The Sword of Forever is an original science fiction novel by British author Jim Mortimore, published by Virgin Books in June 1998. It is the seventy-fifth novel in the Virgin New Adventures series and the fourteenth in the Bernice Summerfield sub-series, which was a spin-off from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Publication Details
The novel was released in June 1998 with the ISBN 0-426-20526-X. It was Mortimore's final novel for the New Adventures line. The cover of this book was the last to feature the "The New Adventures" titling and the "NA" logo, and it was also the final Virgin novel to feature a conventionally illustrated (painted/drawn) cover; all subsequent covers in the range used computer-aided design.
Plot Summary
The story follows archaeologist Bernice Summerfield in the 26th century. After the destruction of the Knights Templar order in 1307, their most precious possession—the fabled "Sword of Forever"—remained hidden. Summerfield uncovers a clue etched on a human skull that may reveal the hiding place of this long-sought treasure. The narrative draws on conspiracy theories surrounding the Knights Templar, the Ark of the Covenant, and related mythological artifacts.
The plot involves human skull fragments containing Summerfield's own DNA found in the stomach of a mummified dinosaur, leading her on a trail of murder and betrayal. She is accompanied by Patience, a cloned intelligent Utahraptor, and must navigate alien hybrids, agents of the Knights Templar, and other dangers across settings ranging from the alien jungles of France to the primal continent of Pangaea. The titular Sword of Forever is depicted as a mythical device with the power to destroy and create civilizations.
Context and Reception
The novel is notable as a marker in Bernice Summerfield's narrative journey away from the Doctor, as it was the last book in the range to retain the cover style of the Doctor Who New Adventures before the series transitioned to more generic science fiction cover designs. The story also draws on earlier New Adventures' depictions of a future Earth.
The book has been noted for exploring thematic territory similar to that later popularized by Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, though it was published several years earlier.
