The Depths of Despair (novel)

The Depths of Despair is the fourth book in The Darksmith Legacy series.

Publisher's summary
The Doctor arrives in an underwater base on the planet Flydon Maxima - known locally as 'Despair' because hope is lost for all life there. The scientific base has for centuries been monitoring the results of planetary warming - the slow melting of the glaciers at the south pole and subsequent rise in sea levels. Curiously their most advanced monitoring equipment was created and donated by Varlos. The Doctor is helped by a little girl called Gisella. Why did Varlos risk coming here? What has caused the ice to crumble so rapidly now? Can the Doctor evade the rampaging Dreadbringers, and sort out the attacking sea monsters? Who is Gisella and will she and the Doctor manage to escape in the TARDIS?

Story Synopsis
The Doctor, unaware that High Minister Drakon of the Darksmith Collective has instructed the Dreadbringer ship Adamantine to retrieve the Eternity Crystal from him at any cost, lands on the frozen wasteland some half a mile above the undersea research base of Flydon Maxima. He narrowly escapes an attack on the TARDIS by the Blaska (a large multitentacled sea creature) and decides to arrive on the base itself. Passing himself off as another Inspector the Doctor is introduced to the crew.The base personel is small consisting only of Captain Strova, Privates Lenk and Rodoff, Hank – in charge of maintenance and the mysterious Gisella. Gisella while appearing as a child of around 12 years old with dark eyes and neat bobbed style dark hair, is actually much older. Never aging she is said to have a unique condition called Adulecentia Perpetus. The Doctor suspects Gisella may be able to help him locate Brother Varlos.

A warning over the communications system draws them all to the Observational Area where they witness an unprecedented assault by the Blaska on the glass shielding. As the glass begins to shatter a huge chunk of glacier narrowly misses the base which suggests the arrival of something very heavy on the surface.

As the Blaska begin to roam the base, the Doctor and Gisella head to the surface to check out the new arrival while the others seek safety in the protection of the Green Area (a secure section housing the nuclear power for the base). On the surface the Doctor and Gisella witness the embarkation of the Dreadbringers from their impressive spacecraft. With the Dreadbringers in close pursuit of the Doctor (or as Gisella belives - herself) they return to the Base.

Trapped on one side by the Blaska and on the other the Dreadbringers the crew seek a safe place to hide. In the Gallery Area the Doctor comes across a selection of ‘rocks’ collected from a cave on a recent repair mission outside of the base. The rocks were intended to be sold as souvenirs on Flydon Minima to support further research but, with the Blaska so close they begin to hatch. The collected rocks were actually Blaska eggs!

While the crew seal themselves in the safety of the living area, the Doctor and Gisella make for the TARDIS where Gisella’s retina scan enables the Doctor to hack into the base systems and remotely control the airlocks flooding the base. The Dreadbringers would leave once the Doctor left, and the Blaska young would be flushed out along with the parents all unharmed.

With everyone safe Gisella accepts the Doctor’s invitation to travel with him in search of Varlos. Gisella tells the Doctor that Varlos was her father and fleeing the Darksmiths hid her on Flydon Maxima and the Eternity Crystal on the moon until he could find a way of destroying it. In the meantime he went to Earth, Paris, Montmartre, long ago back in 1895...

Characters

 * The Doctor
 * Brother Krazon
 * High Minister Drakon
 * Captain Strova
 * Private Lenk
 * Private Rodoff
 * Hank
 * Gisella

Continuity
Gratuitous references include the Doctors remark about the TARDIS being able to withstand the might of the Pyroviles – not a great example as they never tried!

Timeline

 * This story takes place after TDL: The Colour of Darkness
 * This story takes place before TDL: The Vampire of Paris

The Books

 * Interspersed with the main fiction is;
 * TARDIS Data Bank (extra information on 'The Oceans of Flydon Maxima' and 'Darksmith Collective' and Brother Varlos)
 * Activity pages x4 (The puzzle solutions give the reader the chance to think like the Doctor!)
 * The Story so far, next installment cover preview and opening preview.


 * 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 was priced £4.99 (UK) and featured a foiled cover with illustration by Peter McKinstry

Interactive Website Content
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.