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Robin Jarvis (born 8 May 1963) is a British young adult fiction (YA) and children's novelist, who writes dark fantasy, suspense and supernatural thrillers. His books for young adults have featured the inhabitants of a coastal town battling a monumental malevolence with the help of its last supernatural guardian (The Witching Legacy), a diminutive race of Werglers (shape shifters) pitched against the evil might of the faerie hordes (The Hagwood Trilogy), a sinister "world-switching" dystopian future, triggered by a sinister and hypnotic book (Dancing Jax), Norse Fates, Glastonbury crow-demons and a time travelling, wise-cracking teddy bear. (The Wyrd Museum series), dark powers, a forgotten race and ancient evils on the North Yorkshire coast (The Whitby Witches trilogy), epic medieval adventure (The Oaken Throne) and science-fiction dramatising the "nefarious intrigue" [1] within an alternate Tudor realm, [2] peopled by personalities of the time, automata servants and animals known as Mechanicals and ruled by Queen Elizabeth I. (Deathscent).
Jarvis' books for younger readers have featured anthropomorphic rodents and small mammals – especially mice - as featured in the Deptford Mice series. A number of his works are based in London, in and around Deptford and Greenwich where he used to live, Felixstowe, or in Whitby, the setting for The Whitby Witches trilogy and his latest series: The Witching Legacy.
His first novel – The Dark Portal , featuring the popular Deptford Mice – was the runner up for the Smarties book prize in 1989. [3]
His work has been described as "genre Busting" [4] and "original, spooky, unusual, psychological supernatural horror fantasy with a very modern twist". [5] Jarvis has said that he is not a writer of horror fiction, [6] however his work has also been compared to that of "…Stephen King, but for Young Adults." [7]
The Deptford Mice was adapted and dramatised by Tiny Dog Productions, and staged in January 2010 and April 2011. [8]
Jarvis was born in Liverpool, the youngest of four children, and grew up in Warrington, attending Penketh High School. [9] His favourite subjects at school were Art and English and he went on to study Graphic Design at Newcastle Polytechnic (now Northumbria University). After college, he moved to London and worked in the television and advertising industries as a model-maker. He lives in Greenwich in southeast London. [10]
The Witching Legacy is a four title series published by Egmont Books, in which Jarvis returns to the North Yorkshire town of Whitby. Jarvis said in a 2015 press release. "Now the time is right to climb those 199 steps once more and discover what’s been happening. Gasp – very grave and Dark things…" [11] He further said of the town "The place won't leave me alone, it compels stories out of me. It's such a perfect blend of every location you could want, with a fabulously rich history that stretches back over a thousand years." [12]
The Power of Dark follows the story of two friends who get caught up in a supernatural vendetta from the past. "Something is brewing in the town of Whitby. To best friends Lil and Verne, it just seems like a particularly bad storm, but Cherry Cerise, the last of the Whitby witches, fears that ancient forces are at work, reviving the curse of a long lost magical artifact." [13]
The Devil's Paintbox continues the adventures of Lil when "More than ever she needs the support of best friend Verne and the witch Cherry Cerise, but they are preoccupied by their attempts to uncover more secrets of the golden Nimius. When Lil finds an antique box of watercolour paints she welcomes the diversion, little realising that every time she uses it something nasty escapes. But it is while they are distracted an old enemy finds a path to their door . . ." [14]
Time of Blood In this third title, the sinister Mister Dark is more powerful than ever and has enslaved young Verne to his will. Can Lil save her best friend before their enemy unleashes his most audacious and insane plan yet? Even with the help of new, surprising allies - a witch, a mysterious man of many disguises and the secretive aufwaders beneath the cliff - all seems hopeless. Whitby has never been a more frightening and dangerous place to live, and the murdered dead refuse to rest in peace. [15]
Originally published by Puffin Books, Thorn Ogres of Hagwood has been published online by Open Road Integrated Media. The sequel Dark Waters of Hagwood was published in June 2013, and the series finale; War in Hagwood in July 2016.
After the original publication of the first instalment, the long-awaited second and third books were finally published over ten years later.
The series follows the heroic battle for survival of a peace-loving race of Werlings who have the power to Wergle or shape shift. Living an untroubled existence, they unwittingly become embroiled in an epic struggle against the mighty powers of dark faerie magic and the least likely champion must find the hero within.
The first title in the series has been described as "Fun for Hobbit-addicts and Potter-philes of all ages." [17]
The Dancing Jax trilogy is a dark fantasy series for Young Adults, published in the United Kingdom by HarperCollins. Jarvis has said the series was inspired by a dream. "...it gave me everything I needed, the title of the book, the characters and their names and other key 'ingredients'". [18]
The series relates the hypnotic and destructive power held over its readers by a devilish book, originally written in the 1930s by an evil magician. The book acts as a gateway to Mooncaster, "a fairytale world, full of Jacks, Queens and Kings, unicorns and wolves", [19] but further described as "No fairytale", [20] and by the author himself as "Not for the faint-hearted". [21]
The book explores themes of Many-worlds interpretation, Popular culture, Dystopia and Fear conditioning.
The first, [22] second, [23] and third [24] volumes of the trilogy have been published in Germany by Script5.
The Deptford Mice Almanack (1997)
The Deptford Mouselets are a series of stand-alone prequel novels for younger children, featuring characters from The Deptford Mice and The Deptford Histories series.
Shannara is a series of high fantasy novels written by Terry Brooks, beginning with The Sword of Shannara in 1977 and concluding with The Last Druid which was released in October 2020; there is also a prequel, First King of Shannara. The series blends magic and primitive technology and is set in the Four Lands, which are identified as Earth long after civilization was destroyed in a chemical and nuclear holocaust called the Great Wars. By the time of the prequel First King of Shannara, the world had reverted to a pre-industrial state and magic had re-emerged to supplement science.
The Alchymist's Cat is a dark fantasy novel for children by British author Robin Jarvis. It is the first book in The Deptford Histories trilogy, a series of prequels to Jarvis's Deptford Mice books. Set in 17th century London, it serves as a backstory for the original trilogy's main antagonist, Jupiter. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1991 by Macdonald Young Books. In 2004, it was published in the United States by Chronicle Books as The Alchemist's Cat.
Lives of the Mayfair Witches is a trilogy of supernatural horror/fantasy novels by American novelist Anne Rice. It centers on a family of witches whose fortunes have been guided for generations by a spirit named Lasher. The series began in 1990 with The Witching Hour, which was followed by the sequels Lasher (1993) and Taltos (1994). All three novels debuted at No. 2 on The New York Times Best Seller list.
The Oaken Throne is a dark fantasy novel for children by British author Robin Jarvis. It is the second book in The Deptford Histories trilogy, a series of prequels to Jarvis's Deptford Mice books. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1993 by Macdonald Young Books. In 2005, it was published in the United States by Chronicle Books.
Thomas is a dark fantasy adventure novel for children by British author Robin Jarvis. It is the third book in The Deptford Histories trilogy, a series of prequels to Jarvis's Deptford Mice books, and serves as a backstory for the eponymous mouse mariner Thomas Triton. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1995 by Macdonald Young Books. In 2006, it was published in the United States by Chronicle Books.
Fleabee's Fortune is a dark fantasy novel for children by British author Robin Jarvis. It is the first book in The Deptford Mouselets series, prequels to Jarvis's Deptford Mice trilogy aimed at a slightly younger audience. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 2004. The story is set in the sewers of Deptford and focuses on a rat girl named Fleabee who is unusually kindhearted.
The Dark Portal is a dark fantasy novel for children by British author Robin Jarvis. The first book in The Deptford Mice trilogy and Jarvis's debut novel, it follows the story of Audrey Brown, a mouse girl who is looking for her missing father. Her search takes her into the sewers of Deptford where, with the help of her friends and family, she must face an army of evil rats and their living god, a mysterious being known as Jupiter.
The Crystal Prison is a dark fantasy novel for children by British author Robin Jarvis. It is the second book in The Deptford Mice trilogy, first published in the United Kingdom in 1989 by Macdonald & Company, London. In 2001, it was published by SeaStar Books in the United States. The book continues the story of the young house mouse Audrey after she and her friends have defeated the evil cat Jupiter, lord of the sewer rats.
The Final Reckoning is a dark fantasy novel for children by British author Robin Jarvis. It is the third book in The Deptford Mice trilogy, first published in the United Kingdom in 1990 by Macdonald & Company, London. In 2002, it was published by SeaStar Books in the United States. The book continues the story of the young house mouse Audrey and her friends as they attempt to banish the spirit of the evil cat Jupiter once and for all.
The Deptford Mice Almanack is a companion book to The Deptford Mice and Deptford Histories trilogies by Robin Jarvis, presented in an in-universe style. It was first published in 1997 by Macdonald Young Books in the United Kingdom.
Whortle's Hope is a dark fantasy novel for children by British author Robin Jarvis. It is the second book in The Deptford Mouselets series, prequels to Jarvis's Deptford Mice trilogy aimed at a slightly younger audience. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 2007. The story focuses on Whortle Nep, a fieldmouse who was a minor character in The Crystal Prison, and is set a year prior to that book's events.
Ilsa J. Bick is an American author of short stories, e-books and novels. She has written for several long-running science fiction series, most notably Star Trek, Battletech, and Mechwarrior: Dark Age. She's taken both Grand and Second Prize in the Strange New Worlds anthology series, while her story, "The Quality of Wetness," took Second Prize in the prestigious Writers of the Future contest in 2000. Her first Star Trek novel, Well of Souls, was a 2003 Barnes & Noble bestseller.
Thorn Ogres of Hagwood is the first book in the Hagwood trilogy by Robin Jarvis. It was originally published in 1999 by Penguin House, then re-published on 11 December 2012 by Open Road Media Teen & Tween, where the rest of the series was subsequently published. The sequel, Dark Waters of Hagwood, was released on 4 June 2013, and the final book of the trilogy, War in Hagwood, was released on 26 July 2016.
The Deptford Mice is a trilogy of children's dark fantasy novels by British author Robin Jarvis. The first book, The Dark Portal, was published in 1989 by Macdonald & Company in London, followed that same year by The Crystal Prison and then The Final Reckoning in 1990. The trilogy tells the story of a young mouse girl named Audrey Brown and her friends as they fight Jupiter, the evil living god of the sewer rats in the London borough of Deptford.
A Warlock in Whitby is the second book in The Whitby Witches series by Robin Jarvis. It was originally published in 1995. The trilogy is said to draw "deeply on local history, myth and legend. The books are deeply creepy and utterly compelling."
The Witching Hour is an American comic book horror anthology published by DC Comics from 1969 to 1978.
Victoria Elizabeth Schwab is an American writer. She is known for the 2013 novel Vicious, the Shades of Magic series, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, which was nominated for the 2020 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. She publishes children's and young adult fiction books under the name Victoria Schwab. She is the creator of the supernatural teen drama series First Kill, based on her short story of the same name originally published in the 2020 anthology Vampires Never Get Old: Tales With Fresh Bite.
The Power of Dark is the first in a series by children's author Robin Jarvis known as The Witching Legacy. The series returns to the coastal town of Whitby, the setting of Jarvis' supernatural children's fantasy trilogy, The Whitby Witches. The series will consist of four novels. The Power of Dark was first published in June 2016. The second novel, The Devil's Paintbox, was published in March 2017. A third volume, Time of Blood, is expected to be published later in 2017.