Are aliens ever abducted by aliens? It’s a fun sci-fi concept and one that forms the crux of Caged, which sees the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday encounter the guinea-pig-like Chirracharr, who believes she was abducted from her home-world. From there, the story unravels in a mystery box fashion, building towards a twist which feels like something out of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and plays into Earth-based conspiracy theories in a fun and engaging way.

Caged is written by Una McCormack – no stranger to the Doctor Who books range having penned The King’s Dragon, The Way Through the Woods, Royal Blood, Molten Heart and Time Lord Victorious: All Flesh Is Grass. The story appears to be set between Boom and 73 Yards in the TV series, with Ruby still feeling fairly new to travelling with the Doctor, although any fans expecting this novel to tie-in to the series’ story arcs may be left slightly disappointed; this is a completely standalone narrative.

The story is nicely divided between the different groups of characters, starting off with the guinea-pig-like creatures (referred to as the Cavians in Doctor Who Magazine, but unnamed in the book) on their home-world. The Cavians believe themselves to be alone in the universe, with the notable exception of abductee Chirracharr, who starts to believe there might be more to life than first thought. Meanwhile, the octopus-esque Ixites, who also believe they’re alone in the universe, have been running the mysterious Experiment for millennia, believed by some to be an Area 51-esque hub of alien activity. And arriving on the scene are the Doctor and Ruby, who start off stargazing before their adventuring leads them to encounter space armadillos, who also turn out to be robots (this is Doctor Who, after all). To say much more would spoil some of the story’s twists and turns, although it’s safe to say that the narrative maintains a strong pace jumping between each storyline whilst weaving them together in a slow-burn mystery.

McCormack’s prose allows readers to get inside the heads of each group of characters, deliberately avoiding descriptions for the Cavians and the Ixites until the Doctor and Ruby encounter them, and developing the background and culture of each species to enhance the themes of xenophobia and paranoia later on in the novel. If there is a downside to this, it is that it can become difficult to tell the androgynous Ixites apart with names like Tixlel, Raxlil, Laxelil and Axelal, although the differentiation between the characters becomes clearer as their personalities and motivations develop.

Overall, Caged is a fun space-based adventure and a great companion piece to Ruby Red, telling the sort of story that couldn’t work on TV whilst digging into some classic Doctor Who themes and ideas. Balancing big sci-fi ideas. an off-beat sense of humour and a bit of real-world commentary, Caged proves that the universe is much more interesting when viewed with an open mind. If you’re already missing the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby on TV, this is well worth a read.

Caged is released on 27 June and is available to pre-order now here!