Product Description

The first story in the breathtakingly original and utterly captivating Deptford Mice trilogy.

In the sewers of Deptford there lurks a dark presence which fills the tunnels with fear: Jupiter, an evil being who aims to take over the world. Worshipped by the fearsome rats, Jupiter’s dreams could well come true.

Can the mice ever survive against such evil? Or have they lost the comfortable world they once knew for ever ...

This stunning trilogy commences with The Dark Portal, in which Albert Mouse squeezes through the Grill and disappears. Realising that he has been captured by the rats of the sewers, Albert’s children, Audrey and Arthur, embark on a treacherous journey to find him.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64632 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review

'Jarvis is a great writer, in command of his intricate plotting.'

(Scottish Sunday Herald )

'Jarvis is a real story teller ...'

(Carousel )

'Robin Jarvis knows how to win readers over and hold them in a tight grip.'

(Young Post )

About the Author
Robin Jarvis studied graphic design in Newcastle and then worked in television and advertising making model monsters and puppets. He has been a full-time writer and illustrator for some time, and has a large following among children and adults. Robin`s books are consistent best-sellers and he has won several awards for his work. The Dark Portal was runner-up for the Smarties Prize in 1989.

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Customer Reviews

Amazing.
Many people are drawn to the fact that all of the characters in this trilogy are mice, bats or squirrels, and many are put off. Don't be. Suspend your belief and within the first page it's as normal as anything.

The mice in question are a small community who live in a house in Deptford. Arthur and Audrey have just come of age and are preparing for the ceremony in which they will be given their Mousebrass - a glass pendant bearing a symbol that will lay out their life, deciding their profession. Their celebrations are tinged with sadness - their father has gone missing. It is feared he travelled through The Grating at the end of the hall, a place where no mouse goes, for it is the lair of the rats.

The children know, deep down, the giving off the brass is only tradition. The Green Mouse doesn't really appear - it's a local in a leafy costume. And the brasses are made my the guy down the hall. However, Audrey emerges with a brass bearing the symbol of the cat. No one understands. No one's even seen the brass before. What is Audrey's fate?

Audrey's life is going to take a turn.

The first book takes Arthur and Audrey, visitor Piccadilly, who was the last to see their father alive, Twit the fieldmouse and Oswald, the sickly albino, through the sewers of Deptford, trying to find out what happened to Arthur Brown and just what is behind the rat's rebellion and resurfacing.

The beauty of these books is the way in which all six - three books, and then three prequels - tie in with one another. You'll read the three books and then the prequels explain minor details in the past. The mysterious Jupiter is fully explained in 'The Alchemist's Cat' (extremely terrifying!), the realm of the Starwife is explored in 'The Oaken Throne' (the only book ever to make me cry. Twice.) whereas Thomas Trition, an old seafarer who is of great help to Audrey and Arthur, has his mysterious past fully expanded upon in 'Thomas'. From the history of the bats and the squirrels, who play large parts in Audrey's tale, to the old ways and religions, long dead, long forbidden, the world of the mice is a huge one, expanded in simple detail. You won't get lost or confused. This is a world you'll stroll through, carefully instructed. There are new Gods, new religions, new fascinating histories for each race, there are cultures, there are new ways of life to explore.

Audrey is a fascinating girl. She is often very reluctant. She never wanted the brass in the first place. She doesn't want to fight the Rats, can't stand the cheeky Piccadilly, hates the burdens placed upon her. And yet she accepts her fate with a calm reluctance. She doesn't stamp and whine and throw tantrums. Her reluctance is subtle, something only the reader may notice between the lines. She is realistic. She wants the evil and the threats defeated... but does she have to be the one to do it? Yes. So she will. A wonderful and strong character, determined to fight, but with a softer, scared side we can all identify with.

Just try the first book ^_^ You'll be hooked.

Wow!
I read these books first time years and years ago. I was coaxed into it by my mother and really enjoyed them.

They are pretty dark, alot of witchcraft and more death than i had been used to in my jackeline wilsons.

My favourite thing about all Jarvis books is that he does an illustration each chapter. There are not enough illustrations in books now and it's a shame. These are all wonderfully drawn and help you picture things that can other wise be quite hard to conjour in you mind. eg Mouse brasses.

I also love that Jarvis writes in trilogies and this series just keeps getting better and better. In this trilogy each of the books has a really different setting so the story seems to last alot longer. The third book in this trilogy (The Final Reconing) was one of the first books that made me cry, the second i think actually. I found it very very moving!

These books aren't particularly hard reads, you possibly won't steam through them like you did the da vinci code but you won't find it a struggle in the slightest.

A word of warning, read this book and you'll be a Jarvis addict like me!

This book is the best I have read so far.
I think this is a great book.I think all of robin jarvis's books are brilliant but this book was astounding.This book has you gripped from the start to the finish.When I first started reading it I thought it was a bit boring,but I perservered with the book and it got better.I couldn't put the book down!
If you like adventure books like The Dark Portal then you should start reading other books from Robin Jarvis.They are great!