''The Final Reckoning'' is a
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 ...
novel for children by British author
Robin Jarvis
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 mon ...
. It is the third book in ''
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, first published in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
in 1990 by Macdonald & Company,
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 2002, it was published by SeaStar Books in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The book continues the story of the young
house mouse
The house mouse (''Mus musculus'') is a small mammal of the order Rodentia, characteristically having a pointed snout, large rounded ears, and a long and almost hairless tail. It is one of the most abundant species of the genus '' Mus''. Althoug ...
Audrey and her friends as they attempt to banish the spirit of the evil
cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
Jupiter once and for all.
Plot summary
It is winter and
Yule
Yule, actually Yuletide ("Yule time") is a festival observed by the historical Germanic peoples, later undergoing Christianised reformulation resulting in the now better-known Christmastide. The earliest references to Yule are by way of indig ...
festivities are underway in the Skirtings, the mouse community of the old empty house in
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 ...
. The Brown siblings, Arthur and Audrey, have returned from their disastrous stay in Fennywolde where, to prevent her being hanged as a witch, the latter was married to Twit. Several troubling events begin to occur: the psychic bats leave the house's attic, the Starwife's magical Starglass is stolen, and there are reports of a bloodthirsty rat army growing in the city. The Deptford mice soon reach the horrifying conclusion that the spirit of Jupiter has returned to seek revenge by smothering the world in eternal winter, and they have no idea how to defeat him this time as he is already dead.
The city rats, now led by Jupiter's former lieutenant Morgan (who survived his fall into the sewer water at the end of the first book), prepare to go to Deptford and slaughter all the mice there. But Jupiter appears to Morgan and once again ensnares him into his service. Lured to his master's base, the
Deptford Power Station
Three distinct coal-fired power stations were built at Deptford on the south bank of the River Thames, the first of which is regarded as the first central high-voltage power station in the world.
History Deptford East (Low Pressure)
One of the ...
, Morgan is confused and horrified when all his rats are immediately murdered by Jupiter on their arrival. Piccadilly, Thomas, and Arthur go to the power station hoping that they can vanquish Jupiter by using Audrey's mousebrass charm, which is what worked last time. It is now in the possession of Morgan, who battles Piccadilly in a one-on-one duel but ultimately decides to commit suicide to free himself from Jupiter's control. When Piccadilly uses the mousebrass against Jupiter, he finds that the cat spectre is too powerful to be harmed by it now. The city mouse is surrounded and killed by the ghosts of Morgan's rats, returned from the dead as an invincible army wielding ice spears.
Thomas, wounded by an ice spear, is brought to the Skirtings by Arthur. Though reluctant as she assumes everyone will soon die anyway, the Starwife agrees to help Thomas, but only if Audrey assists her. With her magical silver acorn pendant, the Starwife casts the healing spell while simultaneously performing a ritual to transfer her powers to the unsuspecting Audrey. When Audrey learns she is now the new Starwife whether she likes it or not, she reacts in fury, tossing the pendant away. The former Starwife goes out into the yard where she prepares to sacrifice herself as part of a final plan to defeat Jupiter. Her frozen body is discovered the next morning and burned in a
funeral pyre
A pyre ( grc, πυρά; ''pyrá'', from , ''pyr'', "fire"), also known as a funeral pyre, is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite or execution. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon or under the ...
as she wished. Shortly afterward, a banging is heard on the front door of the empty house, which turns out to be a horde of Jupiter's ghostly rats trying to get in. Quickly, all the mice escape through the sewers to the ''
Cutty Sark
''Cutty Sark'' is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period of ...
'' with Thomas, but Audrey hears a voice in her head compelling her to return to the garden. In spite of protests, she does so and finds a single
snowdrop flower in the remains of the Starwife's pyre.
Audrey makes her way to the
Greenwich Observatory
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG; known as the Old Royal Observatory from 1957 to 1998, when the working Royal Greenwich Observatory, RGO, temporarily moved south from Greenwich to Herstmonceux) is an observatory situated on a hill in G ...
, where she finally confronts Jupiter, throwing the snowdrop flower at him, which causes him terrific agony. He drops the Starglass and it shatters. Consumed by blistering green flames, Jupiter is sent to the void to be tormented by spring eternally. All the rat ghosts disappear as well. The frozen world begins to thaw and a beautiful spring day begins.
The Green Mouse appears and thanks Audrey for releasing him. He also presides over the union of her mother Gwen and Thomas Triton, who have grown close. After some weeks, Arthur and a few other mice go to the old empty house in Deptford. The damage from Jupiter's ghosts cannot be repaired, however, and they return to live on the ''Cutty Sark'' with Thomas. Audrey, who accompanied them, searches until she finds the discarded silver acorn pendant. Taking leave of her family, she travels to Greenwich where she finally accepts her role as the new Starwife.
Background
According to Jarvis, "After the unfolding drama of the previous story I knew this one had to have a powerful beginning which dragged the reader onto a roller coaster ride that did not let up until the very last page." Several parts of the Holeborn scenes were cut from the finished book due to issues of space, which Jarvis considered "a great pity as there were some old campaigners in the missing pieces who I was very fond of."
Just before he began writing the book, Jarvis invested in a
typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...
. As he had previously written everything
long hand
Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionalit ...
, this made things much easier for him and his novels would subsequently increase in length.
Reception
''The Final Reckoning'' was called "a humdinger of a tale" by Sally Estes of ''
Booklist
''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...
'', with "a poignant denouement that will satisfy the trilogy's fans." ''
Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
'' also praised the book, saying it was a "superlative conclusion to a top-notch series." Charlotte Decker of ''Library Media Connection'' gave a positive review where she described ''The Final Reckoning'' as being "packed with action as the rats once again come under Jupiter's evil will and wage war upon the mice. As this is the last in the series, readers new to the books may have trouble keeping characters straight but there is enough information about events from the previous titles to allow them to enjoy the story."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Final Reckoning, The
British fantasy novels
1990 British novels
Novels by Robin Jarvis
The Deptford Mice series
British children's books
British children's novels
Books about cats
1990 children's books
Ghost novels
Sequel books