The Dark Portal. Library Edition :: Education by Design Store

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The Dark Portal

2004-03-24
The Dark Portal

Envision a book that will take you beyond the eyes of humans to the world of mice, who discover many secrets and mystifying adventures.
The Browns are just one family in an old house in Deptford, England. This house contains many dangers and secrets, such as the wise bats in the old attic. But the most worrisome thing in the house is the Grill, the entrance to the sewers. This is a Deptford mouse's worst nightmare. There are many dirty things there, such as the water, the air, but most of all, the rats. These are the foulest creatures in Deptford. Rude, fierce, and blood thirsty, these rats necessitate mice and murder and are so fierce they kill each other for food.
Audrey Brown seeks vigorously for her father but he cannot be found. Audrey hasn't seen him in days. There is but one place she hasn't looked: the sewer!
Robin Jarvis exceeds expectation astonishingly in this book, and his writing compelled me to read more and more until my eyes became bloodshot. Robin Jarvis's area of expertise in this book in particular is how he takes me into the eyes of a mouse and how they see the world. For example, "It was an old stone wall close to the riverbank. It was very thick and parts of it were hollow, making wonderful shelters inside. It was near the ground and partially hidden by grass."
Robin Jarvis has an excellent talent for creating monsters and rats that are so gruesome and terrifying, they wanted to make me scream. With that talent I think Robin Jarvis made the Deptford Mice Trilogy even more exhilarating than just a trilogy that usually keeps you on a slow pace through each book.
Robin Jarvis is particularly known for his first-rate skill in use of vocabulary, taking ordinary words and transforming them with other words to fill them with awareness and thrill. For example, "The rat leaped up and grabbed the owl's other leg bringing him sprawling to the ground with an astonishing screech." The characters speak in an English accent, and it is regularly that you get a little lost in the words.
Robin Jarvis has written many books including the other two of the Deptford Mice trilogy, The Crystal Prison and The Final Reckoning. He has written an award-winning book called the Whitby Witches. One thing that is very important to know about this author is that he mostly writes fantasy and science-fiction.
I mostly recommend this book to fantasy readers and that love suspense and action-packed books. I myself wish I had discovered Robin Jarvis's books earlier because I've always been looking for an author who writes high-quality adventures, first-class story, and a slight amount of romance to give the book a little spunk. This is a kind of book that you will read over and over and enjoy it every single time.

The Dark Portal Book Review 2004-03-19
Jupiter's voice suddenly boomed in the confusion. `Catch that mouse and bring him to me!' Cries and whoops came from the rats enjoying the chase. `Now,' Jupiter commanded Morgan, `deliver your spy-I shall peel him myself.' "

Audrey Brown stars in The Dark Portal. Her father has died in the deep, dark sewers where the rats live. The almighty rat god, Jupiter, has killed him. Audrey goes down into the sewers to find him because she doesn't believe that her father is dead. This book is about mice - the good guys - and rat - the evil ones. Robin Jarvis has made the small world of mice into a new galaxy.
This book was very exciting. I like books with a lot of violence, so this was a great book for me. This book was more adventurous than The Crystal Prison, the second book in the series. Robin Jarvis has made some of his characters speak in British-English.
I didn't like the dull parts when the mice start talking a lot and get sadder every moment. I also didn't like the funny accents. The book has funny accents because Jarvis is from London.
If you like violence, this is a great book for you. For example, "What a catch!" said Skinner. "Let's make a `bloody bones' of them." If not, this book won't be that good for you. This book really showed me how animals see the world.

What I thought of The Dark Portal 2004-03-11
OH MY GOSH! The Dark Portal is the most imaginateive book ever! Ilove how Robin Jarvis made up a whole world for mice. The fantasy level for this book is so great. The whole time that I was reading, I could clearly picture what all of the characters were doing and saying. The pictures that were drawn helped me think too. I have already started the second one, The Crystal Prison. I just can't wait to see what happens to all of the little mice, and the rats. The Dark Portal gives you so many oppurtunities to imagine, and be swept off into another world. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!
Vic B.

The Dark Portal 2004-03-05
Title of Book: The Dark Portal
By: Robin Jarvis
Reviewed by: M. Poppins
Period: 5

Jupiter is the god of rats. No one knows how he looks like because he stays in his dark portal all the time. One day, a mouse named Albert Brown goes into the Grill, which is the entrance to the sewers, and meets a young "gray" mouse named Piccadilly from the city. They travel together and soon, rats kill Albert. His daughter Audrey finds Piccadilly and hears about her father's death. After, Audrey is missing. Arthur (her brother), Twit (Arthur's friend), and Oswald (Twit's cousin) go into the Grill, looking for Audrey. Jupiter is looking for Audrey and Piccadilly, because he thinks that they overheard a conversation he had with his lieutenant, Morgan. The rats captured Audrey. At the end, every rat sees that Jupiter is a cat. Audrey uses her mousebrass (A mousebrass is something that mice receive when they become of age. Audrey's mousebrass is the shape of a cat.) to kill Jupiter. Everyone is then happy and safe.

I liked the book because it was full of cliffhangers. My favorite one was: " He had never been brave or overtly curious, so why did the Grill call to him that spring morning, and what was the urge to explore to gripe him so?" That is one good cliffhanger.

This book is full of adventure. I love adventure, because it makes you want to keep on reading the book until you are finished. The descriptions were also very good. "The sewers were dark, oppressive, and worst of all, smelly." Doesn't that let you visualize the sewers?

My favorite part was when Jupiter got killed. I like that part because every mouse is then happy and safe. No one has to worry about a creature that can harm them, unless Jupiter comes back to life again, but I doubt it. This is one of the best books I have ever read.

The Dark Portal 2004-03-05
Title of Book: The Dark Portal
By: Robin Jarvis
Reviewed by: M. Poppins
Period: 5

Jupiter is the god of rats. No one knows how he looks like because he stays in his dark portal all the time. One day, a mouse named Albert Brown goes into the Grill, which is the entrance to the sewers, and meets a young �gray� mouse named Piccadilly from the city. They travel together and soon, rats kill Albert. His daughter Audrey finds Piccadilly and hears about her father�s death. After, Audrey is missing. Arthur (her brother), Twit (Arthur�s friend), and Oswald (Twit�s cousin) go into the Grill, looking for Audrey. Jupiter is looking for Audrey and Piccadilly, because he thinks that they overheard a conversation he had with his lieutenant, Morgan. The rats captured Audrey. At the end, every rat sees that Jupiter is a cat. Audrey uses her mousebrass (A mousebrass is something that mice receive when they become of age. Audrey�s mousebrass is the shape of a cat.) to kill Jupiter. Everyone is then happy and safe.

The mice are all believers of the Green Mouse, a legendary figure in mouse mythology. He is the spirit of spring and new life. ��We honor the Green Mouse,� Audrey answered.� She is a strong believer of the Green Mouse. I would say that this a kind of a religious type of book.

After Jupiter died, a wise bat said, �Until the summer�� I think that means that in the next book, something very horrible will happen, and Jupiter might be involved. Somehow I think that Jupiter will try to get revenge.

I really liked this book because it had a lot of adventure in it. After I finished reading one chapter, I did not want to stop reading. It was so interesting! I would try to read until I finished the book. Books like this are what people like.

dark portal summarized by C.G. 2007-02-26
Robin Jarvis's Dark portal is an exiting, action filled thriller.Some might say it is a weird and an odd topic,but the characters being mice and rats gives the story an extra push, rather than cats and dogs.Everybody reads about cats and dogs.I like this book mainly for 2 reasons:1.there is lots of violence and action. & 2.when you read certain parts where she refers to other events it kind of makes you reread the event she is talking about so you can completly get understand what is going on.
Children 10 and younger probably shouldn't read this book because of the major violence and gore(fighting and blood).

Dark Portal Review 2005-04-29
I really enjoyed reading this book and found it nearly immposible to put it down and I would think about it during the time I wasn't reading it. I don't generally enjoy books about animals, but this one was fantastic. The society of mice and bats and rats were fantasticily conciveed by Jarvis, who clearly delivered all aspects of the story. I plan to purchase the second one as soon as possible!

The Dark Portal Minh's Review 2005-01-20
The Dark Portal by Robin Jarvis is 5 stars for excitement and survival.
Albert's life is on the line and his daughter Audrey would risk her life to save him. Albert is very kind hearted and is near death in the scariest place that any mouse would want to go! Will Audrey be able to save her father or will they be eaten by those horrific rats?
I life this book because it shows us that mice have a life that is just like ours.
This book is recommended for all kids that love excitement and really dark places.

Aweful! 2004-12-24
I just don't like rats. They are vile and digusting creatures. I don't like planet Jupiter either. It is a dumb name.

for all readers 2004-04-08
it is the first book in the trilogy and is a great book. the end leaves you thinking that there isn't anymore, but just wait till you read the Crystal Prison. anyway, this is one of the best book having talking mice and other animals. way better than what i have read of the Red Wall series.