Robin Jarvis (born 8 May 1963) is a British

Young-Adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

(YA) and children's novelist, who writes

dark fantasy Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and dr ...

, 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 Fairyland (''Faerie'', Scottish ''Elfame'', c.f. Old Norse '' Álfheimr'') in English and Scottish folklore is the fabulous land or abode of fairies or ''fays''. Old French (Early Modern English ) referred to an illusion or enchantment, the land ...

hordes (The Hagwood Trilogy), a sinister "world-switching"

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

future, triggered by a sinister and hypnotic book (Dancing Jax), Norse

Fates The Fates are a common motif in European polytheism, most frequently represented as a trio of goddesses. The Fates shape the destiny of each human, often expressed in textile metaphors such as spinning fibers into yarn, or weaving threads on ...

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. 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 North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

coast (The Whitby Witches trilogy), epic

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

adventure (The Oaken Throne) and

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...

dramatising the "nefarious intrigue" within an alternate Tudor realm, peopled by personalities of the time,

automata An automaton (; plural: automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions.Automaton – Definition and More ...

servants and animals known as Mechanicals and ruled by

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

. (Deathscent). Jarvis' books for younger readers have featured

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

rodents and small mammals – especially mice - as featured in the Deptford Mice series. A number of his works are based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, in and around

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

and

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

where he used to live,

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northeast of London. His ...

, or in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

, the setting for The Whitby Witches trilogy and his latest series: The Witching Legacy. His first novel – ''

The Dark Portal ''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 fa ...

'', featuring the popular Deptford Mice – was the runner up for the Smarties book prize in 1989. His work has been described as "genre Busting" and "original, spooky, unusual, psychological supernatural horror fantasy with a very modern twist". Jarvis has said that he is not a writer of

horror fiction Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J ...

, however his work has also been compared to that of "…

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

, but for Young Adults." The Deptford Mice was adapted and dramatised by Tiny Dog Productions, and staged in January 2010 and April 2011.

Biography

Jarvis was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, the youngest of four children, and grew up in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, attending

Penketh High School Penketh High School is a secondary school in Penketh, Warrington. It is a Mixed-sex education, co-educational, non-denominational Academy (English school), academy school for 11 to 18 year olds. It converted from Comprehensive school (England ...

. His favourite subjects at school were

Art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and he went on to study

Graphic Design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

Newcastle Polytechnic , mottoeng = A lifetime of learning , established = 1877 - Rutherford College of Technology1969 - Newcastle Polytechnic1992 - gained university status , type = Public , budget = � ...

(now Northumbria University). After college, he moved to London and worked in the television and advertising industries as a model-maker. He lives in

in southeast London.

Bibliography

The Witching Legacy

:''

The Power of Dark ''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 ...

'' (June 2016) :''The Devil's Paintbox'' (March 2017) :''Time of Blood'' (July 2017) :''Legacy of Witches'' The Witching Legacy is a four title series published by Egmont Books, in which Jarvis returns to the

town of

. 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…" 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." ''

'' 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." ''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 . . ." ''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.

The Whitby Witches Trilogy

:''

The Whitby Witches ''The Whitby Witches'' is the first book in ''The Whitby Witches'' series by Robin Jarvis. It was originally published in 1991. Plot summary After the deaths of their parents, eight-year-old orphan Ben and his older sister, Jennet, have been push ...

'' (Originally published 1991) (Re-published as an Egmont Modern Classic 2017,"...and the inspiration for ''

'' and its sequels.") :'' A Warlock in Whitby'' (1992) :''The Whitby Child'' (1994)

The Hagwood Trilogy

:''

Thorn Ogres of Hagwood ''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 ...

'' (1999) (Re-published December 2012) (eBook and

print on demand Print on demand (POD) is a printing technology and business process in which book copies (or other documents, packaging or materials) are not printed until the company receives an order, allowing prints of single or small quantities. While oth ...

) :''Dark Waters of Hagwood'' (June 2013) (eBook and

) :''War in Hagwood'' (July 2016) (eBook and

) Originally published by

Puffin Books Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs t ...

, ''Thorn Ogres of Hagwood'' has been published online by

Open Road Integrated Media Open Road Integrated Media or ORIM (stylized as OR/M and also called Open Road) is a digital media company in New York City that was created by Jane Friedman and Jeffrey Sharp in 2009 with a focus on publishing ebook editions of older works of li ...

. 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."

Dancing Jax

:''Dancing Jax'' (February 2011) :''Freax and Rejex'' (February 2012) :''Fighting Pax'' (July 2014) The Dancing Jax trilogy is a

series for Young Adults, published in the United Kingdom by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

. 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'". 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", but further described as "No fairytale", and by the author himself as "Not for the faint-hearted". The book explores themes of

Many-worlds interpretation The many-worlds interpretation (MWI) is an interpretation of quantum mechanics that asserts that the universal wavefunction is objectively real, and that there is no wave function collapse. This implies that all possible outcomes of quantum me ...

Popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

Dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

and

Fear conditioning Pavlovian fear conditioning is a behavioral paradigm in which organisms learn to predict aversive events. It is a form of learning in which an aversive stimulus (e.g. an electrical shock) is associated with a particular neutral context (e.g., a r ...

. The first, second, and third volumes of the trilogy have been published in Germany by Script5.

Tales from the Wyrd Museum

:'' The Woven Path'' (1995) (Re-published July 2011) :''

The Raven's Knot ''The Raven's Knot'' is the second book in the '' Tales from the Wyrd Museum'' series by Robin Jarvis. It was originally published in 1996. Synopsis In Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at ...

'' (1996) (Re-published October 2011) :''

The Fatal Strand ''The Fatal Strand'' is the third and final novel in the '' Tales from the Wyrd Museum'' series by Robin Jarvis. Synopsis The final chapter in the Wyrd Museum Trilogy sees Neil Chapman and Edie Dorkins returning exhausted following the event ...

'' (1998) (Re-published February 2012)

The Deptford Mice

;''

The Deptford Mice ''The Deptford Mice'' is a trilogy of Children's fantasy, 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 C ...

Trilogy'' :''

'' (1989) (Re-published May 2012) (eBook edition) :'' The Crystal Prison'' (1989) (Re-published May 2012) (eBook edition) :''

The Final Reckoning ''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 p ...

'' (1990) (Re-published May 2012) (eBook edition) ;''The Deptford Histories'' :'' The Alchymist's Cat'' (1991) :'' The Oaken Throne'' (1993) :''

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

'' (1995) ''

The Deptford Mice Almanack ''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. S ...

'' (1997) ;''The Deptford Mouselets'' :'' Fleabee's Fortune'' (2004) :'' Whortle's Hope'' (2007) ''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.

Intrigues of The Reflected Realm

:'' Deathscent'' (2001)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvis, Robin English children's writers English fantasy writers 1963 births People from Warrington Alumni of Northumbria University Living people Novelists from Liverpool English male novelists