A Thousand Tiny Wings

Continuing in the Klein series, the Doctor catches up to her several years later in Kenya.

A Thousand Tiny Wings (2010) By: Andy Lane

Impressions
At a house in the midst of the wilds of Kenya, four women prepare for revolutionaries to arrive at their home. One of them finds a strange blue ape in the forest, brings him back, and names him Abraham. A little while later there's a knock at the door. A man named the Doctor has arrived and one of the women recognizes him.

This adventure takes a look at Imperialism and how it compares to Nazism. It also involves the willingness to change one's long held beliefs. Both Klein and Sylvia have their beliefs shaken when faced with an advanced alien race. The toughest part of this is the trying to take the Imperialist notions as sound. They are definitely outdated, and make Sylvia tremendously unlikable.

Our Hero
The Seventh Doctor's ideologies are put to the test again as his faith in people doesn't really work in desperate revolution Kenya. His banter with Klein is top notch once again and she gets in some really good points. Ultimately it comes to the question of which is more important, the individual or the society.

Cruel Observers
Mrs. Sylvia O'Donnell is the matron of the house who awaits her husband's return. She is a strict believer in the superiority of Western culture and doesn't understand the Kenyan Mau Mau rebellion. As I mentioned earlier, she is really difficult to sympathize with. Even by the end, it is more a change in long held belief than the challenge of imperialism that's interesting about her.

Elizabeth Klein is in Kenya trying to prevent something that happened in her timeline from happening in the proper one. She still maintains that the timeline she's in is an error, but she'll try to make the best of it and steer it toward her conceived future. While with the Doctor, she constructs a darker Doctor straw man and beats it up quite a bit; however, her best points come with regards to their foes and Abraham.

Bladed Foe
The Swarm is intense and unrelenting. The idea of the creatures not only being a mass of tiny razors coming at you, but a thousand poisoned ones is terrifying. A great monster that unfortunately falls into the weapons broker trope. They deserve better.

Homestead Atmosphere
The entire adventure takes place on the grounds of a colonial house. A claustrophobic feeling of impending doom hangs over this adventure as portions of the house fall to the Swarm and the Mau Mau.

In the End
Did the Doctor really win? Was there any winning?

Overall
An adventure with great atmosphere but a rather muddled message. The Doctor and Klein make a great team and this adventure promised more fascinating things between them. We also see more of a full introduction to Klein, since Colditz is more of an Ace story.
7.5/10

Check it out at Big Finish! Klein's story continues in Klein's Story.