This is a strange book. Strange in that it mixes some great literary passages with simple pulp writing. Strange in that the main plot really ends about two thirds of the way through and then has another ending tacked on without much thought.

After reading Hope, the first thing I understood is that Mark Clapham wrote the very cool interludes from The Taking of Planet Five.

The second thing I realised is that there's a reason he's partnered up with other writers. Um, he's not a very good plotter. He comes up with great imagery, and his characterisation is strong, but as far as all the little connecting bits that make any story seamless, Clapham fails. None of the diverse elements really come together as they should.

And I think the fault comes in the last third. The final part of the novel is a twist that comes from nowhere, and doesn't work. An interesting character with a backhistory and great motivation, turns into a bog-standard DW villain without any hints that this is what he was all along. I'm not saying it needed to be signposted, but without even subtle hints, it comes across as convoluted as a plot twist in a Terry Nation script.

Characterisation was strong, although one of the main plot lines (spoiler protected) is resolved in a very bad fashion. The Doctor was done well, shown as someone adjusting to the changes from Henrietta. Fitz is thrown into the low rent Doctor role he sometimes takes on in DW fiction. And Anji? Well, I hope this finally resolves the whole Dave thread that's been going through several of the latest 8DAs. My fear is that we're heading down the slippery slope of NA soap opera, which would be a huge mistake. The guests in the books work well, with Silver and Miraso getting the most development.

I don't know. Maybe what bugs me about this book is that it should have gone in the more literary, plotless direction, like Beltempest, instead of trying to do what the OrmanBlum did in Seeing I (trying to have it all ways). There's prose that sparkles on the page, and some wonderful present tense description, but, in the end Hope disappoints.