This is quite a step up from the previous book. I really, really enjoyed this, to the point where I simply couldn't put it down for the latter half of the book, a first for this series.

That's not to say it doesn't have its problems; the fatphobia is really uncomfortable (a fat character who is constantly eating? Really?), and the disability could have been handled better (though it was already handled a lot better than I would have expected from something written in the 90's, in my personal opinion). The character of Jacob was a little too over-the-top, almost cartoonish, in a way that didn't really work with the vibe of the rest of the book. I have mixed feelings on Jo being there; while I loved seeing her again, I felt that she didn't really have all that much to do, and perhaps giving her role to one of the two new women characters would have worked better. Then there's the prologue, which feels distinctly racist in the way that white people write about Native Americans.

But that's literally all the bad things I have to say about this book. It might seem like a lot, put in a neat list like that, but it really isn't when the rest of the book is so well put together. The plot is interesting and gripping, every twist and turn makes sense and reveals more. The worldbuilding is fantastic, the aliens alien enough without being unimaginable. The character motivations all make sense. It's just a really good book. Not perfect, but really good. I would happily recommend this book to any Doctor Who/sci-fi fan.