The Dust of Ages (novel)

The Dust of Ages
Doctor:	Tenth Doctor
Main enemy:	Dust animated by Eternity Crystal The Darksmith Collective The Agent
Main setting:	The Moon, 30th century Karagula, 30th century
Key crew
Publisher:	BBC Books
Writer:	Justin Richards
Release details
Release number:	1
Release date:	29 January 2009
Format:	paperback book
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-4059-0513-8
The Darksmith Legacy
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Next →	The Graves of Mordane

The Dust of Ages is the first book in The Darksmith Legacy series.

Publisher's summary

It is a few years into our future, and there are bases on the Moon. A recent survey has shown something unusual, an unknown power source. When a tall, skinny spiky-haired stranger turns up and announces he's from the Bureau of Alien Technology doing a spot check, the survey team know they've found something special. But is this special power source a blessing or a curse?

Characters

• Tenth Doctor
• Professor Dollund
• Clinton Seymour
• Roberta "Bobby" Goodman
• Henderson
• Lisa Summerton
• Drakon
• Hellan
• Talen
• Ardos
• Stemnos
• The Agent

References

• Sister Clathine
• High Witan
• Brother Varlos
• Snorkellians - snouted creatures that suck up dust and dirt, digest it and expel it as pellets which apparently are good for growing tomatoes
• The TARDIS Data Bank on the Moon mentions that the Moon is the only other world the humans have travelled to by the year 2010.
• The Agent's metal bodywork is augmented with plastic salvaged from the wreckage of the Nestene homeworld, Polymos.
• The Agent is programmed with innate understandings of the time Vortex that were found in a deactivated Gundan robot. This allows the Agent to travel on time winds.

Notes

• Chapter four, "The Hand of Fear" shares its name with the Doctor Who serial TV: The Hand of Fear.

• Interspersed with the main fiction is;

• TARDIS Data Bank (extra information on 'the Moon' and 'Analysis of Crystal')
• Activity pages x4 (The puzzle solutions give the reader the chance to think like the Doctor!)
• Next instalment cover preview and opening chapter.
• The Darksmith Legacy's overall story was devised by Justin Richards who contributed four of the ten titles.
• The Darksmith Legacy was certificated to 13, with under 13's needing parental approval.
• This first book in the series was released along with the second before the remaining titles saw a monthly release throughout 2009.
• Each book in the series had a foiled cover with illustration by Peter McKinstry

• By visiting the website and participating in the Quest participants can unlock additional content like computer wallpapers to download.

The Quest itself features; games - (like finding a specific target in an image, by using the sonic screwdriver as a detector, to hone in (to register 100 on the scale). Once located the 'Target' then provides additional information used in further puzzles involving both words and numbers.

Continuity

• The Doctor is travelling alone, suggesting events in the Darksmith legacy occur after TV: Journey's End as with the majority of media released in 2009. However, as yet none of the books in this arc indicate this precisely; the storyline could just as easily take place during one of the Tenth Doctor's companionless intervals, such as between TV: Voyage of the Damned and Partners in Crime or between The Runaway Bride and Smith and Jones.
• Polymos (the Nestene homeworld) was first mentioned by name in PROSE: Synthespians™.
• The TARDIS Databank states that the Moon is the only other world the humans have travelled to by the year 2010, however; TV: The Ambassadors of Death features man landing on Mars in the 1970s, though PROSE: The Dying Days later implies this was mostly a forgotten chapter in Earth's history of exploration. Also, see UNIT dating controversy.

External links

• The Dust of Ages at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Discontinuity Guide to: The Dust of Ages at The Whoniverse
• the darksmithlegacy.com For further additional adventures and gameplay.