I really enjoyed this one. A nice tight mostly self contained sci-fi story, set in Lagos, but with some nice ties in to the wider plot.

Random aside, this isn’t the first time I’ve come across Lagos in a multi-dimensional sci fi story. M.R. Carey’s Pandominion series uses the locale to good effect. In a perfect world that shouldn’t really stand out but having been through enough London/New York focused stories from so many franchises it’s nice to see somewhere new take the role of global crossroads for interesting stories.

The idea of an engine powered by stories is a great sci fi concept. I did feel some of the elements were a tad in my face - the heart of the engine is a… heart? ok, ;). Imagery aside, one of the last lines is just wanting credit for your work, and that’s very timely given the current space of the creative landscape being very unforgiving for artists. Stories are a massive part of our culture, and sharing them, adapting them, remixing them to our needs, and then resharing them with yet more people is vitally important.

The inclusion of Martin’s doctor was totally unexpected, and I hope that eventually leads somewhere. I can see a lot of potential there. Exploring the full story with Anansi would be great.

Mrs Flood relies on the NHS for her meds. Something to rile up the “Doctor Who’s gone too woke” haters - An interdimensional immigrant using our healthcare (and I’ll bet Mrs Flood doesn’t even pay taxes)!