''The Power of Dark'' is the first in a series by children's author

Robin Jarvis 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 the inhabitants of a coastal town battling a mo ...

known as The Witching Legacy. The series returns to the coastal town of

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

, the setting of Jarvis' supernatural children's fantasy trilogy, ''

The Whitby Witches ''The Whitby Witches'' is the first book in ''The Whitby Witches'' series by Robin Jarvis. It was originally published in 1991. Plot summary After the deaths of their parents, eight-year-old orphan Ben and his older sister, Jennet, have been pus ...

''. The series will consist of four novels. ''The Power of Dark'' was first published in June 2016. The second novel, ''The Devil's Paintbox'', was published in March 2017. A third volume, ''Time of Blood'', is expected to be published later in 2017.

Plot

is a coastal town in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, which has many gothic associations, not least

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

. Cherry Cerise is the last of the Whitby Witches and it is left to her to defend the town from supernatural attacks. Best friends Lil and Verne have grown up in Whitby where Lil's parents keep the local witchcraft shop, Whitby Gothic, but they are sceptical about the existence of witches. When a terrible storm threatens the town, Cherry is convinced that ancient evil forces are at work. The legend goes that the Nimius was created by magician Melchior Pyke, with the assistance of a young witch known as Scaur Annie. But they were both betrayed by Pyke's villainous manservant, Mister Dark, causing a feud that has survived even beyond death. Now Mister Dark is back with a malevolent plan to destroy Whitby. Cherry cannot stop him alone and must enlist the help of Lil and Verne who do not even believe in magic.

Inspiration

has long been drawn to the coastal town of Whitby for its historic and Gothic associations and he decided to revisit it for another supernatural series, 'I've felt the lure to return to those narrow cobbled streets on the East Cliff, climb the 199 steps up to the gale beaten graveyard and look back over the town. Whitby is a place that won't let you go and strange, unearthly stories are waiting to be scratched out of the sand and soil.' He was also keen to explore how Whitby had changed in the intervening years and was particularly interested in the expansion of the Goth culture. Whitby has become a place of pilgrimage for Goths, and the book explores the economic and cultural influence through Lil's parents' shop, ''Whitby Gothic'', and references Whitby's popular Goth Weekend.

Reception

Review coverage has been positive with readers delighted by Jarvis' return to his former setting of Whitby. A reviewer for The Bookbag said, "this is an entertaining and imaginative story, and I look forward to the sequels". The Strange Alliances blog said, "Expect a highly imaginative story (bizarre inventions meet old magical entities) with terrific atmosphere (Whitby at its most storm lashed) scary bits (anything to do with Mr Dark) and lots of and great characters (the flamboyant witch Cherry Cerise)," while the Books for Keeps newsletter said, "The characters really come alive and you build a connection to them and what they are going through in this fast paced, exciting and at times very dark tale of magic and murder." ''The Power of Dark'' was also selected for Amazon's summer reading list.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Power of Dark, The 2016 British novels 2016 children's books 2016 fantasy novels British children's novels Children's fantasy novels British fantasy novels Novels about witches and witchcraft Novels set in Whitby Egmont Books books Children's books set in Yorkshire Children's books about witches