How can all these elements possibly belong to the same story...?

I suspect that The Annual Christopher Bulis Novel more often tends to be read out of a sense of duty than delight - if, like me, you have made an effort to try every Doctor Who novel published by either Virgin or the BBC over more than 10 years, you'll cheerfully struggle your way through The Eye of the Giant just to keep your average up. An odd approach to a hobby, but on such borderline-autistic behaviour is merchandise sold and collected. What such a paradigm certainly can't have been expecting, though, was for Bulis to improve, work at his craft and hone his skills to produce work as undemandingly enjoyable as this. The recent Imperial Moon was for all its flaws, a pleasant wander through Jules Verne territory, and now The Palace of the Red Sun is as good as anything this latterly disappointing series of previous Doctor adventures has presented of late.

The curtain rises on what seems like a fairly standard war between empire and republic - the revolutionary Glavis Judd hell-bent on revenge over the fleeing aristocracy. Then come a few hints that we might be in for a Vengeance on Varos / Prime Time-style satire of the media, as we become aware of the unrelenting, intrusive glare of the TV cameras. Cut to: the story comfortably babbling into whimsical tranquillity, as the sixth Doctor and Peri enjoy lemonade on a sunny afternoon in the garden, being pestered by an overbearingly friendly teddy bear and overhearing the preparations of the local equivalent of the (League of Gentlemen's) Logo Akimbo Theatre Company. How can all these elements possibly belong in the same story..?

Well, actually, that's kind of where it all falls down, as there are so many disparate strands to follow I'm unsure if they're ever brought together at all, let alone with any real conviction or motive. But it's an amiable enough read despite that, and to be honest this series could do with a few more of these right now.