Oaken Throne (Deptford Histories) [Paperback]

Robin Jarvis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2000 | Series: Deptford Histories

The "Oaken Throne" tells of the dark wars between the bats and the squirrels, which have raged for many years. In different corners of the land, Vesper, the young bat, and Ysabelle, the squirrel maiden, are as yet unaware of the events which will sweep them into a nightmarish journey.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up–Vesper, a bat, dreams of following in his fathers glorified path as a Knight of the Moon. Unfortunately, he is too young to participate in the battle against their mortal enemies, the squirrels. When an army of bats massacres the Starwife, a young squirrel maiden, Ysabelle, must travel to the distant land to restore power and become the successor to the Oaken Throne. She and her traveling army of squirrels capture Vesper and decide to take him with them. Their journey throws them into a terrifying world of pure evil, and the bat and the squirrel must overcome their differences and work together to defeat the forces that threaten to destroy their worlds. Readers will have a hard time putting down this dark, gripping tale of love, treachery, and the clashing forces of good versus evil. This second book in the series stands completely on its own. The well-rounded characters enhance the excellent plot, which is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats up to the very last page. Fans of the previous book and of the Deptford Mice trilogy (Chronicle) will not be disappointed. This book will also appeal to fans of Brian Jacques Redwall series (Penguin).–Christine McGinty, Newark Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. War between the bats and the squirrels has been raging for years, and in this atmospheric sequel to The Alchemist's Cat (2004), the first book in the Deptford Histories, war escalates and treachery abounds. The story follows the exploits of the young bat Vesper and the squirrel maiden Ysabelle, who rescues the magical Silver Acorn after the Starwife is murdered in a vicious power play that opens the way for the bats to decimate the squirrels. Ysabelle is joined by Vesper in her nightmarish quest to return the Silver Acorn to the squirrels of Greenwich, and the two come to realize that their lands' only salvation lies in rallying the bats and squirrels to end their war and take on the real foe--the dreaded minions of Lord Hobb, a hideous demon in rat shape. This novel is even darker in tone than the previous book, with full of terrifying and gory scenes, but it is also filled with inspiring heroics, and its sentient characters are true to their animal natures. Sally Estes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Hodder Childrens (September 21, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340788666
• ISBN-13: 978-0340788660
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,891,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Oaken Throne, December 28, 2005

By 

Sis (MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Oaken Throne (The Deptford Histories, Book 2) (Hardcover)

After being seriously disappointed by The Alchemist's Cat, the first book in the Deptford Histories, I was hesitant to pick up The Oaken Throne, the longest of all the Deptford books. But I wasn't disappointed this time, and The Oaken Throne brings back a lot of the charm that many readers enjoyed in previous Deptford books.

Squirrels and bats have always been enemies, and that was the way that it should be. That is, until the Starwife, leader of the squirrels, is struck down by a traitor in her midst. Now the bats are hunting for the powerful Silver Acorn, her magical amulet, and are prepared to kill any squirrels who may get in their way. The amulet is found by a young squirrel princess called Ysabelle, and she is chosen by her own mother as the new Starwife and the one who must travel the claim the throne and vanquish the bats. Along the way she meets the young bat Vespertilio, who has always dreamed of participating in a battle with the squirrels. Vesper is taken as Ysabelle's prisoner, but soon she learns that she must work with them if either are to survive their journey. As they travel, they forge a strong friendship and discover that their true enemies are not each other, but of the little-known Hobbers, worshipers of an evil god. Ysabelle and Vesper must bring their armies together in order to vanquish the lord Hobb.

As usual with Robin Jarvis books, the dialouge and emotion is a little forced, and the character development isn't really shown, it just suddenly happens. Yet the plot of the book is gripping enough for you to keep reading until the end. I thought the end would be moving enough, but Jarvis has done it before in one of his previous Deptford Mice books, though it is done much better here than it was before. Also, he leaves loose ends that need to be solved in the next of the Deptford Histories. I recommend the Oaken Throne, and I think that it's the best out of all the Deptford stories, both the Mice ones and the Histories.

PS- The third and last of the Deptford Histories is called Thomas, and it hasn't been published in the US yet.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Surprised, June 21, 2009

By 

Tracy (Glen Burnie, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Oaken Throne (The Deptford Histories, Book 2) (Hardcover)

I picked up this book on a whim, without having read any of the previous books. It's a typical classic fantasy, with grandiose, stilted sentence structure, lots of thees and thous, and backwards-running sentences. Protagonist gets magical thingamabob and has to return it to its rightful place, joins up with stalwart traveling companions along the way, and so on.

I was surprised, however, by how violent and gory this book really was. Definitely not for smaller kids. Characters go to their deaths screaming, characters get skinned, eaten, ripped apart, blood showers down, decapitated heads show up on more than one occasion. This is perhaps the most violent kid's book I've ever encountered, and I don't typically have a problem with violence. And after all of that, it ends tragically.

The stilted language keeps you at a slight distance from the characters, so you don't really care that much about their fates. But still ... the book was dark, bloody, and ultimately pretty depressing.

5.0 out of 5 stars evil, August 4, 2010

By 

jones - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Oaken Throne (The Deptford Histories, Book 2) (Hardcover)

Technically a childrens book, but If it was just that I wouldn't be reading it. It's evil. That's a compliment, by the way. The Alchemist's Cat was awesome, so is this one,just in a different way.