Night of the Yssgaroth was the first full-length novel in the SIGNET series, written by range editor James Hornby. The physical release of the novel also included three short stories — comprising Hervoken Halloween, previously released in Horrors of Arcbeatle and as an online extra, as well Xana's First Day and Coda.
As the name implied, the novel prominently featured the Yssgaroth, the eldritch gestalt progenitor of vampirism introduced in Neil Penswick's Virgin New Adventure The Pit [+]Neil Penswick, adapted from Hostage, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1993).. The book also contained minor licensed appearances or mentions of Sixth Doctor companion Grant Markham, LONGBOW and the Canisians. Hornby's own creations Sir Henry Farthing and The Nocturne also carried over from the P.R.O.B.E. series.
Publisher's summary[]
Xana is a fugitive on the run. Desperation takes her to Earth, the galaxy's fabled sanctuary. But when a primordial entity begins to emerge, nowhere is safe. She crosses paths with SIGNET, a freelance organisation offering refuge to aliens and humans under threat. To survive she must place her trust in SIGNET, but for Xana trust has never come easy. Can she learn to overcome the trauma of her past, or will the Yssgaroth take them all?
Summary[]
to be written
Plot[]
to be written
Characters[]
- Fletcher Adams
- Claire
- The Croglin Revenant
- The Galk
- Augustus Grange
- Sir Henry Farthing
- Unnamed Ferrux
- Aoife Fitzgerald
- Jae-Sun
- Unnamed Kravish
- Olivia
- Xanara Pasam
- Perdix
- "The shadow"
- Inspector Ash Tariq
- Unnamed Tempin
- Ussanas
- Unnamed Valsheeth
- Winlok
- The Yssgaroth gestalt
- Charles Zoltan
Mentioned only[]
- Queen Alarna
- Anubis
- Winston Churchill
- Harvey Fitzgerald
- Norah Fitzgerald
- Kopyion Liall a Mahajetsu
- Grant Markham
- Urizen/The Architect
- Charles Zoltan's mother
Worldbuilding[]
- Charles Zoltan meets with Sir Henry Farthing in Nelson House, an "unassuming building on the periphery of Whitehall Road" which is apparently, in fact, "the secret heart of the British Government".
- Xana is native to the planet Altus, but while undercover she claims to have "spent most of [her] life doing gruntwork on Kinros".
- Norah was adopted. Charles was too, and his mother was an alien who passed on a manifold "gift" onto him, including an augmented lifespan.
- Xana wonders why Earth hasn't adopted Galactic Standard Time as a measure of years.
- Olivia's real name is Ooualo.
- Before she left Gendar around a year ago, Ussanas, one of Olivia's mothers, gave her a selection of history books on her people's history and mythology. The first is From Urizen to Oblivion. Its "first few lines" are about "often contradictory nature of the Gods' history". Another book in the collection is Temporal Wars and Universal Inconsistencies.
- The species seen at The Nocturne include "a Ferrux, a canine with long, voluptuous fur", "a Kravish, a four-legged creature encased in a honey-coloured carapace" native to Kravan, Gendar, Martians, a "dripping Diashna", Winlok the gnome, a Valsheeth, and a Tempin.
- In conversation, the aliens cite "when the Sheath Shades took Quittle" as an example of a planetary invasion which had involved no visible attack fleet.
- The Nocturne is a pocket dimension "just next to Earth", accessed through the Ryugu Network.
- One of the opportunistic aliens at the Nocturne claims that the Brath will pay more for Xana dead than GalPol would for her alive, and threatens to blast another bounty-hunter "all the way to Karthon".
- Xana accidentally caused the death of Queen Alarna, a galactic celebrity, and as a result, the uprising on Kavarn.
- "Thirteenth time's a charm!" is a proverb on Gendar.
- In Gendar legends, the Yssgaroth is "the First Evil", a name which Augustus Grange, "the original Croglin Vampire", later claims for himself.
- A manifestation of the true Yssgaroth is seen shifting in form, including a many-eyed serpentine one and "a Galdabook", being a monster from bedtime stories of the Halshai.
- SIGNET's next case announces itself via reports that the coast guard have spotted "what looks like a time rift in Robin Hood's Bay".
Notes[]
- David A. McIntee was credited in the foreword with creating Jae-Sun, and James Wylder with creating Olivia. The last name of her human person was given as Rochester, a detail which does not appear anywhere in the text of the book.
Continuity[]
- The Yssgaroth debuted in PROSE: The Pit [+]Neil Penswick, adapted from Hostage, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1993). and their role in the cosmos was explored at greater length in PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).. Elements of the history of the Eternal War given in those two books are ferenced: Kopyion Liall a Mahajetsu and the Althosian system from The Pit, and "Urizen" or "the Architect" from The Book of the War.
- Sir Henry Farthing of the Ministry of Defence Budget Committee previously frustrated PROBE in PROSE: Preternatural Days [+]James Hornby, Out of the Shadows (P.R.O.B.E., Arcbeatle Press, 2021). and PROSE: Preternatural Nights [+]James Hornby, Out of the Shadows (P.R.O.B.E., Arcbeatle Press, 2021)..
- PROSE: Hervoken Halloween, released before this novel but taking place after it, had cryptically referenced SIGNET's recent encounter with the Yssgaroth.
- The Fractured are a "coven" of "survivors of a great war"; Charles claims that he does not know their original name. The "lead spectre" turning out to be Perdix identifies them as his cabal of survivors of Faction Paradox after the War in Heaven, as introduced in HOMEVID: Daylight Savings [+]James Hornby, P.R.O.B.E. (BBV Productions, 2021).. The phrase "a great war" was used by the Daleks to refer to the Time War in TV: Daleks in Manhattan [+]Helen Raynor, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007)..
- The Nocturne was previously seen in PROSE: What Lurks in the Shadows [+]James Hornby, Out of the Shadows (P.R.O.B.E., Arcbeatle Press, 2021)..
- The Diashna debuted in PROSE: A Worthy Successor [+]James Hornby and James Wylder, Cyberon (Arcbeatle Press, 2020)..
- Some speculate that The Nocturne is run by "the folks on Gulliver's Rest", referencing Dionus and his clinic, seen in PROSE: Crushing Reality [+]James Hornby, Cwej: The Series (Arcbeatle Press, 2020). as well as the Dionus's War audios.
- The Valsheeth were previously mentioned in WC: Manchester [+]James Hornby, P.R.O.B.E. (BBV Productions, YouTube, 2021)..
- "Never give up, never give in" is cited as a Gendar mantra, probably passed down from "one of the Gods". It was shown to be part of the Doctor's promise in TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary Specials (BBC One, 2013)..
- The Gendar language is described as "melodic". Gendar sounding like singing was previously established in PROSE: She Came From Another World! [+]James Wylder, P.R.O.B.E. short stories (Arcbeatle Press, 2020)..
External links[]
- Official Night of the Yssgaroth page at Arcbeatle Press
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