by Gwenda Bond

Century, out now

In 1969, Terry Ives’ world feels like it’s poised on the edge of something monumental. The Vietnam war and conscription loom large, the Nixon presidency is nosing over into its darkest period and, on the outskirts of Hawkins, Indiana, a government experiment is beginning. One Terry will do anything to be part of. One that will change her life forever.

Licensed fiction is always a deceptively complex puzzle to solve but, just like her fantastic Lois Lane novels, this is a puzzle Gwenda Bond solves with elegance and wit. She takes the touchstones of the show (kids taking the law into their own hands in a dangerous and uncaring world, pop culture, darkness on the edge of town) and moves them backwards in time to 1969 with tremendous effect.

We get welcome context for Doctor Brenner and Kali in particular, with the first approaching his job with a callous, mechanical process that he perfects here for use on Eleven later. The second goes through very similar situations to Eleven but does so, frequently, with the help of Terry.

Terry is Bond’s ace in the hole and through her, Bond shows us that Hawkins has always been a town whose kids know how to get things done. Terry and her friends, and their deep abiding love (or lack of) for The Lord of The Rings are the clear precursors to Will and friends. They’re just as enthusiastic, just as driven but half as lucky and the way Terry shifts from determined heroine to tragic figure is one of the book’s best handled threads. It also perfectly grounds the story in the show’s timeline and sets up Kali and Terry’s season 2 plots with the sort of precision normally reserved for stage magicians or high wire walkers.

Verdict: This is note-perfect Stranger Things, and a textbook example of how to do licensed fiction. It plays the show’s tune on different instruments, fixes what is arguably one of its very few problems and tells a gripping, dark story in its own right. Excellent work and a must if you’re a fan. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart

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