The Dark Portal: Book One of The Deptford Mice

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

In the dark, foreboding sewers of Deptford, a mysterious entity known as Jupiter, Lord of All, reigns supreme, worshipped by a horde of rats who cower in its presence. Into this world of fear and darkness wanders a small, frightened mouse named Albert, unwittingly triggering a chain of events that will hurl his fellow mice a world of terror and heroic adventure.As the rats seek to summon the demon hordes and bring about the end of the world, the Deptford Mice must confront treacherous enemies and ancient magic in a battle to save London and the world from eternal darkness.

Reviews

'Spooky and enthralling animal fantasy just right for Redwall fans... [Jarvis] provides counterpoint to the heart-racing adventure with scenes of haunting beauty... [and] conveys a sense of place powerful enough to elevate the South London boroughs of Greenwich and Blackheath to requisite stops on any bookish child's literary tour of the British capital' - Publishers Weekly, starred review

'Entertaining and genuinely frightening' - Kliatt

'A grand-scale epic... Filled with high drama, suspense, and some genuine terror' - Lloyd Alexander, author of The Chronicles of Prydain

'Robin Jarvis joins the ranks of Kenneth Grahame, Richard Adams, and Walter Wangerin in the creation of wonderfully anthropomorphic animals' - Madeleine L'Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time

'A tale of horror and valor, good and evil, leavened with humor' - Booklist

Author Bio

Robin Jarvis is a British children's author who has entertained (and pleasantly terrified) generations of children with his brilliantly imagined dark fantasy stories, including the Deptford Mice and Whitby Witches series. He studied graphic design in Newcastle and then worked in television and advertising making model monsters and puppets before writing The Dark Portal, the first book on the Deptford Mice series, which was the runner up for the Smarties book prize in 1989.