This book exemplifies Doctor Who at its best more than almost any other novel published this year.

A common source of friendly debate: is Doctor Who science fiction, or not? While it's a show which exhibits many of the trappings of the genre, there are many, including myself, who are more interested in the humour, distinctiveness and humanitarian aspects of the franchise than in the (otherwise) perfectly valid utilisation of that franchise to create and explore interestingly different new cultures. On such diversity is the show's popularity built, of course, but it surprised me nevertheless that the unapologetic SF of The Suns of Caresh exemplifies the best of Doctor Who more than almost any other novel published this year.

The prologue is intriguing and superbly sets up an entire section of the story which won't be referred to for quite some time, but it's the opening chapter of the novel proper in which Paul Saint demonstrates that he knows how to get on my good side - there is a threat that it's going to turn into some load of old eye-glazing nonsense about "Ambassador Theon" and "psi powers" and blah blah blah, but this is just a momentary diversion while Saint introduces his SF-geek lead character, Simon Haldane.

What then follows is a fish-out-of-water story of culture shock - of an alien, Troy Game, trapped on Earth, and the mutual misunderstandings and difficulties she faces exploring, um, Chichester (no really) along with one of the locals. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Jo Grant must investigate the temporal anomaly which probably led to Troy Game being there in the first place...

As with many such stories, a drawback is that the hook - and its attendant potential for both comedy and drama - is rather more interesting than the explanation. Similarly, there's not untypical "first novel" syndrome in evidence here, as the story meanders rather, and the story being told at the novel's conclusion isn't in any sense the same one which captivated so well at the start. Nevertheless, there's no getting away from the fact that this is easily the best PDA in ages.