The Oaken Throne: Book Two of the Deptford Histories

Well I know I am probably a bit old to be reading the Deptford histories or the triology itself, I still find the stories to be great tales for anyone. And this the second of the Deptford histories does not falter on that concept. The story line is gripping, I literaly had to force myself to stop reading just so I could leave a little something to read for the next day instead of reading it all in one. I recommend The Oaken Throne to anyone who is a fan of animal fantasy and can handle dark tales.

After being seriously disappointed by The Alchemist's Cat, the first book in the Deptford Histories, I was hesitant to pick up The Oaken Throne, the longest of all the Deptford books. But I wasn't disappointed this time, and The Oaken Throne brings back a lot of the charm that many readers enjoyed in previous Deptford books. Squirrels and bats have always been enemies, and that was the way that it should be. That is, until the Starwife, leader of the squirrels, is struck down by a traitor in her midst. Now the bats are hunting for the powerful Silver Acorn, her magical amulet, and are prepared to kill any squirrels who may get in their way. The amulet is found by a young squirrel princess called Ysabelle, and she is chosen by her own mother as the new Starwife and the one who must travel the claim the throne and vanquish the bats. Along the way she meets the young bat Vespertilio, who has always dreamed of participating in a battle with the squirrels. Vesper is taken as Ysabelle's prisoner, but soon she learns that she must work with them if either are to survive their journey. As they travel, they forge a strong friendship and discover that their true enemies are not each other, but of the little-known Hobbers, worshipers of an evil god. Ysabelle and Vesper must bring their armies together in order to vanquish the lord Hobb. As usual with Robin Jarvis books, the dialouge and emotion is a little forced, and the character development isn't really shown, it just suddenly happens. Yet the plot of the book is gripping enough for you to keep reading until the end. I thought the end would be moving enough, but Jarvis has done it before in one of his previous Deptford Mice books, though it is done much better here than it was before. Also, he leaves loose ends that need to be solved in the next of the Deptford Histories. I recommend the Oaken Throne, and I think that it's the best out of all the Deptford stories, both the Mice ones and the Histories. PS- The third and last of the Deptford Histories is called Thomas, and it hasn't been published in the US yet.