The Oaken Throne (Deptford Histories) [Import] [Paperback]

Robin Jarvis (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Hodder Children's Books; paperback / softback edition (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340950498
• ISBN-13: 978-0340950494
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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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.