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A review by marthmuffins
Timewyrm: Genesys by John Peel
1.0
Timewyrm - Genesys - 1/5
Enough has been said about how awful this book is, here and elsewhere. John Peel takes the idea of "adult" Who and decides that means a pervy old man gaze which cannot let a page go by without some mention of Gilgamesh feeling up women and girls as young as 13, that the priestesses of Ishtar have their tits out, or that Ace is being either objectified or sexually assaulted by Gilgamesh (with the Doctor famously victim-blaming her for "not understanding that that's just what happens when you go to Ancient Mesopotamia", fuck off you arsehole). It just feels like Peel saw the chance to indulge in being able to write about tits, sex, dubious consent, and underage nudity and justify it with a "well it's historical" bullshit argument. I'm in no way opposed to sex in media at all, not even in Who media, but John Peel is not the guy to do it.
Add to that the book is just boring. Ace and the Doctor wander about for a bit, there's a generic Who Historical plot about aliens wanting to "pervert the course of human history", and then they wander around a bit more. There could've been something interesting with integrating the Epic of Gilgamesh and writing an almost Sword & Sorcery/Heroic Fantasy type novel but no, it never manages to do that and instead wants to focus on just how lecherous Gilgamesh is.
The fact that Peel obviously does not like this era of the show, namely Seven and Ace, also shines through. There's a whole bit to introduce the series which just exists to show how cool the Fourth Doctor is, and to have Ace wander around naked, and hell, at the conclusion of the book.
Just all around a boring, irritating, and dirty old man pervy. Read a summary instead.
Enough has been said about how awful this book is, here and elsewhere. John Peel takes the idea of "adult" Who and decides that means a pervy old man gaze which cannot let a page go by without some mention of Gilgamesh feeling up women and girls as young as 13, that the priestesses of Ishtar have their tits out, or that Ace is being either objectified or sexually assaulted by Gilgamesh (with the Doctor famously victim-blaming her for "not understanding that that's just what happens when you go to Ancient Mesopotamia", fuck off you arsehole). It just feels like Peel saw the chance to indulge in being able to write about tits, sex, dubious consent, and underage nudity and justify it with a "well it's historical" bullshit argument. I'm in no way opposed to sex in media at all, not even in Who media, but John Peel is not the guy to do it.
Add to that the book is just boring. Ace and the Doctor wander about for a bit, there's a generic Who Historical plot about aliens wanting to "pervert the course of human history", and then they wander around a bit more. There could've been something interesting with integrating the Epic of Gilgamesh and writing an almost Sword & Sorcery/Heroic Fantasy type novel but no, it never manages to do that and instead wants to focus on just how lecherous Gilgamesh is.
The fact that Peel obviously does not like this era of the show, namely Seven and Ace, also shines through. There's a whole bit to introduce the series which just exists to show how cool the Fourth Doctor is, and to have Ace wander around naked, and hell, at the conclusion of the book
Spoiler
he sidelines Seven by essentially replacing him with the Third Doctor and having him do some sci-fi nonsense to kick Ishtar out of the TARDIS, and knocks Ace unconcious so Three can call her Liz, Jo, and Sarah Jane insteadJust all around a boring, irritating, and dirty old man pervy. Read a summary instead.