The Ancestor Cell has seen an apocalyptic close to both the "Compassion" arc and the ongoing Faction Paradox thread, which has run since Alien Bodies - right back at the early stages of the book series. From the ashes, as it were, comes The Burning. Setting out to wipe clean the slate, it begins a new story arc - one in which the Doctor has no memory, and the TARDIS is a gradually growing, featureless box in his pocket. The Doctor must live through the twentieth century while he and the TARDIS recover, and Fitz will meet him in 2001 (See Escape Velocity).

It's an impressive piece of work, and does indeed seem to bring a breath of fresh air. After the huge scale space opera it's a reassuringly down to earth beginning as Richards weaves a tale of something nasty from beneath the earth.

The opening section of the book is full of wonderful scenes - the arrival of the mysterious Nepath, and the unfortunate fates of Lord and Lady Urton are brilliantly sinister and moving. Richards does well to make us care about these people in such a short time, and when Nepath goes to work the results are genuinely disturbing. The characters are very readable, and quickly involving. Richards' knack is to quickly gain our sympathy for the characters, and exploit this to the full when they come to a sticky end.

The interest and pace are sustained through the first half of the book - we meet the Doctor as if for the first time, and there's a genuine freshness in approach to the character that keeps us gripped as he becomes involved in the events around him. However, things lag later on and the book runs out of steam towards the end.

A great start to the arc though, and a promising sign for the new approach to the character of the Doctor. Once again he's a man of mystery - with a hint of danger that the following books also hint at from time to time.