I'd never heard of it before, but it looked really interesting. When I received The Power of Dark in the mail, I had no idea what to expect. The Power Of Dark is something that should be in the world, it really should. This is a book that was, I suspect, begging to be written for a long time. It rips along with an intense and madly engendering joy. Jarvis throws everything into this with a sort of delicious glee there's steampunk, goths, aufwaders, historic flashbacks, and witches. One other thing to note about The Power Of Dark is that I rather like the fact that it's so exuberantly unnerving. I suspect this is one that might be quite fluid when it comes to age based reccomendations.

The Power of Dark is perhaps for a slightly younger audience than you may have expected, but even then, that's a complex call to make because certain scenes are spine tingling and sharp and not to be read in the dark.

Jarvis fits well into trilogies and the rhythm of them and this does have the mark of an overarching saga that makes me itch with potential. The Power of Dark is the first in a series. The Power Of Dark sings with little inked notes throughout a sigil, the curve of a *spoiler* or the eyes of the Aufwaders who I had not realised how much I had loved and missed until I saw them look out at me from the pages.

One distinguishing mark of his work are his great and deeply distinct illustrations. He writes big, British fantasy stories that root themselves resolutely in space and place and explore the darkness of what may happen and what has already happened there. Young friends, Lil and Verne, embroiled in events they can't begin to understand have to stand with Cherry and save their town from the brink of destruction. This town has guardians, protectors, and it needs them right now because Whitby is facing its newest - and maybe darkest - hour. She's the last of the Whitby Witches a delicious bit of writing that I can adore and marry for it is perfect. Aunt Alice was one.Ĭherry Cerise is another. Whitby is a space between the worlds, a thin gauze between the human and the other, and such a town needs protectors. They don't get there easily nor painlessly, but they end up there when they're needed. Jennet and Ben, back in The Whitby Witches have to earn their presence within Whitby. This is a strange, evocative town that you have to earn. It hinges on the great jaws of the West and East Cliff and when you stand there, on that bridge between the two sides of the town, you can feel the whole world rolling in off the sea to greet you.

The Dark Portal by Robin Jarvis