the north.” It is a stroke of luck that she received an answer from the dead to stir a mystery into pace.

There is another magician, pale faced and vampiric in appearance, who claims to have seen similar visions of murder. Everything revolves around a cruel and bullying businessman named Axel Bellmann. His presence is often filled with intensity. His eyes are like cleanly cut glass. His stare makes you smaller. His smirk hides so much power behind him.

But it is up to Sally Lockhart, her friends Frederick Garland and Jim Taylor, to unravel the mystery concerning a sunken ship, a steam gun machine that could tear apart crowds in England in a single instant and the true nature behind the North Star company owned by Bellmann. His intentions are less than honorable.

The most frightening thing, however, is Bellman's stoic belief that he is doing the right thing.

It is good to see the mystery story set back in the later period of the Victorian era which reminds one of the days once filled by Sherlock Holmes. The rushing horse carriages and epistolary letters would bring back memories. The cobbled streets filled with street vendors, standing amidst the poverty stricken wash of the less fortunate, would come to the foreground. England at its mightiest.

There is also the subject matter of opium used in the previous novel, “Ruby in the Smoke,” which is another staple of the Victorian setting. The sleek, willowy smoke of the drug would flood the shoddy poorhouses like a rising stink of fear. The picture of the lowly rings of England is so well photographed in imagination taken in part of the previous film and “Shadow of the North.”

You do get a genuine feeling that you’re walking the cracked sidewalks leading upstate into the heart of the London crowds.

Piper does a phenomenal job in the first acting role I’ve seen her where she takes the lead. She is cautious without overstepping her mark, she is firm without getting hysterical. Some might call her cold. But it is her calmness that makes her a dangerous woman. Someone who is a little out of the picture in her current setting. She is more like a modern woman.

She carries a gun given by her father to protect herself with it. The character of Lockhart has a fit mind for business matters. She knows how to read accounts due to her father’s open minded chance of exposing her to such things. She knows how to run a business. Piper manages to hold together all those qualities of this character and put more of her own personality into the part. It would be hard to imagine anyone else in the role. She makes it her own.

She is steadfast and determined, not willing to buckle under the constraints of a man’s world. It is her willingness that helps her defeat one of the worst villains imaginable.

The books makes a fine statement about current issues of its time. But it is the pacing of the book and the plot that helps it move at an incredible pace. The films capture the heart and soul of these books with a lavish production. Put in mind, also, the science fiction threads do lift it a little higher to make this effort different from most. A mystery with a little science fiction to it.

My only complain, however a minor one, is really from a writer’s point of view. One of the major characters, a likable one I might add, is killed during the course of this film. It is unfortunate because I felt killing him off might’ve been too soon in the books. However, this is how Pullman wishes to write his books. Which is fine. But I believe another novel with the character would give further chance for him to grow, develop. And perhaps see more of why Sally Lockhart loves him greatly. A man of bravery. Courage. Not too many of them like that out there.

There are still two more books to go into the series and already commitments are made to transfer them into films. But there might not be the substantial numerous science fiction tendencies such as Shadow of the North did.

However, despite lack of further S-F intertwining, the books/films would still be worth the time. With the smart writing and the excellent acting involved. It is always a great wonder that the British can still turn in a good old fashioned mystery.