The Dark Portal facts for kids
First edition
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| Author | Robin Jarvis |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Deptford Mice |
| Genre | Dark fantasy |
| Publisher | Macdonald & Company |
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Publication date
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1989 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 240 |
| ISBN | 9781587171123 |
| OCLC | 849988788 |
| Followed by | The Crystal Prison |
The Dark Portal is an exciting dark fantasy book for children. It was written by British author Robin Jarvis. This book is the first in The Deptford Mice series. It tells the story of Audrey Brown, a brave mouse girl. She is searching for her father who has gone missing. Her journey leads her into the dark sewers of Deptford. There, with her friends and family, she must fight an army of evil rats. They are led by their mysterious living god, Jupiter.
The book was first published in the United Kingdom in 1989. It was a runner-up for the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize that year. In 2000, it was published in the United States. It was also chosen as an Editors' Choice by Booklist.
Contents
Plot Summary
In the sewers under London's Deptford area, there is a scary, dark power. This power fills the tunnels with fear. It is Jupiter, a dark god. People only know him by his glowing evil eyes. These eyes are seen behind a dark "portal" in the tunnel wall. The rats worship him and do his evil commands. No one truly knows who he is, except for his main helper, Morgan.
The Deptford mice worship the Green Mouse. The Green Mouse brings Spring and new life. They know about Jupiter's evil in the tunnels. One of the mice, Albert Brown, is pulled into the sewers. Dark magic from Jupiter pulls him through a grate. He meets Piccadilly, a cheeky city mouse. Piccadilly is also lost in the rats' home. Albert is captured by Morgan, Jupiter's helper. Morgan is a piebald rat from Cornwall with a short tail and rings in his ears. Piccadilly escapes into Albert's home, called the Skirtings. There, he meets many new friends.
First, there is Audrey Brown. She is Albert's daughter and loves to daydream. She doesn't like Piccadilly because he survived when her father did not. Then there is Arthur Brown, Audrey's plump and funny brother. There is also William Scuttle, a simple field mouse called 'Twit'. His cousin is Oswald Chitter, a sickly albino mouse. With them are the old Midship-mouse Thomas Triton and Gwen Brown, Audrey and Arthur's mother. They all go into the sewers to get rid of Jupiter forever. But the Rat God has a terrible plan. He wants to bring back the Black Death to the world. This would get rid of humans and let him take over.
After a tense fight with Jupiter in his throne room, a secret is revealed. The evil god is actually a giant, scary cat! Audrey defeats the Dark Lord. She throws her special mousebrass at him. The charm explodes, and Jupiter falls into the water. His chamber is quickly flooding. The spirits of many mice and rats he tortured then rise up. They drag the dark god down to a watery grave. Audrey sees her father among the spirits as they leave. She feels sad, realizing he is truly gone. The sewer floods, and the Black Death is destroyed. The mice are thankful to be alive. They decide to celebrate Jupiter's defeat when they get home. They start their journey back to the surface. But as they leave, Orfeo the bat warns them of future danger.
Meet the Characters
- Audrey Brown is a brave and smart mouse girl. She has a quick wit that sometimes gets her into trouble. She loves to daydream and enjoys dressing up in pretty clothes. When her father goes missing, she refuses to believe he is dead. She bravely sets out to find him.
- Arthur Brown is Audrey's brother. He is a plump, cheerful mouse. He often gets annoyed by his sister's sassy attitude. He also gets annoyed by her wild, imaginative stories. Robin Jarvis, the author, has said that Arthur's character is based on himself.
- Piccadilly is a cheeky and independent young grey mouse. He comes from the city and speaks with a Cockney accent. He is an orphan; his parents were killed by an underground train. While looking for food, he gets lost in the sewers. There, he meets Albert Brown. They find Jupiter's altar chamber. Albert is captured, but Piccadilly barely escapes. He later meets Audrey, who blames him for leaving her father.
- William 'Twit' Scuttle is a kindhearted country mouse. He is the cousin of Oswald Chitter. He is the result of a forbidden pairing between a house mouse and a field mouse. Most mice think he is simple-minded.
- Oswald Chitter is a weak albino mouse. His mother worries about him a lot. He is tall and clumsy. Because of this, he is sometimes mistaken for a rat, which he hates. He has a special power to find lost objects using a divining rod.
- Thomas Triton is a retired midshipmouse. He lives on the Cutty Sark ship. He becomes friends with Twit. Twit is accidentally dropped onto the ship by the bats Orfeo and Eldritch.
- Jupiter is a mysterious evil being. The rats in the Deptford sewers worship him as a living god. He lives in a shadowy portal. No one has ever seen more of him than his bright red eyes.
- Morgan is a cruel piebald Cornish rat. He is Jupiter's loyal main helper.
- Madame Akkikuyu is a black rat from Morocco. She travels around pretending to be a fortune teller. She doesn't have real magic powers. But she has always wanted to have them.
- Orfeo and Eldritch are bat brothers. They can see into the future. But they purposely make their visions unclear. This way, no one can understand them until the events actually happen.
- Albert Brown is the father of Audrey and Arthur. A strange force makes him go into the sewers. There, he meets a terrible end from Jupiter's claws. His disappearance starts the whole story.
- The Green Mouse is the good god worshipped by the mice. He is like a rodent version of the mythical Green Man. He represents nature and all growing things. His power is strongest in the spring. It completely fades in the winter.
How the Book Was Made
Robin Jarvis thought of The Deptford Mice series while working. He used to make models for TV shows and commercials. He was designing a big, furry alien. Then he decided to take a break and draw something small. That small drawing was a mouse. This mouse later became the character Oswald Chitter. Jarvis kept drawing mice. A friend saw his sketches and suggested sending them to a publisher. The publisher liked the drawings. They asked if there was a story to go with them. At that time, there wasn't one. But Jarvis then wrote the story for The Deptford Mice. He first thought it would be a picture book. But it grew into a 70,000-word story. Jarvis's editor told him the long story could be a trilogy (three books). So, he cut the story into parts. Then he came up with more ideas for the second and third books.
Other Versions of the Story
Cancelled Film
In the mid-1990s, there were plans for a movie. Jim Henson Pictures wanted to make a film based on The Dark Portal. It would use animatronic puppets. But the project was stopped. No one knows why it was cancelled.
Theatre
In 2010, a theatre company in London made a play. It was called Tiny Dog Productions. They created the first official stage show of The Dark Portal. They had permission from Robin Jarvis. After successful early shows in London, the play was performed again. This happened in April 2011 at the New Wimbledon Theatre.
