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.

This is the type of story that makes sense for a DW book. Completely impossible to do on TV, very weird looking aliens, impossible cities, complex timey-whimey stuff, the works.

I liked the story, even if the whole thing with the wild animals + the habilines, and pretty much everything with Jacob was a bit overkill. Shock-value, even. On the other hand, the Tractites (I love when there's horse people) were a very interesting race, and I liked pretty much everything about them. The whole thing with the time traveling tree took me a sec to understand.

It was very nice seeing Sam stand up for herself and make decisions. However, the stakes in this particular case were just so immense (the whole of creation) that I wanted to shake her and yell “girl, this is not the time to doubt the Doctor!!!”, especially in the beginning of the story. But! It was very nice that she got to do what she believed in, and was allowed to make mistakes as well. I hope we see more of her coming to terms with what happens at the end of the story. She’s seen a lot of death so far, and this was War 101. The next entry is ‘War of the Daleks’, so I’m guessing her pacifist nature is going to be confronted with rash reality once again. And once again I must say: Doctor, she’s too young!!! take her home!!! she shouldn't even be at the club!!!! she should be in The Sarah Jane Adventures!!!

The Doctor gets tortured this time. Should I be keeping count? So far that tallies are Memory Loss:1 (in 'The Eight Doctors'), Serious Injuries/Near Death Experience:2 (gets vampired 'Vampire Science', nearly drowns in the Thames in 'The Bodysnatchers'), and now Torture:1. The writers took one look at Eight's beautiful face and went "he's lovely! I want to see him crying and bleeding on the floor". And I respect them for that.

Also Jo Grant was there?? Not sure how necessary that was (especially considering her role at the end). I want to say it was lovely to see her (and it was), but it was a sad and tired Jo who was not having a good time at all.

Possibly the problem is on me for expecting 90s sci-fi to be normal about either women or disabled people.

There were some good moments, but enough bad ones for my 3-star "pretty good with a weak plot resolution" rating to get knocked down to a 2-star "Jesus Christ, man".

The fact it took me four gos to get through this book shows off my adhd so well honestly though this is an amazing story I feel Sam is finally her self now and finally I’m properly hooked on 8th and hers dynamic