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A review by oldenglishrose
The Final Reckoning by Robin Jarvis
3.0
In The Final Reckoning the mice find themselves under threat not only from the army of rats that is massing under London but also from the mysterious eternal winter which has enveloped Deptford. Everything points to Jupiter being back and so the mice, together with the bats and the Starwife, must try to stay alive long enough to defeat him.
You may remember that one of my favourite things about Robin Jarvisā writing is that he isnāt afraid to be dark even though he is writing for a younger age group, and this book was no exception. Often in childrenās fiction, the forces of evil (whatever form they may take) are distant, incompetent or impotent or a combination of all three. Evil is usually active in a far off land to which the protagonist must journey to fight it, its plans fail fairly easily before they can be put into practice, and if a character is important and liked then Evil will frequently content itself with capturing rather than killing them. All in all, Evil often isnāt terribly threatening. However, the forces of evil in Jarvisā books are immediate, powerful, bloodthirsty and indiscriminate in who they attack. Just because a character has a name and has been well developed does not mean that they are safe. I love that I can read a book for younger readers entitled The Final Reckoning with a final chapter also called āThe Final Reckoningā and do so with apprehension because I donāt know which, if any, of the characters will make it through to the end alive. There is real tension and anxiety in these books which Iāve not often found in childrenās fantasy. Of course, this might be far more common in childrenās literature now, I donāt know, but I still think Jarvis should be applauded for what he has done, particularly considering The Deptford Mice Trilogy is more than twenty years old.
You may remember that one of my favourite things about Robin Jarvisā writing is that he isnāt afraid to be dark even though he is writing for a younger age group, and this book was no exception. Often in childrenās fiction, the forces of evil (whatever form they may take) are distant, incompetent or impotent or a combination of all three. Evil is usually active in a far off land to which the protagonist must journey to fight it, its plans fail fairly easily before they can be put into practice, and if a character is important and liked then Evil will frequently content itself with capturing rather than killing them. All in all, Evil often isnāt terribly threatening. However, the forces of evil in Jarvisā books are immediate, powerful, bloodthirsty and indiscriminate in who they attack. Just because a character has a name and has been well developed does not mean that they are safe. I love that I can read a book for younger readers entitled The Final Reckoning with a final chapter also called āThe Final Reckoningā and do so with apprehension because I donāt know which, if any, of the characters will make it through to the end alive. There is real tension and anxiety in these books which Iāve not often found in childrenās fantasy. Of course, this might be far more common in childrenās literature now, I donāt know, but I still think Jarvis should be applauded for what he has done, particularly considering The Deptford Mice Trilogy is more than twenty years old.