The Dust of Ages

Doctor Who: The Darksmith Legacy #1

by Justin Richards

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?

This amazing ten-book series follows the Doctor on his exciting journey to dicover the origins of the so-called Eternity Crystal and the powerful artisans who have created it — The Darksmiths.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Childrens, Fiction, Fantasy

118 pages, Paperback

First published January 29, 2009

About the author

Justin Richards is a British writer. He has written many spin off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and he is Creative Director for the BBC Books range. He has also written for television, contributing to Five's soap opera Family Affairs. He is also the author of a series of crime novels for children about the Invisible Detective, and novels for older children. His Doctor Who novel The Burning was placed sixth in the Top 10 of SFX magazine's "Best SF/Fantasy novelisation or TV tie-in novel" category of 2000.

Reviews

[Ezekiel Thorp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fondly remembered Tenth Doctor adventure from my younger days! This was the first book in the Darksmith Legacy series, which in some ways preempted the 2020 event Time Lord Victorious. Of course, it's written largely with a young audience in mind, so please don't go in expecting anything too engrossing.

But it's written with a nice sense of atmosphere, tying into the future history of Doctor Who as established in various 1960s stories, even if some of the characterisation is a bit off (I hardly think a Moonbase commander would react to a very simple science fact with "cool!").

There are some puzzles dotted throughout the book to keep the very young entertained, and they actually tie in with the plot, which is a nice novelty.

Overall, it's no classic of the Doctor Who brand, make no mistake, but it's a pleasant enough 100 and something pages and worth a read for young fans.

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big fan of the puzzles

[Tracy Smyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read

[Lucinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obviously, at 50, I am not the target audience, but I think youngsters would enjoy the book as it is almost like watching an episode of Doctor Who.

[Luke Nyul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly bog-standard who adventure. Written for younger audiences and intended to be an opening section of a ten part series. I'm excited to start reading the next one in the series!

[Kylie Abecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I’m unable to watch the TV series due to photosensitivity, I am really stoked to be able to read about dr who instead. I really enjoyed this book and felt I got a good taste of what the show would be like. I did like the added features of the quizzes throughout. It certainly made it interesting.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the world's best Doctor Who novel. I was really disappointed, Justin Richards usually delivers a much better story. Part of it has to be that it's aimed at a younger audience than even the normal BBC Novels, but still... Also the puzzles? brain-teasers? were very hard to see in the ebook version I was reading.

Hopefully the rest of the series gets better.

[Ivana Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the start of a 10 book set, and quite brilliant it is, too. While obviously being written for a younger audience ( hence the puzzles that crop up from time to time,. and the now expired web-page link), it has enough references to the classic Dr Who series to keep older readers amused. I particularly liked the chapter titles which were often taken from William Hartnell episodes. The actual plot is action packed, and borrows much from a Big Finish audio story. Definitely recommended to all Dr Who fans.

[Prakhar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating I actually wanted to give: 2.5/5

My first Doctor Who book. Felt just like reading a Moon-base bottle episode. Not a fan of bottle episodes really (Unless Community does it), but probably the only Doctor Who story I'm getting this year.

Long time Whovians may find it a little to their liking, but for connoisseurs of Sci-Fi or even Doctor Who, I'd say, give it a pass.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

月に引き寄せられたドクターは、そこで調査採掘している研究員たちと出会う。彼らは掘り進んだ地底に何らかにエネルギーを探知。それがなんであるかを突き止めるため、調査員ととも地下に降りていくドクター。そこで埃に襲われる。そ埃を操るのはクリスタルと気づいたドクターは攻撃封じ、クリスタルを回収。しかし、このクリスタルを作ったブラックスミスがクリスタルを取り戻そうと躍起になっていた。顧客からの注文で作った武器で、納品する必要があるからだ。クリスタルを回収したドクターに恐ろしい追っ手がせまる。


思いのほか面白く読み応えがあった。10thドクターはやっぱり魅力的。どうやら敵の手に落ちてしまったドクター。どう切り抜けるのか楽しみだ。

[Vanessa Hoyles · Rating 3 out of 5]

For my first ever doctor who book it was kind of enjoyable, short but sweet. Didn't go into an awful lot of detail but it was a nice easy quick read, easy to follow. Still trying to make up my mind if to read the rest in the series

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

super easy to read and gave me the good vibes of the tenth doctor zipping around on his own that I enjoy about companionless episodes.

[Helen (they or he) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short but surprisingly not that disappointing. Clearly aimed for children.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot of this book is very similar to the tv episodes. Fast-moving and not too long. It is important to know that this is the first book of a series of ten, so there are more questions than answers. You can think of the ten books like a tv season where each book is one episode: each book has it’s own small plot, but you need to read all the books in the series to get all the answers to the mystery of the Darksmiths and the crystal.

There is not much character development or description and if you haven’t watched the tv series or don’t know anything about The Doctor it might be difficult to understand who he is. We don’t get much information about the other characters either, so it’s not easy to imagine them.

But if you know who the Tenth Doctor is, you’ll like it, because he is very “in character”; you can imagine him behaving as he does here.

Children will enjoy reading this book, as it also has some activities like logic puzzles (for example finding the correct key to open a door). Although they are rather easy to solve I found it nice to see if I got them right.

This is a great book if you don’t have much time or just want a quick read. It is fast-moving and it can be read in a little more than one hour.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest this is considered for younger readers than myself and I have the boxed set so ploughing through that as such I might not review the episodic bits(though I might).
First off I am a Dr Who fan from the Tom Baker days and as we reach the final days of Tennants tenure this seemed a appropriate time to read it.
These are very much alike my younger Dr Who reads the 'Target' books which were aimed at a teen audience the main difference was were those were novelisations of TV episodes wheras this is part 1 of of a stand alone interconnecting adventure involving the Darksmiths and the eternity Crystal.
There is less depth in honing the characters than the whole 'Target' ones but ultimately the adventure is a good read that would work fine within the new CGI bound Dr Who adventures.
They are quick reads with 'tasks' for younger readers ,very readable however and whilst having a bath I got half way through book 2!!
Worth a look for Who fans and I will pass 'em on to the kids soon

[Mikael Kuoppala · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty okay beginning for this 10 book series about the 10th Doctor. Meant for young readers the book contains some silly little "puzzles" but when you ignore those the story is actually quite mature and the writing rather sophisticated. I didn't feel like I was reading a young adult novel at all. The story's a bit too short and straightforward with the plot, but what content it has works out well.

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my full review please visit: http://shadowsireview.blogspot.com/20...

I really enjoyed this, the first book of The Darksmith Legacy series. I adored the puzzles that were integrated into the story. This book was just awesome and I loved it.

I may be being biased as David Tennant is my favourite Doctor though.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suitable for 8 - 11 year olds.
A fast moving story set on the moon which has monsters. A nice touch is a couple of puzzles that the Doctor has to work out, and that the reader can work out too. They tend to be logic or maths puzzles but I'm sure kids would love it.
The accompanying website has a few fun quizzes about the book, and you get rewarded with wallpapers.

[Michael Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although intended for younger readers, I enjoyed this more than most of the regular range of Doctor Who novels. The moonbase setting is well described, claustrophobic and suitably atmospheric, and the dust creatures are very well described and provide a potent menace. In the words of Peter Cushing reading 'The Eagle': "Most exciting!"

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great short story, starts off the series well.

A very quick and easy read with David Tennant's doctor landing on the moon to find that dust has come to life and is killing the astronauts in the base. The puzzle pages are good fun, and the fact files from the 'TARDIS Datacore' make interesting reading and good additional knowledge for DW fans.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have enjoyed this more as a child and having not read it when I first got the series as a child I thought I should read it now. A simple and quick read that passed the time, will probably read the rest of the series too as they continue on from one another

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this when I was 10 and it terrified me so much it took my 2 years to read such a small book and now at 18 I still haven't got past the 2nd book in the series :p But it serves it's aim well, the underlying creepiness of Doctor Who is brought to life.

[Ariel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first 10th Doctor book. Clearly, it was written for children. Still though, it's not bad. I auctually liked it. It was easy to read, simple, and the writer got the Doctor down pretty much to a science. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

[Scott Barwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great debut story for the series, straight forward plot but lots of horror elements excecuted well. When reading these books it's like watching the series as the 10th Doctor is written well and is close to his tv portrayal.

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1313060...

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Who and puzzles - a nice combination!

[Inah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suspenseful but totally enjoyable even though the Doctor didn't have any companion throughout the book.

[Alysa · Rating 1 out of 5]

My son sked me to read this to make sure it wasn't too scary for him. It was.

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just frivolous fun


Now I am reading with my son --- so much fun

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good start to the darksmith legacy but it does take to long to develop and this is one of the reasons way I have given this book three stars but it was also because the charactes in this book their was not enough detail about so I couldn't picture them in my head like books are ment to do.