Timewyrm: Apocalypse

Timewyrm: Apocalypse is the 3rd of 4 books in the Timewyrm series, but is certainly the weakest so far. This doesn't mean it's doing anything outstandingly wrong, just it isn't doing many memorable things either.

The book starts with a promising mystery which does keep you hooked for the rest of the book, but the book just doesn't do anything much else to keep you engaged bar a few good characters and some nice moments for Ace. The most memorable parts are the flashbacks to the Second Doctors life which is explained by the Doctor trying to tell himself something, which was ultimately what was in the first of these flashbacks, meaning all those after it were a bit pointless, but fun.

What pushes the book down a bit more is that it doesn't feel like it contributed much to the Timewyrm arc either. The Timewyrm seeming leaves at the same power as she was at the start of the book. Unlike Exodus, where we get a real sense of her power and control developing and weakening through the book (with an ending showing her at her lowest point), it doesn't feel like she is less powerful here. There's still one more book to read for me, so maybe this isn't true, but it still feels lacklustre to the entire arc.

Even though it has a lot of flaws and is lacking in places, Timewyrm: Apocalypse is still an alright read, and certainly not as bad as other VNA's.

Readable though lacking in much of anything to leave a mark in my memory.
It’s the weakest of quadrilogy.
I do think it had its bits here and there though.

A six is the best I’ll give.

Timewyrm: Apocalypse is the penultimate novel in the Timewyrm tetralogy and personally it is the weakest link of the three I’ve read currently. Nigel Robinson basically uses his novel to rewrite The Krotons while bringing in new ideas that would be stolen in The Doctor’s Daughter and Utopia. The plot should be interesting. It involves the Doctor and Ace arriving on a planet where everything is too perfect so they are going to make hiccups in paradise as the novel puts it several times. Robinson does his best work when he writes for Ace as she feels like a direct development from Timewyrm: Exodus with a few inconstancies. For instance, in Timewyrm: Exodus, Ace throws Nitro 9 at Nazis without a care for their lives, but here she cares to see that the people she threw explosives die.





The Doctor also feels out of character and is almost as if it is written for other Doctors at various different points, especially the First and Second Doctors. There are also a lot of flashbacks to the Second Doctor’s era at various points in the story. The Timewyrm seriously got a downgrade in her story arc as she is really powerless and is easily defeated. This shouldn’t be the case as she is featured prominently and if Terrance Dicks or John Peel were writing the story she would be even more powerful. The supporting characters are the most interesting thing about the novel. Raphael would be the most interesting and he would have made a good companion.





The biggest problem of the novel is that it’s a really forgettable one. I finished it last night and already I’m having trouble remembering everything about it. This is especially weird considering that the book is much shorter than Timewyrm: Genesys and Timewyrm: Exodus. I also didn’t really like the writing style as it was bland compared to the other novels.