Second paragraph of third chapter:

Imperatrix Alinti watched critically, as a bevy of butlers and servants swarmed across the Grand Hall, their arms laden with bolts of silver and gold fabric, banners and poles. She’d grown tired of arguing with her husband about the archaic way in which he’d insisted on decorating the Palace for his birthday celebrations, and had grumpily agreed to ‘maintain a sense of tradition’ about the whole affair.

After a run of Eighth Doctor books that left me rather cold, I’m very glad to say that I came across one that I liked. This actually takes the Doctor’s amnesia and does something interesting with it, including a partial mingling of personalities with Fitz which is quite entertaining; it also does something interesting at last with Trix, who I have hitherto felt was a rather undersketched character; and plonks this into the context of a decaying emperor’s last days, and the palace politics around the succession and the divvying up of resources. One of the best Eighth Doctor books I have read in a while. You can get Halflife here (for a price).

Next in this sequence – actually last in my set of unblogged Eighth Doctor Adventures – is The Tomorrow Windows, by Jonathan Morris.