Review: Eye of the Gorgon and Warriors of Kudlak novelisations

Released alongside the first two Sarah Jane Adventures books, accompanying the first run of the popular CBBC series, are two more short novels for a young audience.

Who is the mysterious nun haunting the inhabitants of Lavender Lawns Rest Home for the Elderly? Could her presence be something to do with Bea, a confused resident of the Home, who claims to have travelled extensively through time and space? And what mysterious alien power deep within an abbey has turned human beings to stone? It's up to Sarah Jane and her team of young friends to investigate, in Eye of the Gorgon - a novelisation by Phil Ford, adapting his own two-part television script.

This adventure has a noticably different tone and feel to the previous two books - it's darker, more gothic, more menacing. However, it still retains the fast pace and general sense of fun that's attracted so many younger viewers to the series, and even in its most shadowy and frightening moments, the book is child-friendly and wholly enjoyable.

Clyde and Luke are the best-utilised characters, with the beginnings of a friendship developing nicely throughout the book. Maria's family life is also portrayed sensitively and realistically, with Chrissie's scenes some of the most effective (for both emotion and comedy).

What's especially nice here is that the story has been adapted by its original writer, which has allowed it to make the transition to print more easily. Where the earlier books felt like straight transcripts of the on-screen action, Ford has put more effort into making Eye of the Gorgon work as a novel - dialogue isn't always reproduced directly, we get a larger amount of insight into characters, etc. - which makes this book a good deal more successful and readable.

Warriors of Kudlak - written by Gary Russell, adapting a script by Phil Gladwin - follows, and is a huge tonal contrast to the previous book. Children are going missing, and freak thunderstorms are appearing all over the country. It seems that the mysterious Combat 3000 laser-tag centres might be to blame, but before Sarah Jane and Maria can investigate, Luke and Clyde have already vanished.

Reading this novelisation was a different experience for me, because Warriors of Kudlak is the one story from the first series which I missed when it was originally aired. I went into the book knowing little about the plot or the characters, and I think that made me enjoy it a lot more. Ultimately, it highlighted how fantastic it would be to have a series of original Sarah Jane novels in print, rather than just these adaptations.

There's a lighter feel to this story. This is much more of an action-packed romp than Gorgon; an exciting, unpredictable and colourful story. The aforementioned friendship between Luke and Clyde gets more well-deserved "screen-time", and also provides some of the adventure's funniest moments. Luke's disappearance gives Sarah Jane a more personal interest in her investigation, which raises the stakes that bit higher, and lets her character shine more than usual.

Just as the television series gradually improved and became more confident across its first season, the corresponding books are doing the same. Whilst the series really deserves some original novels, these novelisations are terrific, and are great fun for fans of all ages. Recommended.