Skimming through this thread, I feel comforted. Revelation was mind-blowing for many when it came out, taking Who places it had never been before.
I did not remember if I liked it that much, I’m sure Exodus was more my cup of tea, so I reread it recently. And I, like many here I suppose, struggled to drag myself through it.
In the mindscape, there is no cause and effect. Anything can happen or unhappen. To me, that takes any tension out of the action, and I think that’s a lot of why I had such a hard time with it.
But its rep is so great I thought it was just me!
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theres lots of intresting people saying interesting things about this book but i cant stop thinking about the fifth doctor being imprisoned bc he doesnt want to be at war. i might cry. he just wants a nice sunny field and a pot of tea and to play cricket WHY WOULD YOU BE SO MEAN TO HIM. HES JUST A GUY.
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When this book first came out it was a bit too mind-blowing for my taste. I did enjoy it for the most part but it just didn’t feel like Doctor Who - it was very abstract and non-linear.
Returning to it a few months ago, I was able to appreciate it much more this time around. At least it was actually about the Timewyrm, and the Doctor & Ace were spot on.
Paul Cornell is the first author who I could believe had actually been to Perivale rather than picking the name off a map - it’s largely an industrial area, not a leafy, sleepy residential suburb!
I also liked that he bothered to add a line explaining an earlier continuity error in Genesys, but was less impressed that he then went on to introduce a new one by changing Hemmings’ first name from Anthony to Rupert!
It is symptomatic of the main problem with the arc as a whole - that it was not designed and plotted out as an arc, but just consisted of four completely separate stories that were forced to a greater or lesser degree to fit under the Timewyrm banner.
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If it weren’t for my towering ‘to read’ pile I would love to go back and re-read the NAs. I was 16 or so the first time round and I really think I’d have a very difference experience now.
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Paul Cornell must’ve been absolutely chuffed to bits when he saw that cover art - imagine your debut adventure having such a bold image, of the Doctor dancing with death on the moon!
The Timewyrm Arc is an absolute car crash, I think we can all agree on that, so it’s shocking that the conclusion turned out as good as it did!
Ishtar has been defeated thrice already by the Doctor and Ace, so has went on a recruitment drive to find people who will assist her… including the jack-booted sadist from ‘Exodus’. Hemmings was exceptionally well-written here, and really intimidating.
Also brought in to help deal with Ace was someone who - in an alternate timeline - stoved her head in with a brick (no, really)! Chad becomes this sadistic and horrible presence throughout the book, and he appears to be one of the few things in the cosmos that leaves Ace trembling with fear.
Genuinely, I don’t think Cornell could’ve asked for a better debut.
Feel free to read my review of ‘Timewyrm: Revelation’.
Likes are much appreciated. I am very shamelessly aiming for those reviewer badges 
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I’ve returned to the forum to talk about this book… finished this in 3 days, which is a new record for me. maybe one day i will write actual reviews that are in-depth, well constructed, more than two paragraphs long, etc. but tonight i just wrote a quick bit about the part of this book that i felt strongest about, which is its success as a queer empowerment story.
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