If you are the kind of person who likes militaristic action-adventure SF with two warring factions, gore, and a lot of nonsense technobabble, you would enjoy this book.

Generally, I am not that person. I prefer my SF a little more abstract, a little slower and more contemplative. That said, this is a solid book. There are a lot of characters to keep track of and unfortunately Sam yet again gets the short end of the 'why won't these writers give her a personality' stick and spends most of the story lying around dying, but it is what it is and it's a solid enough adventure. It clips through the plot nicely and doesn't feel too much like it's dragging.

If I'm honest, my favourite part was the Janusians, the spider inhabitants of the planet. I have to give Baxendale his due here - so often, bugs and spiders are the scary monsters, but the Doctor spends a long time treating them with sensitivity and humanity which was refreshing to me. There are a few places where the spider fear factor is played up, but the Doctor's outrage at the inhumane experiments performed on the Spidroids makes up for that for me.

One I'm not likely to visit again, but one I didn't hate, so that's a win to me.