Timewyrm: Genesys [PROSE/1991.6.20]

 

★★☆☆☆

  I firmly believe that sex and violence have a place in the Doctor Who mythos; like it or not, they're often incorporated to explore more adult themes and heavier subjects. With the advent of the Virgin New Adventures and their mission statement to bring "stories too broad and too deep for the small screen", it was inevitable that swearing and nudity would worm their way into the Seventh Doctor's trips somehow. However, there's a world of difference between the gratuitous, edgy teenager sensibilities of these elements in Timewyrm: Genesys and the far more mature and thoughtfully told details in, say, The Adventuress of Henrietta Street. Even when taking into account the so-called "historical accuracy" of teenage nudity and casual mentions of sexual assult in ancient Mesopotamia, there's no denying that John Peel may have committed quite a misstep. There's a deeply unpleasant eagerness in describing such scenes, and in such a callous manner as well — heck, even the Doctor brushes it off all too easily as ancient ways he has no say over. It doesn't help that Peel reportedly had no interest in the Seventh Doctor as a character, and wrote him in an almost spiteful way. I understand that he's a chessplayer, a manipulator, but his words and actions in this book are acidic to a ridiculous level. Poor Ace!

  Again, violence is not an inherently bad thing, not even when it's cranked up to the maximum; it does pose a problem when it, too, feels like the writer injected it in just because. The entire second half of this novel is a dreary slog only occasionally shocked back into life with some of the most unpleasant Doctor Who events penned. Genesys thinks it's a complex and ambitious adventure, but it's really a by-the-numbers Who six-parter with parts 3 to 6 as irritating padding. I bring this metaphor up because the first half is quite easy to read, with Mesopotamia being the kind of location to broaden the imagination and send sparks flying inside your mind. 

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  I honestly feel a bit sorry for the Seventh Doctor here. He's probably one of the hardest Doctors to write for, as so many of his traits derive not from verbal mannerisms but the portrayals and various expressions, intonations of Sylvester McCoy. It would have been a rocky experience to write for him anyway; John Peel makes his disinterest all too clear, and the novel suffers for it quite a bit. An interesting setting and concept it may have, but Timewyrm: Genesys ends up being a disappointing introduction to Virgin's Seventh Doctor book series.