Going down a rabbit hole now.
Apparently this version of the console room was first seen in the comic “The Chameleon Factor” by Paul Cornell with art by Lee Sullivan.
And later reprinted in “The Good Soldier” comic collection - just putting that one on the future purchase list 
Not as much First Doctor from this perspective.
I actually read this one a few months ago as part of an intended read/reread of the VNA’s from the start - and was quickly reminded of why I had failed to finish it the first time around! However this time I forced myself to persevere, and once I was past the halfway point and the actual “adventure” was underway, I did find it easier going.
But all I can really say is “What on Earth were they thinking?” Of all the ways to launch a new range, this was most certainly not it! You don’t allow an author who is open about not liking the TARDIS team in question to write the first book just because he begs you to! And if against your better judgement you do agree, but then he turns in something like this - with unrecognisable main characters, continuity errors & literally relishing in depicting gratuitous sexual acts on minors - then you should fallback on your Editor’s hat to obtain the necessary rewrites before publication.
The most frustrating thing about this book is that as others have said, there is a genuinely good Doctor Who story in there and it only needed a few tweaks to iron out most of the problems.
The Paradise Towers error could have been spotted by giving an early draft of the opening to any of the other three Timewyrm authors who would have spotted it straight away. (Not that I felt that the whole memory loss scene was in any way necessary in the first place.)
I get that Peel may just have been trying to depict the culture accurately, but if this book was published today, the repeated explicit depictions of 13- & 14-year olds topless &/or engaging in sexual activity (indeed being described as “enjoying” or being “highly skilled” at it!) is likely to have attracted the attention of Operation Yewtree! Again the simple removal of any reference to the girls’ ages could have easily resolved the problem.
Ace is totally unrecognisable here - e.g. she has no problem with committing mass murder with her bombs even when most of the victims are collateral damage - and I just couldn’t picture Sophie saying most of her lines. The Doctor also came across as a “generic doctor” rather than 7 as portrayed by Sylvester.
Unlike many, I do understand, and agree with, the point the Doctor was trying to make about not judging other societies through the lens of our modern values - however the problem for me came when he insisted that Ace go off on her own on a multi-day (& night) expedition with a man that she had just said she was afraid would molest her! One can only assume that he knew she would be able to take care of herself - but in that case, that is what he should have replied to her.
So my rating for this book is low mainly due to Virgin’s failure to address these problems that should have been blindingly obvious when the draft was submitted and turn this into a good book.
I just finished this, and I can definitely agree with the complaints that have been made before. But those complaints aside, I actually quite enjoyed the book.
When I made the decision to give the Doctor Who novels a second chance - in May 2023 - I quickly remembered that it all began with this horrendous nightmare of a book.
John Peel genuinely decided to make an adventure with some of the most nauseatingly bad content - and you likely all know what I’m referring to here - I would say that I cannot believe this got the go-ahead… but I think I’m more baffled that this hack of an author would be responsible for three further novels!
Honestly, I still think I was being ridiculously generous with my score. Perhaps because I was trying to fool myself into thinking “well it can’t be that bad!”
(Spoiler: It can, and it was).
Feel free to read my review of ‘Timewyrm: Genesys’.
Likes are much appreciated. I am very shamelessly aiming for those reviewer badges 
Just started this book, slightly late to the game here. About 50 pages in, and I am not enjoying this. I suppose the depictions of women can be partially chalked up to the time period and the ancient text style, but it still feels dated and gross. Seven feels too unlike himself, and I think he would be more sympathetic to and protective of Ace. I feel like Doctor Who and adult material is a tricky balance that writers often do not handle well.
Welcome to the forum and our community! There’s no deadline for the clubs, so feel free to pop in and share your opinions whenever it’s convenient for you!
Your take is a pretty common one. Genesys is problematic in many ways, and it being the first VNA written by an author who clearly dislikes Seven and Ace doesn’t help at all.
Also, feel free to pop over to Introductions to introduce yourself to the rest of us and get all those sweet welcomes!
Oh, boi where do I even start?
I don’t hate the Idea of Who tackling more mature Topics or trying to be more ‘adult’, when it works, it can give you a Story with a lot to like about. When it doesn’t.. it feels “trying to write an adult Story, but coming across as incredible tone-deaf and in some ways: stupid”. Sadly, the first VNA falls into the second Category. While I get some Decisions, I think a lot of them don’t add much good will to the Book. And that’s not even me getting started how CLEAR it is, that peels just dislike the TARDIS Team, it feels like at times he is writing them deliberately bad to NEVER get commissioned again for a VNA (which at the end of the Day he didn’t do another one of those). And this is super apparent with the use of the other Doctors here. Both, while not adding much to the Story, feel more appropriate than Seven ever did in this Book. And I am sorry to put it harshly but this is EXACTLY the type of Characterization, I think that misses the Doctor’s Character, even 7 who while yes can be a manipulative Person at times, would never act this Way let alone tell Ace to “deal with it”. Ace doesn’t come across that much better. Really, the Story itself is somewhat a mixed bag overall, there are a lot of Moments that just made me feel super uncomfortable. And again I think Doctor Who can tackle more mature Things, but this isn’t mature, this just borderlines on the Idea of being ‘edgy’ for the sake of it. Not helping the Fact that I can feel that the Writer just doesn’t like this TARDIS Team. What an awful Way to kickstart a Book Range.
The Cover Art is great I will say that, in general the VNAs and their Illustrations have their Charm!
