Robin Jarvis
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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 a sinister "world-switching" dystopian future, triggered by a sinister and hypnotic book (Dancing Jax), Norse Fates, 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 coast (The Whitby Witches trilogy), epic medieval adventure (The Oaken Throne) and science-fiction dramatising the "nefarious intrigue" [1] within an alternate Tudor realm,[2] peopled by personalities of the time, automata servants and animals known as Mechanicals and ruled by Queen Elizabeth I. (Deathscent).
Jarvis' books for younger readers have featured anthropomorphic rodents and small mammals – especially mice - as featured in the Deptford Mice series. A number of his works are based in London, in and around Deptford and Greenwich where he used to live, Felixstowe, or in Whitby.
His first novel – The Dark Portal, featuring the popular Deptford Mice – was the runner up for the Smarties book prize in 1989.[3]
The first of his most recent trilogy; Dancing Jax, was published by Harper Collins in February 2011.[4] The second in the series, Freax and Rejex was published in February 2012 [5] and the trilogy finale, Fighting Pax, was released in 2014.
His work has been described as "Genre Busting" [6] and "original, spooky, unusual, psychological supernatural horror fantasy with a very modern twist".[7] Jarvis has said that he is not a writer of horror fiction,[8] however his work has also been compared to that of "…Stephen King, but for Young Adults.".[9]
The Deptford Mice was adapted and dramatised by Tiny Dog Productions, and staged in January 2010 and April 2011.[10]
Biography
Jarvis was born in Liverpool, the youngest of four children, and grew up in Warrington, attending Penketh High School.[11] His favourite subjects at school were Art and English and he went on to study Graphic Design at Newcastle Polytechnic (now Northumbria University). After college, he moved to London and worked in the television and advertising industries as a model-maker. He lives in Greenwich, South London.[12]
Bibliography
Dancing Jax
- Dancing Jax (February 2011)
- Freax and Rejex (February 2012)
- Fighting Pax (July 2014)
The Dancing Jax trilogy is Jarvis' most recent dark fantasy series for Young Adults. 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'".[13]
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".,[14] but further described as "No fairytale",[15] and by the author himself as "Not for the faint-hearted".[16]
The book explores themes of Many-worlds interpretation, Popular culture, Dystopia and Fear conditioning.
The first[17] and second [18] 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 (1999) (Re-published October 2011)
- The Fatal Strand (1999) (Re-published February 2012)
- The Deptford Mice Trilogy
- The Dark Portal (1989) (Re-published May 2012) (eBook edition)
- The Crystal Prison (1989) (Re-published May 2012) (eBook edition)
- The Final Reckoning (1990) (Re-published May 2012) (eBook edition)
- The Deptford Histories
- The Alchemist's Cat (1991)
- The Oaken Throne (1993)
- Thomas (1995)
The Deptford Mice Almanack (1997)
- The Deptford Mouselets
- Fleabee's Fortune (2004)
- Whortle's Hope (2007)
The Deptford Mouslets are a series of stand-alone prequel novels for younger children, featuring characters from The Deptford Mice and The Deptford Histories series.
The Hagwood Trilogy
- Thorn Ogres of Hagwood (1999) (Re-published December 2012) (eBook)
- Dark Waters of Hagwood (June 2013)
- War in Hagwood (Forthcoming)
Originally published by Puffin Books, Thorn Ogres of Hagwood has been ePublished by Open Road Integrated Media, who will be releasing the sequel Dark Waters of Hagwood for the first time in June 2013. The publication date for the series finale; War in Hagwood is forthcoming.
The Whitby Witches Trilogy
- The Whitby Witches (1991)
- A Warlock in Whitby (1992)
- The Whitby Child (1994)
Intrigues of The Reflected Realm
- Deathscent (2001)
References
- ^ "Freax & Rejex - goodreads homepage". Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Robin Jarvis Homepage". Robinjarvis.com. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
- ^ Text on the front cover of the 2000 Hodder Silver edition of The Dark Portal.
- ^ "Dancing Jax - goodreads homepage". Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Freax & Rejex - goodreads homepage". Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Freax & Rejex - goodreads homepage". Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Tall Tales and Short Stories - Dancing Jax review". Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "BookZone - Interview with Robin Jarvis". Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "BookZone - Amazon Review". Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Tiny Dog Productions".
- ^ http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/clive-barker-returns-heres-eight-9289121
- ^ "Author Information: Robin Jarvis". Iblist.com. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
- ^ "BookZone - Interview with Robin Jarvis". Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Dancing Jax - goodreads homepage". Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Dancing Jax - goodreads homepage". Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "BookZone - Interview with Robin Jarvis". Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Dancing Jax - Zwischenspiel Script5 homepage".
- ^ "Dancing Jax – Auftakt Script5 homepage".
