Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles Michael Moorcock ISBN: 978-1846079832 (UK/US, BBC Books, Hardback)

Science fiction legend writing a tie-in novel to the number one British science fiction TV show! How many sf fans salivated just to hear this was happening? But for all the fan-boy excitement this raised in me, I was very wary. Could it live up my sky-high hopes?

Well no, at least not totally. This book is a seriously step up, both in terms of quality and intended readership age, when compared to the Doctor Who books released since the series rebirth.

Moorcock is seriously skilled as a writer and has presented us with a very readable novel, with much humour, pastiching of the inaccuracy of nostalgia industries (á la Back to the Future II's Café 80s), poking fun at English traditions and pastimes in the finest Douglas Adams style, and clever silliness right out of a P. G. Wodehouse novel. He's even managed to nail down the characters of the Doctor and Amy. And for the long-time Moorcock fan in me, there's a pirate Captain Cornelius thrown in to the mix.

It's the plot that doesn't quite hit the mark for me. In amongst all the satirising and playful prose the plot gets somewhat lost. There are pages and pages of background, which whilst highly inventive and amusing get in the way of the story. It's a pity. For, much as the plot isn't all that original (the Universe is collapsing, only the Doctor can stop it), it is fun. It's still a good book, just not as great as I'd hoped.

Page updated 25 March, 2011