Customer Reviews

Timewyrm: Exodus (The New Doctor Who Adventures)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was very intrigued by the whole concept of the Nazi's occupying Britain in this second in a series of Timewyrm stories by Terrace Dicks. Dicks displays his knowledge of the Third Reich well and feeds it to the reader in a way that does not take away from the adventure in the story. The only problem I had with the story was the lame ending where we find out that it really isn't the Timewyrm that's been manipulating history directly, but rather the annoying War Lords from The War Games series. A fun read but a disappointing ending.

It sounds strange to say this about something that is primarily set during the Second World War, but TIMEWYRM: EXODUS is an amazingly fun book to read. Of course, it's difficult to find anything in here that relates to the more disturbing elements of that war; this is the WWII of simplistic war films and novels, but it feels right at home with Terrance Dick's writing style.

As usual with Terrance Dick's books, the characterization of the regulars is excellent. His Doctor is spot on; Dicks makes it look easy. The Doctor gets all the best lines and all the best scenes. He even gets the best costume, shedding his regular coat for a creepy black leather jacket. Ace also gets some good scenes though there are one or two moments when she appears weaker than in past.

The plot runs at quite a pace and contains some of Dicks' best writing to date. The whole if-Hitler-won scenario is handled quite well. The view of what England would be like if it had lost the Second World War is interesting, but it is wisely kept to a short section before it can fall into one of the numerous science-fiction parallel universe clichés.

There are a few places where the author's Target television novelization experience comes back to haunt him. A few characters give away elements of the plot by having them explain things to each other that surely they would already know. But, thankfully, this is kept to a bare minimum.

The thought of the Doctor working his way behind the scenes in Nazi Germany is quite a disturbing concept. Although I usually dislike the stories in which the Doctor hangs out with historical figures, Dicks manages to successfully portray Adolf Hitler as a historical figure by showing him at several points along his life (Dicks would use this method even more successfully in his later book, Players, in his depiction of Winston Churchill). Having the Doctor meeting a real-life evil such as Hitler could have been an enormous disaster. Fortunately the events are handled with just the right amount of needed sensitivity.

There really isn't all that much to say about this book. It almost defies discussion. It's really good and that's all one needs to know.

Terrance Dicks knows his dark settings. Gloom and doom, dark streets and thugs in jackboots, people trying to survive in a world gone MAD! This is his butter and bread, believe me. It seems that World War Two has gone all wrong, the Third Reich won and now the Doctor has to figure out where. Well, I mean when.
Yes, the Timewyrm is part of the problem. But there seem to be other factors involved and, being a fan who knows his Doctor Who history, I was filled with glee when I found out which of the old enemies had come back to deal with the Doctor. And I mean OLD, as from the black and white era of Doctor Who! But I will not say anything else. I am sure one of the other reviewers has given it away anyway, so why bother?
Terrance Dicks knows his Doctor Who and when allowed to build on it, to work outside the limits of a television series, he is brilliant. Buy it, enjoy it, keep it.

Having read my way through the wooden beginning that was Timewyrm Genesys I turned my attentions to this novel, the second in the opening Timewyrm arc of the New Adventures and the first New Adventure by Terrence Dicks. Having been disappointed by Genesys I was hoping for a much better novel this time around. That was exactly what I got and more.

For starters Dicks has a much better grasp on the characterization of the seventh Doctor and Ace then John Peel did. From their first appearance in chapter one all the way to the epilogue I never once got the feeling I was reading anyone but the Doctor and ace I have come to enjoy so much from the TV and audio stories. There's a moment in chapter seven of the first part of the novel (or pages 61-63 to be more precise) that stands out as a moment where Dicks perfectly captured the personality and (quite possibly) the inner workings of the seventh Doctor. Then there's the final chapter before the epilogue as well which, to my mind at least, perfectly captures the relationship between the Doctor and Ace. My only real qualm with the characterization is that given the Doctor's comment about Hitler in The Curse of Fenric it seems odd to see him socializing and becoming chummy to a degree with some of the Nazis he becomes involved with in the course of the novel. Otherwise Dicks gives on the best novel sketches of a TV TARDIS team.

The supporting characters are well drawn out as well. From those who occupy the alternate 1951 London to the leaders of Nazi government to the return of old foes of the Doctors and right down to one of the worst madmen of the last century Adolf Hitler Dicks fleshes out intriguing little portraits of those surrounding the Doctor and Ace. As someone who has read quite a bit on World War II and the Nazis I was surprised by the detail that Dicks put into the personalities of those in the Nazi leadership with some pretty accurate portraits especially of Himmler. Even more intriguing is Dick's use of the villains from The War Games and how Dicks manages to show how those characters have progressed since we last saw them and even adds some much needed background to the lead villain of that story. All in all it's a nice cast of characters.

To understate a fact Dicks does a lot of things better then Peel did. He uses continuity references sparingly and when they feel generally needed like the background of a character as listed above. In fact mostly avoids them and uses them really only to reintroduce elements from The War Games. After all the needless references in Genesys this comes as a pleasant surprise. Dicks trades this fact off by creating a convincing atmosphere of not only Nazi occupied Britain but of Nazi Germany itself. And into all this Dicks brings sci-fi elements into the mix in a much more convincing (if not better handled) way then the wooden elements of Genesys. In fact judging from the prologue at the beginning Dicks has a better handle on Genesys then Peel himself!

There is one thing that both Genesys and Exodus share. Despite having the Timewyrm in the title both have it mentioned in the beginning and suddenly has it appear at the end. Yet, believe it or not, Dicks manages to actually put this weakness to good use. Because the Timewyrm appears in the last place you'd expect it to and, unlike Genesys, it doesn't feel like a cheat. That said it's still a weakness.

Recently I was asked by an interesting question by a friend. It was that if Genesys wasn't a good place to start fro someone wanting to get into the New Adventures where would be? Well with this novels excellent characterization, nice use of continuity form the TV series and a much better science fiction plot I think I have that answer. Skip Genesys and go straight to Exodus! It's one of the best New Adventures I've read and one of the best Doctor Who adventure stories I've read period.

The Doctor and Ace are on the trail of the Timewyrm, and end up at the Festival of Britain in 1951, where things are not as they should be - Nazi regalia is everywhere. They start to investigate, and that leads to revelations about the rise of the Nazi party in Britain. And that leads them to...

Terrance Dicks returns to the Doctor Who writing fold with the second novel in the New Adventures range. And an improvement over the first this certainly is!

Now, here in Australia the British obsession with Nazis isn't anywhere near as strong, but it is very understandable. Knowing what Britain should be like, the Doctor, Ace and the reader start looking for where things have changed in the past to cause the Britain depicted could come to pass.

Combining the old with the new (I won't reveal who the returning villain is), Mr. Dicks uses his familiarity with Doctor Who to craft an excellent novel. At some points during his novelisations of Doctor Who TV serials, Mr. Dicks has given us some very marginal books as well as some good ones. Given free reign after quite some time, he gives us a cracking good novel.

It's probably long out of print, but worth looking for in any case.

This book is a wonderful achievement. Terrence Dicks writes the second story of the New Adventures range, and he does a great job of it. The characterazations are spot on ( the Doctor and Ace deserve special mention). This is a great book to start with, if you are a Dr Who fan or not! 5 stars.

What a terribly rubbish novel. It starts off reasonably promising - when the Doctor and Ace arrive in a Nazi-controlled Britain of 1951, it's a reasonably familiar Star-Trek-adventure-story what-if scenario. But as they go back to genuine, 1930s Nazi Germany, the grim reality shows the story for what it really is: trite, undermining pap. Terrance Dicks seems to take an almost perverse glee in the details, far too glib to respect what actually, horrifically occurred. It doesn't help that the Doctor's characterization, more stuffy Pertwee than scheming McCoy, is insufferably arrogant; you almost want Himmler to shoot the miserable sod. All this, with the Timewyrm arc poorly integrated into the plot, go a long way toward skuppering Dicks' authorial reputation. What was he thinking?