Major upgrade from timewyrm genesis. I thought this book had a really strong first half with The Doctor and Ace dealing with the british freikorps. I loved how The Doctor immediately takes authority just through acting authoritatively to nazis. Ace and The Doctor also work so well in this book compared to genesis where they hate each other for no reason; here they definitely like being with each other and feel true to their characters. I think the first half works really well but the second half is where I started to lose interest. My favorite part is The Doctor and Hitler interacting. I love how it starts with The Doctor gaining Hitler's trust in the past so he has free access into Hitler's government later. I think that's perfect 7th Doctor chessmaster stuff. However I think everything else failed to really grab my attention. The war chief and timewyrm weren't that interesting and all I can remember from Ace is that she gets kidnapped and nearly sacrificed. The way everything is resolved felt very rushed too and could've used a few more pages. Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit and everyone should start here instead of with genesis.

i absolutely adore the pacing, its fast but not too messy. and the plot is engaging. i also think the war chief was well placed and i liked his backstory. only thing is the idea that an alien made hitler do what he did. no, that was all us, all humans. but really, this is a fantastic book. it offers a breath of fresh air as its sandwiched between two pretty mediocre novels (although i do think genesis is overhated, its not amazing but its not awful either)

02 - Timewyrm: Exodus

Terrance Dicks’s second installment in the New Adventures delivers in every way that Genesys failed, bringing the Doctor and Ace to Nazi Germany for a time-hopping adventure that would have been far too spicy for TV.

After leaving ancient Mesopotamia, the Doctor and Ace land in another classic trope of time-travel fiction: a Nazi-occupied Britain in the early 1950s.  The Seventh Doctor really shines here; he effortlessly takes the role of a Nazi official sent from Berlin, demanding authority so convincingly that even Ace is alarmed.  Following some intel gathering in 1951, the duo takes a brief hop to 1923, where the Doctor befriends a young Adolf Hitler to gain his trust.  Having learned that the timeline diverges in 1940, he then uses his connection to the Fuhrer to worm his way into his inner circle, where he discovers the involvement of not one but two alien races!  The Timewyrm is trapped in Hitler’s mind, but the War Lords (from 1969’s The War Games) have arrived as well, hoping to assist Hitler for their own ends.

There are some truly great timey-wimey ideas thrown around in this story, and Uncle Terry explores most of them in a way the reader will find satisfying.  Ace asks the obvious question - why not just kill Hitler?  Not only would a Nazi victory be stopped, but millions of deaths would be prevented.  The Doctor counters with a famous line of logic; had Hitler died in the 1930s, a more competent subordinate would have taken his place, and perhaps would have wreaked even more havoc.

Unfortunately, Exodus fails to connect to the Timewyrm arc to the extent that the authors intended.  The story, while brilliant, seems only to include the Timewyrm herself as an afterthought, shoving her into the middle of an unrelated alien plot in a way that some readers may find contrived.  However, it’s still a very fun read, and is a prime example of the sort of story that the franchise can explore now that it is free from the restrictions of family TV.

Amazing book. Started and finished today. Gripping all the way through. Little fumbles here and there (especially the latter part), but I really enjoyed that it acts as a sequel to the War Games. And the epilogue is just so great.

Recommended Prerequisites

PROSE: Timewyrm: Genesys

TV: The War Games

Timewyrm: Exodus

With Genesys being what it was, I went into Exodus dragging my feet. I knew we were moving from John Peel to Terrance Dicks, but I still had no desire to read more about the Timewyrm, or continue her arc in anyway. Nevertheless we persisted, and Exodus wasnt actually horrible. Far from perfect, but alright.

Exodus is formatted somewhat strangely. The Doctor and Ace, trying to track down the Timewyrm, go to 1951, then 1923, 1939, then 1940. It makes sense, plotwise, but it results in a couple of smaller interconnected stories with new groups of characters.

The first half has the Doctor and Ace walking around an alternate 1951 London, after the Nazis won WWII. This is the stronger and more interesting half of the book.

The second half has the duo going further back to stop the Nazis from winning the war, and followed characters such as Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goering, and of course, Adolf Hitler, who is possessed by the titular Timewyrm

The issue here, and with much of this book, is that Dicks is trying to do too much in only 234 pages. We get an interesting revolution subplot which doesn't go too far, we have only two moments with the Timewyrm, which is barely relevant to anything, and as if that's not enough, we are reintroduced to the War Lords, the antagonists that appeared in one episode twenty-five years earlier. Because why not.

It's a bunch of ideas that aren't inherently bad in themselves, but could definitely be executed a lot better. Dicks goes quantity over quality, and it really makes the book feel disjointed.

Top Quote

"In history, the real history, Hitler's Thousand Year Reich lasted from 1933 to 1945. Twelve years and that was it, finished."

"So?"

"The main reason was that Hitler was an incompetent madman. You blow him to bits and maybe a competent madman takes charge. Someone who really can make the Reich last a thousand years."