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{{Infobox Novel|
{{title dab away}}
novel name= Timewyrm: Genesys|
{{real world}}
image= [[Image:NA001_genesys.jpg|250px]]|
{{Infobox Story SMW
series=[[Doctor Who]] -<br/>[[Virgin New Adventures]] |
|image           = NA001 genesys.jpg
number= 1 |
|series         = [[Virgin New Adventures]]
doctor=[[Seventh Doctor]] |
|range          = Virgin New Adventures
companions= [[Ace]] |
|number in range = 1
enemy= The [[Timewyrm]] |
|number          = 1
year= [[Earth]], [[Mesopotamia]], [[Early human history#3rd Millennium B.C.|2700 BC]]|
|doctor         = Seventh Doctor
writer= [[John Peel]] |
|companions     = [[Ace]]
publisher= [[Virgin Books]] |
|featuring      = Fourth Doctor
release date= [[June]] [[1991]] |
|featuring2      = Third Doctor
format= Paperback Book, 230 pages |
|enemy           = [[Timewyrm]]
isbn= ISBN 0426203550 |
|setting        = [[Mesopotamia]], [[BC#3rd millennium B.C.|2700 BC]]
previous story= |
|writer          = John Peel
next story= [[Timewyrm: Exodus]]}}
|cover          = [[Andrew Skilleter]]
|publisher       = Virgin Books
|release date   = 20 June 1991
|format         = Paperback Book; 25 Chapters, 230 pages
|isbn           = ISBN 0-426-20355-0
|next            = Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)
|series2        = [[Interweaving with the New Adventures|''DWM'' "New Adventures order"]]
|prev2          = Survival (TV story)
|next2          = Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)
}}
'''''Timewyrm: Genesys''''' was the first novel in the [[Virgin New Adventures|New Adventures]] series. It was written by [[John Peel]]. It was the first book in the Timewyrm story arc, and featured the [[Seventh Doctor]] and [[Ace]].


==Publisher's Summary==
== Publisher's summary ==
Mesopotamia -- the cradle of civilization. In the fertile crescent of land on the banks of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, mankind is turning from hunter gatherer into farmer, and from farmer into city-dweller.
[[Mesopotamia]] — the cradle of civilisation. In the fertile crescent of land on the banks of the [[river]]s [[Tigris]] and [[Euphrates]], mankind is turning from hunter gatherer into [[farmer]], and from farmer into [[city]]-dweller.


Gilgamesh, the first hero-king, rules the city of Uruk. An equally legendary figure arrives, in a police telephone box: the TARDIS has brought the Doctor and his companion Ace to witness the first steps of mankind's long progress to the stars.
[[Gilgamesh]], the first hero-[[king]], rules the city of [[Uruk]]. An equally legendary figure arrives, in a police telephone box: [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] has brought the Doctor and his companion [[Ace]] to witness the first steps of mankind's long progress to the stars.


And from somewhere amid those distant points of light an evil sentience has tumbled. To her followers in the city of Kish she is known as Ishtar the goddess; to the Doctor’s forebears on ancient Gallifrey she was a mythical terror -- the Timewyrm.
And from somewhere amid those distant points of light an evil sentience has tumbled. To her followers in the city of [[Kish]] she is known as Ishtar the goddess; to the Doctor's forebears on ancient [[Gallifrey]] she was a mythical terror — the [[Timewyrm]].


==Plot==
== Plot ==
[[File:Timewyrm_Genesis_Prologue_illustration_1_DWM_175.jpg|thumb|An illustration for the preface, printed in [[DWM 175]].]]
A [[spacecraft]], holding [[Qataka|a mysterious cybernetic queen]], drifts into [[Mutter's Spiral]]. The woman is possessing the crew, but kills them all when they frustrate her. She plans to set up a slave world on [[Earth]], but soon realises the ship is falling apart. As she meets her apparent death, she can only see the irony in this.


In space above the planet Earth, two spaceships fight.  One, commanded by a cybernetic woman, is shot down by the other.  She survives and her escape pod crash lands somewhere in ancient [[Mesopotamia]].  [[Gilgamesh]], King of Uruk, finds the escape pod while engaged on a spying mission against Kish. The woman, who claims to be the goddess [[Ishtar]], tries to lure Gilgamesh into helping her. Gilgamesh refuses, and Ishtar becomes enraged, vowing that she will have her revenge.
In ancient [[Mesopotamia]], [[Gilgamesh]], king of [[Uruk]], is on the hunt. He meets Ishtar, who claims to be a goddess, but lacks the power to leave the crash site of her lifepod. He rejects her call to join him, and she swears revenge.


On board the TARDIS, Ace awakens to discover that she has no memory of who or where she is. The Doctor informs her that he is accidentally responsible for the removal of her memories. Before he can correct this error, the Doctor triggers a message from his own past in the form of a holographic projection of the [[Fourth Doctor]]. Recorded during the events of ''[[The Invasion of Time]]'', the Fourth Doctor's warning concerns a mythical creature known only as the Timewyrm. After the Doctor restores Ace's memories, the TARDIS lands in ancient Mesopotamia
On [[the TARDIS]], [[Ace]] awakens with amnesia, unable to remember even her own name. The Doctor apologises; he was using the telepathic circuits to edit his own memories, clearing out old junk, and accidentally caught her in the field. He is able to restore her memories. However, in doing so, he triggers an apparition of the [[Fourth Doctor]], a message implanted long ago, warning him about a creature called a [[Timewyrm]]. He doesn't remember it, but the TARDIS takes over, and takes them to Earth, where they intrude on Gilgamesh and his friend [[Enkidu]], in battle against warriors of the rival city of [[Kish]]. As they cause the battle to end, Gilgamesh takes them for gods, and takes them along to spy on Kish. The Doctor notes odd copper patterns on the walls, and realises something isn't right.


Back in Uruk, two noblemen, Gudea and Ennatum, plot against Gilgamsesh.  They send a messenger to Kish warning that Gilgamesh will be returning on a spy mission.  The message is received by High Priest Dumuzi in the Temple of Ishtar, a Temple graced by the presence of its divine namesake. Agga, King of Kish, is not pleased that Ishtar had chosen to visit his city. She has ordered the construction of strange, highly intricate metal designs throughout her Temple. Agga knows that Ishtar is immensely powerful, and fears for the safety of his people, and his daughter, Ninani.  
Something, indeed, is not right in Kish. Ishtar, after meeting Gilgamesh, met [[Dumuzi]], Kish's priest of the goddess Ishtar, who accepted her offer and took her to take residence in the temple of Ishtar. Meanwhile, the king of Kish, [[Agga]], is feeling trapped by Ishtar; but he won't rebel, because he fears for his city. His daughter, [[Ninani]], has no such qualms, and enlists a priestess of Ishtar, [[En-Gula]], to help her destroy the false goddess. The Doctor confronts Ishtar, and is captured; he learns that she controls her servants by means of implants that let her overtake their minds and bodies. Ace rescues him before he can be implanted, but her use of Nitro-9 explosives tips Ishtar off to the otherworldly nature of the intruders. She orders Agga to hasten completion of the patterns on the walls; they will constitute a radio transmitter that will let her spread her influence across the entire world. As well, she has a cobalt bomb tied to her biosignature, which will detonate and devastate the planet if she dies. She reveals that she used such a device to destroy her home planet, [[Anu]].


When Gilgamesh and his trusted [[Neanderthal]] friend [[Enkidu]] are ambushed by the Kishite guards, the TARDIS appears.  The Doctor and Ace become involved in the melee, and Ace uses her Nitro-9 explosives to frighten the attackers away. Gilgamesh mistakes the strangers for the Gods [[Enki|Ea]] and [[Aya (goddess)|Aya]]. The Doctor leaves Ace in a pub with Gilgamesh and Enkidu while he investigates Kish. Gilgamesh attracts unwanted attention, and in order to avoid a brawl, Ace sings "[[The Wild Rover]]" to entertain the crowd.  She attracts the attention of Avram, a traveling songsmith, who tells her that Ishtar is present in Kish. Ace decides to set off for the Temple of Ishtar, along with Avram, Gilgamesh, and Enkidu, certain that the Doctor will be there, and will need her help.  
The Doctor, Gilgamesh, and the others escape back to Uruk, bringing with them En-Gula and a musician named [[Avram]]. En route, they view Ishtar’s crashed pod, and Avram reveals that he has seen something like it before, in the mountains a week away. Ace secretly pockets a now-defused thermite bomb that was left as a trap on the pod. In Uruk, Gilgamesh deals with a conspiracy against him, and Avram tells the story of his visit to the mountains, and to a man named [[Utnapishtim]]. The Doctor concludes that Utnapishtim is an enemy of Ishtar (or rather, Qataka, her true name) from her own world, and may help them against her. He sends Gilgamesh and Ace on a mission to recruit Utnapishtim, while he and Enkidu and En-Gula plan a return to Kish. Ace is not thrilled; she has been busy fighting off Gilgamesh's constant sexual advances, and doesn't look forward to a week with him on the road.


In Kish, Princess Ninani plans to oppose the Goddess in any way she could. She sends for a young Priestess of Ishtar, En-Gula, so that she might learn more about Ishtar, and find a way to fight her. En-Gula is afraid of Ishtar, and joins Ninani's conspiracy. As En-Gula returns to the Temple of Ishtar, she meets the Doctor. The Doctor is surprised that Ishtar is present within her temple. The Doctor allows himself to be taken to meet the Goddess. Dumuzi drugs the Doctor into unconsciousness so that his mind can be devoured by Ishtar.  At that point, Ace and her party arrive. Thinking that the Doctor is in danger, Ace throws some Nitro-9 around, causing serious damage to the Temple.
In the mountains, they find that the Doctor was correct. Utnapishtim is the leader of a spacegoing ark, all that is left of his people—and their power source is failing, due to damage on the ship. Nevertheless, he agrees to help, and takes a pair of smaller craft to get them back to Kish quickly. He has a computer virus which should destroy Ishtar—whom, he reveals, is a cybernetic lifeform, a copy of her original humanoid form. Meanwhile, the Doctor, En-Gula, and Enkidu return to Kish, and recruit Ninani; they are captured by Agga, but released by Ninani, and they advance on the temple. Ace, Utnapishtim, Avram, and Gilgamesh arrive at the same time, as does Agga, and the battle begins. Ishtar smashes the device with the virus, but is infected anyway when she hits Ace with an implant; the device was a decoy, and the real virus has been overlaid on their minds. Knowing the bomb will go off if she dies, the Doctor takes it and Ace back to the TARDIS, and uses the telepathic circuits to dredge up the more-technically-astute [[Third Doctor]]'s personality. As the Third Doctor, he uses the implant to create a copy of Ishtar in the TARDIS circuits, then links the bomb to it, giving him time to defuse it. She infects the TARDIS, but he ejects the infected components, apparently putting an end to her.


An angry Doctor explains to Ace that he was feigning unconsciousness to gather information about Ishtar.  The Doctor reveals that the patterns Ishtar is having worked into the walls of the Temple are a kind of massive electronic transmitter which will allow her to control thousands of human minds over vast distances.  Ace's explosives have damaged the transmitter, but it will only be a matter of time before it is repaired. The party, which now includes En-Gula and Avram, return to Uruk to plan their next move. In Uruk, they all enjoy a feast prepared in honor of Gilgamesh.  Avram entertains the court with a song about a mysterious god-like being known as [[Utnapishtim]].  The Doctor believes there is more to the legend of Utnapishtim.  The group decides that Gilgamesh, Ace, and Avram will seek out Utnapishtim, while the Doctor, Enkidu, and En-Gula keep an eye on Kish.
The Doctor uses Ishtar's technology from the temple to repair Utnapishtim's ship, and gives him the cobalt bomb to use as a new power source. He then directs them to an uninhabited world where they can re-establish their civilisation. Unfortunately, he can't change history; the future holds more natural unhappiness for their friends in Uruk and Kish.


Ace's party reaches the extinct volcano where Utnapishtim is said to live.  Avram, who has been there before, leads them to two "scorpion men", in reality robotic guards designed to repel intruders.  Within the volcano, they reach a large lake, guarded by a single man.  Gilgamesh, getting impatient, attacks the man. Ace is forced to disarm the guard of his laser gun, to avoid allowing Gilgamesh to be killed in contravention of known Earth history.  The party uses a small boat to travel to the center of the lake to Utnapishtim, who resides in the remains of a vast spaceship. He explains how he had pursued Qataka, a ruthless criminal from the planet Anu, across space.  He claims that Qataka had been destroyed, but that his ship had been badly damaged in the fight.  He confides to Ace that his people will not be able to remain long within their wrecked ship, and that when they venture out into the world, a destructive war with the humans will be inevitable. Ace tells Utnapishtim that Qataka was not destroyed, that she is calling herself Ishtar and is planning to take the Earth for herself.  Utnapishtim agrees to help Ace destroy Qataka/Ishtar with a computer virus that will attack Ishtar's cybernetic body.  
Back in the TARDIS, they are attacked when they enter the [[Vortex]]. Ishtar is not dead after all; she has merged with the ejected TARDIS components and become something terrible: the Timewyrm. She is free to roam time and space. The Doctor sets course after her, vowing to destroy her.


Meanwhile, the Doctor, Enkidu, and En-Gula return to Kish to consult with Ninani.  The Doctor hopes Ninani can help him get  into Ishtar's temple undetected.  Ninani is willing to help, but they are discovered by Agga.  Agga is so afraid of the punishment for his daughter's treachery against Ishtar that he confines all of them (except his daughter) to the dungeons.  Agga explains to Ninani that Ishtar claims she has a device which can destroy the world.  He tries to convince Ninani that they can not oppose such a powerful creature.  Ninani waits for her father to leave, and then sets about to rescue the others from the dungeons. 
== Characters ==
* The [[Seventh Doctor]]
* [[Ace]]
* [[Timewyrm|Ishtar]] (aka Qataka)
* [[Gilgamesh]]
* [[Ninani]]
* [[Utnapishtim]]
* [[Agga]]
* [[Avram]]
* [[Belkeli]]
* [[Dumuzi]]
* [[En-Gula]]
* [[Enkidu]]
* [[Ennatum]]
* [[Gudea]]
* [[Lagash]]
* [[Puabi]]
* [[Ta-Nin]]
* [[Urshanabi]]
* [[Fourth Doctor]] (projection)
* [[Third Doctor]] (persona inhabiting the seventh incarnation)


The Doctor, Enkidu, En-Gula, and Ninani return to the Temple of Ishtar, but are discovered by the Goddess, who was expecting this. As Ishtar prepares to consume the Doctor's mind, an explosion rocks the temple. Ace has returned, via a small flying craft piloted by Utnapishtim, along with Gilgamesh and Avram. The Doctor realizes that Ishtar has rigged a cobalt bomb, powerful enough to destroy the planet, to explode in the event of her death. As Ace and the others attempt to destroy Ishtar, the Doctor is forced to try to save her.   When Ishar attempts to consume Ace's mind, she instead downloads the computer virus that Utnapishtim had implanted within all of their minds. The Doctor explains the bomb to Utnapishtim and that they have to return to the TARDIS at once.  
== Worldbuilding ==
* Ace mentions ''[[Watership Down]]''.
* Avram mentions [[Shulpae]], [[Adad]], [[Ashnan]] and [[Ninsun]].
* En-gula mentions [[Nisaba]], [[Enki]] and [[Ennugi]].
* Agga mentions [[Nergal]].
* Gilgamesh mentions [[Lugulbanda]] and [[Belit-Sheri]].
* Gilgamesh hunts on [[Eridu]].
* Ennatum mentions [[Enlil]].
=== Foods and beverages ===
* Ace drinks a type of [[fruit juice]] whilst visiting Utnapishtim.
* Ace's mum's boyfriends bought her [[fish and chips]]. She drank fizzy drinks while they drank beer.
* Ace drinks [[beer]] that tastes not quite unlike [[pig]] [[vomit]].
* [[Rice]] and [[barley]] are grown using irrigation ditches.


Back on the TARDIS, the Doctor tries to find a way to keep Ishtar's mental processes going after the virus destroys her body.  Using the TARDIS telepathic circuits, the Doctor mentally summons the [[Third Doctor]] to assist with the technical aspects of the plan.  The Doctor takes one of Ishtar's mental implants, and wires it into the TARDIS telepathic circuits, in effect downloading Ishtar into the TARDIS, keeping her alive long enough to disarm of the bomb.  Unfortunately, when the Doctor tries to delete Ishtar's mind from the TARDIS circuitry, he discovers that she is no longer there.  Adapting to the TARDIS, Ishtar uses its systems as a replacement body.  The Doctor tricks her into moving her consciousness into the TARDIS's secondary control room, which he then jettisons into the Time Vortex, certain that the forces of the Vortex will destroy her.
=== Galaxies ===
* The Timewyrm refers to the galaxy containing Earth as [[Mutter's Spiral]].


The Doctor returns everyone to Mesopotamia, and assists Utnapishtim in repairing his ship, making sure that the people of Anu can find an uninhabited planet to call their new home.  Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor notices the Time Path Indicator is active, which means that they are being followed by another time machine.  Ishtar, having assimilated TARDIS components into herself, has become the Timewyrm, and now has the power to travel through time and space.  The Doctor attempts to time ram the creature, but the Timewyrm evades his trap and escapes.  Using the Time Path Indicator, the Doctor is able to track the Timewyrm to London in the 20th century, and the Doctor and Ace set out to destroy their new enemy.
=== Species ===
* Ace is aware that [[Time Lord]]s can [[Regeneration|regenerate]].


==Characters==
=== Songs ===
*[[Seventh Doctor|The Doctor]]
* Ace sings "[[Wikipedia:The Wild Rover|The Wild Rover]]" for the patrons of an inn in Kish.
** Has enhanced night vision.
*[[Ace]]
**Gets temporary [[amnesia]].
**Sings [[Ireland|Irish]] folk songs.
**Drinks [[Alcohol#Beer|beer]] that tastes not quite unlike pig vomit.
*[[Timewyrm|Ishtar]] (aka Qataka)
*[[Gilgamesh]]
**Has wandering hands; Ace consequently wears layers to protect herself.
*[[Ninani]]
*[[Utnapishtim]]
*[[Agga]]
*[[Avram]]
*[[Belkeli]]
*[[Dumuzi]]
*[[En-Gula]]
*[[Enkidu]]
*[[Ennatum]]
*[[Gudea]]
*[[Lagash]]
*[[Puabi]]
*[[Ta-Nin]]
*[[Urshanabi]]


==References==
== Notes ==
* The [[Chronovore]]s name the reborn Ishtar the [[Timewyrm]].
*The Doctor uses the [[the Doctor's TARDIS|his TARDIS]]'s [[telepathic circuits]] to delete some superfluous memories, accidentally deleting Ace's; he gives them back but accidentally gives her some of [[Melanie Bush]]'s also, allowing her to remember [[Paradise Towers]].
 
==Notes==
* This is the first novel in the Timewyrm four-novel series.
* This is the first novel in the Timewyrm four-novel series.
* Although there had been several original novels and novellas published based upon the Whoniverse but not featuring the Doctor, and also several novelisations of unproduced ''Doctor Who'' stories, this was the first long-form original publication to feature the Doctor himself since the publication of the novella ''[[Doctor Who and the Invasion from Space]]'' in [[1966]].
* Although there had been several original novels and novellas published based upon the Whoniverse but not featuring the Doctor, and also several novelisations of unproduced ''Doctor Who'' stories, this was the first long-form original publication to feature the Doctor himself since the publication of the novella ''[[Doctor Who and the Invasion from Space (novel)|Doctor Who and the Invasion from Space]]'' in 1966.
* This is also the first officially licensed novel featuring the Doctor to ever exceed 200 pages in length. The only official ''Doctor Who''-related novel to exceed this milestone before this point was ''[[Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma]]'', in which the Doctor did not appear.
* The Doctor's first line in the ''Virgin New Adventures'' series is; "Didn't I tell you not to do that?"
* The book's adult content in terms of language and sexuality was initially controversial with fans.
* This is also the first officially licensed novel featuring the Doctor to ever exceed 200 pages in length. The only official ''Doctor Who''-related novel to exceed this milestone before this point was ''[[Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma (novel)|Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma]]'', in which the Doctor did not appear.
* Cover art by [[Andrew Skilleter]].
* The book's adult content in terms of language and [[sexuality]] was initially controversial with fans.
 
* [[Andrew Skilleter]] created the cover art.
==Continuity==
* John Peel sets up an explanation for future writers to use, regarding continuity errors, by having the Doctor erase his less important memories.
* The [[Fourth Doctor]] gained knowledge of the Timewyrm when he was in [[the Matrix]] in [[DW]]: ''[[The Invasion of Time]]''; he left a time-delayed message in the TARDIS for himself.
*Ace still feels some of the after effects of the [[Cheetah Virus]] she became infected with in [[DW]]: ''[[Survival]]''.
 
==Timeline==
*This story occurs after [[BFA]]: ''[[The Angel of Scutari]]''
*This story occurs before [[NA]]: ''[[Timewyrm: Exodus]]''


==External Links==
== Continuity ==
*{{dwrefguide|who_na01.htm|Timewyrm: Genesys}}
* The Doctor erases the parts of his memory he considers no longer important to make room for new memories. As a result, he hopes he never encounters the [[Chronovore]]s again ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time Monster (TV story)|The Time Monster]]'') even though he already had in his last incarnation. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Quantum Archangel (novel)|The Quantum Archangel]]'') He later says he never met [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)|Timewyrm: Exodus]]'') even though he did in his last incarnation, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Shadow in the Glass (novel)|The Shadow in the Glass]]'') and that he has never been to [[Alaska (state)|Alaska]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge (audio story)|Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge]]'') even though the [[Fifth Doctor]] had. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Land of the Dead (audio story)|The Land of the Dead]]'')
*{{whoniverse|NA01.php|Timewyrm: Genesys}}
* The [[Fourth Doctor]] gained knowledge of the Timewyrm when he was in [[the Matrix]]; ([[TV]]: ''[[The Invasion of Time (TV story)|The Invasion of Time]]'') he left a time-delayed message in the TARDIS for himself.
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20011117182047/http://www.geocities.com/rico.briggs/gnss.html Bewildering References Guide to '''Timewyrm: Genesys'''] via [http://www.archive.org/web/web.php Internet Archive: Wayback Machine]
* The Doctor claims that the [[Cloister Bell]] has not sounded since the events of [[Logopolis]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'') However this is not true as it sounded briefly after the TARDIS started to travel to Event One, ([[TV]]: ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]'') during the collapse of a Time Corridor ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Mutant Phase (audio story)|The Mutant Phase]]'') and when the TARDIS got trapped in a Dalek time corridor. However, this claim was made very shortly after he deleted various memories from his mind so he may simply be no longer able to recall any of these instances. ([[TV]]: ''[[Resurrection of the Daleks (TV story)|Resurrection of the Daleks]]'')
* Enkidu reminds Ace of [[Nimrod]], this in turn leads her to remember the events of [[Gabriel Chase]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Ghost Light (TV story)|Ghost Light]]'')
* The Doctor remembers the deaths of Katarina, Sara Kingdom ([[TV]]: ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)|The Daleks' Master Plan]]'') and Adric. ([[TV]]: ''[[Earthshock (TV story)|Earthshock]]'') These memories are painful to the Doctor and he wishes to keep the same fate from happening to Ace.
* Ace still feels some of the after effects of the [[Cheetah Virus]] she became infected with in ''[[Survival (TV story)|Survival]]''.
* The Doctor consoles Enkidu (who believes he is the last of his kind) by telling him that another [[Neanderthal]] survives to the 19th century. ([[TV]]: ''[[Ghost Light (TV story)|Ghost Light]]'')
* The narration incorrectly states that Ace has seen [[Paradise Towers]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Paradise Towers (TV story)|Paradise Towers]]'')


{{Virgin New Adventure Series Box | before = none | after = [[Timewyrm: Exodus]]}}
== Cover gallery ==
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
File:NA001 genesys.jpg|Original cover
File:NA001 genesys textless cover.jpg|Textless cover
</gallery>


== External links ==
{{dwrefguide|who_na01.htm|Timewyrm: Genesys}}
* {{whoniverse|na01|Timewyrm: Genesys}}
* [http://mysite.science.uottawa.ca/rsmith43/cloister/genesys.htm The Cloister Library: '''Timewyrm: Genesys''']
* [http://www.oocities.com/rico.briggs/gnss.html Bewildering References Guide to '''Timewyrm: Genesys''']
* [https://tardis.guide/story/timewyrm-genesys/ '''Timewyrm: Genesys''' at TARDIS Guide]
{{NA}}
{{TitleSort}}


{{prose stub}}
[[Category:Seventh Doctor novels]]
[[Category:Seventh Doctor novels]]
[[Category:Virgin New Adventure Novels]]
[[Category:NA novels]]
[[Category:Timewyrm arc]]
[[Category:Stories set in the Middle East]]
[[Category:1991 novels]]
[[Category:1991 novels]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1939]]
[[Category:Stories set in Mesopotamia]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2700 BC]]
[[Category:Third Doctor novels]]

Latest revision as of 14:40, 4 November 2024

RealWorld.png

Timewyrm: Genesys was the first novel in the New Adventures series. It was written by John Peel. It was the first book in the Timewyrm story arc, and featured the Seventh Doctor and Ace.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

Mesopotamia — the cradle of civilisation. In the fertile crescent of land on the banks of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, mankind is turning from hunter gatherer into farmer, and from farmer into city-dweller.

Gilgamesh, the first hero-king, rules the city of Uruk. An equally legendary figure arrives, in a police telephone box: the TARDIS has brought the Doctor and his companion Ace to witness the first steps of mankind's long progress to the stars.

And from somewhere amid those distant points of light an evil sentience has tumbled. To her followers in the city of Kish she is known as Ishtar the goddess; to the Doctor's forebears on ancient Gallifrey she was a mythical terror — the Timewyrm.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

An illustration for the preface, printed in DWM 175.

A spacecraft, holding a mysterious cybernetic queen, drifts into Mutter's Spiral. The woman is possessing the crew, but kills them all when they frustrate her. She plans to set up a slave world on Earth, but soon realises the ship is falling apart. As she meets her apparent death, she can only see the irony in this.

In ancient Mesopotamia, Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, is on the hunt. He meets Ishtar, who claims to be a goddess, but lacks the power to leave the crash site of her lifepod. He rejects her call to join him, and she swears revenge.

On the TARDIS, Ace awakens with amnesia, unable to remember even her own name. The Doctor apologises; he was using the telepathic circuits to edit his own memories, clearing out old junk, and accidentally caught her in the field. He is able to restore her memories. However, in doing so, he triggers an apparition of the Fourth Doctor, a message implanted long ago, warning him about a creature called a Timewyrm. He doesn't remember it, but the TARDIS takes over, and takes them to Earth, where they intrude on Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu, in battle against warriors of the rival city of Kish. As they cause the battle to end, Gilgamesh takes them for gods, and takes them along to spy on Kish. The Doctor notes odd copper patterns on the walls, and realises something isn't right.

Something, indeed, is not right in Kish. Ishtar, after meeting Gilgamesh, met Dumuzi, Kish's priest of the goddess Ishtar, who accepted her offer and took her to take residence in the temple of Ishtar. Meanwhile, the king of Kish, Agga, is feeling trapped by Ishtar; but he won't rebel, because he fears for his city. His daughter, Ninani, has no such qualms, and enlists a priestess of Ishtar, En-Gula, to help her destroy the false goddess. The Doctor confronts Ishtar, and is captured; he learns that she controls her servants by means of implants that let her overtake their minds and bodies. Ace rescues him before he can be implanted, but her use of Nitro-9 explosives tips Ishtar off to the otherworldly nature of the intruders. She orders Agga to hasten completion of the patterns on the walls; they will constitute a radio transmitter that will let her spread her influence across the entire world. As well, she has a cobalt bomb tied to her biosignature, which will detonate and devastate the planet if she dies. She reveals that she used such a device to destroy her home planet, Anu.

The Doctor, Gilgamesh, and the others escape back to Uruk, bringing with them En-Gula and a musician named Avram. En route, they view Ishtar’s crashed pod, and Avram reveals that he has seen something like it before, in the mountains a week away. Ace secretly pockets a now-defused thermite bomb that was left as a trap on the pod. In Uruk, Gilgamesh deals with a conspiracy against him, and Avram tells the story of his visit to the mountains, and to a man named Utnapishtim. The Doctor concludes that Utnapishtim is an enemy of Ishtar (or rather, Qataka, her true name) from her own world, and may help them against her. He sends Gilgamesh and Ace on a mission to recruit Utnapishtim, while he and Enkidu and En-Gula plan a return to Kish. Ace is not thrilled; she has been busy fighting off Gilgamesh's constant sexual advances, and doesn't look forward to a week with him on the road.

In the mountains, they find that the Doctor was correct. Utnapishtim is the leader of a spacegoing ark, all that is left of his people—and their power source is failing, due to damage on the ship. Nevertheless, he agrees to help, and takes a pair of smaller craft to get them back to Kish quickly. He has a computer virus which should destroy Ishtar—whom, he reveals, is a cybernetic lifeform, a copy of her original humanoid form. Meanwhile, the Doctor, En-Gula, and Enkidu return to Kish, and recruit Ninani; they are captured by Agga, but released by Ninani, and they advance on the temple. Ace, Utnapishtim, Avram, and Gilgamesh arrive at the same time, as does Agga, and the battle begins. Ishtar smashes the device with the virus, but is infected anyway when she hits Ace with an implant; the device was a decoy, and the real virus has been overlaid on their minds. Knowing the bomb will go off if she dies, the Doctor takes it and Ace back to the TARDIS, and uses the telepathic circuits to dredge up the more-technically-astute Third Doctor's personality. As the Third Doctor, he uses the implant to create a copy of Ishtar in the TARDIS circuits, then links the bomb to it, giving him time to defuse it. She infects the TARDIS, but he ejects the infected components, apparently putting an end to her.

The Doctor uses Ishtar's technology from the temple to repair Utnapishtim's ship, and gives him the cobalt bomb to use as a new power source. He then directs them to an uninhabited world where they can re-establish their civilisation. Unfortunately, he can't change history; the future holds more natural unhappiness for their friends in Uruk and Kish.

Back in the TARDIS, they are attacked when they enter the Vortex. Ishtar is not dead after all; she has merged with the ejected TARDIS components and become something terrible: the Timewyrm. She is free to roam time and space. The Doctor sets course after her, vowing to destroy her.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Foods and beverages[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Ace drinks a type of fruit juice whilst visiting Utnapishtim.
  • Ace's mum's boyfriends bought her fish and chips. She drank fizzy drinks while they drank beer.
  • Ace drinks beer that tastes not quite unlike pig vomit.
  • Rice and barley are grown using irrigation ditches.

Galaxies[[edit] | [edit source]]

Species[[edit] | [edit source]]

Songs[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • This is the first novel in the Timewyrm four-novel series.
  • Although there had been several original novels and novellas published based upon the Whoniverse but not featuring the Doctor, and also several novelisations of unproduced Doctor Who stories, this was the first long-form original publication to feature the Doctor himself since the publication of the novella Doctor Who and the Invasion from Space in 1966.
  • The Doctor's first line in the Virgin New Adventures series is; "Didn't I tell you not to do that?"
  • This is also the first officially licensed novel featuring the Doctor to ever exceed 200 pages in length. The only official Doctor Who-related novel to exceed this milestone before this point was Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma, in which the Doctor did not appear.
  • The book's adult content in terms of language and sexuality was initially controversial with fans.
  • Andrew Skilleter created the cover art.
  • John Peel sets up an explanation for future writers to use, regarding continuity errors, by having the Doctor erase his less important memories.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Cover gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Original cover

    Original cover

  • Textless cover

    Textless cover

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

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1991
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1997
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