The Oaken Throne

In medieval England, a war has raged between the bats and the squirrels for many years. The bats believe that the Starwife, queen of the squirrels, has stolen their powers of prophecy and insight, given to them as a gift from the moon goddess. With the help of a treacherous squirrel named Morwenna, they launch a devastating attack on the Starwife's realm, Greenreach. The dying Starwife entrusts her magical silver acorn pendant to a peregrine falcon, who bears it away to safety.

Meanwhile, in a faraway squirrel realm known as Coll Regalis, the inhabitants are celebrating a holiday called Aldertide. Crown princess Ysabelle, a beautiful black squirrel maiden, is excited to participate in the festivities. But soon an army of bats appears flying overhead. They are in pursuit of the falcon, determined to retrieve the silver acorn at all costs. The bats savagely murder the bird, and its mangled corpse falls to the ground beside the terrified Ysabelle. Then the silver acorn drops into her palm. Though the bats try to attack Ysabelle, the daylight confuses them and they resolve to return at nightfall. Ysabelle shows the amulet to her parents, who know that this is an ill omen, meaning that the Starwife is dead and Greenreach has fallen. Because Ysabelle is the one who caught the acorn pendant, it is decided that she will journey to Greenreach and become the new Starwife. She will be accompanied by all the guards of Coll Regalis, with those left behind to fight an unwinnable battle when the bats come back that night. This they willing do as a distraction while Ysabelle's entourage escapes.

On their way through the forest, Ysabelle's guards come across a juvenile bat named Vespertilio. Too young to be a knight, he has run away from home with his late father's armour in hopes of joining the battle at Greenreach. But the armour proved too heavy while he was flying and he tumbled to the ground and broke his wing. Though Ysabelle detests the bat, when her adviser Godfrey suggests that Vespertilio could be used as a guide, she agrees to take him along as a prisoner. In the night, the group is attacked by Hobbers, members of a bloodthirsty cult. Several squirrels are taken to be ritually sacrificed, with the high priest calling for the cult's evil deity, Hobb, to rise up from the Underworld. When Godfrey sees that the high priest has Ysabelle's amulet, he is horrified and tells her that with its tremendous powers, it could indeed bring Hobb into the world. Godfrey hastily comes up with a plan to retrieve the acorn, which is successful but results in his death. Ysabelle escapes into the forest, stopping first to untie Vesper and force him to accompany her as she is now alone with no one else left to show her the way to Greenreach. The high priest appears, but is unable to reach the two as they are within a stream protected by the powers of the benevolent deity known as the Green. Furious, he lays curses on the two of them, proclaiming that when Hobb emerges from the ground he will kill Ysabelle and that Vesper will die surrounded by the sound of bells. Later, Ysabelle and Vespertilio meet a mole and shrew who are on a pilgrimage to Greenreach. The mole, Giraldus, has leprosy and is nearly blind, and the shrew, Tysle Symkyn, is his guide in gratitude for the former having saved his life. As they are bound for the same place, Ysabelle asks to accompany Giraldus and Tysle, telling Vespertilio he is free to go. But he chooses to stay with the group, having secretly developed a growing fondness for Ysabelle.

After being chased by Hobbers on a nightmarish journey through the woods, Ysabelle is reunited with Wendel Maculatum, a stoat jester she befriended at the Aldertide celebrations in Coll Regalis. He says he has heard that a group of woodlanders have risen up in resistance to the Hobbers, and that their base is somewhere nearby. Upon reaching it, they meet the warrior mouse Fenlyn Purfote, who is at first suspicious of the group, but when the Ancient, messenger of the moon goddess, has an audience with Ysabelle and Vespertilio, he is convinced they are telling the truth. The Ancient says that the great war has been fought in vain, for it was not the Starwife who stole the bats' power away from them, but their own leader Hrethel. The only way for the Hobbers to be defeated is if the bats and squirrels team up and fight them together. Tysle turns up dead, and it is revealed that Wendel Maculatum, in reality the high priest of Hobb, murdered him. Mad with grief, Giraldus attacks Wendel and the two engage in a fight. Wendel easily gains the upper hand over the disabled mole but Giraldus causes the tunnel they're in to collapse completely, killing the high priest and sacrificing his life in the process.

Vespertilio and Ysabelle escape and finally arrive in Greenreach, where Morwenna tricks Ysabelle into following her into a chamber deep beneath the Hallowed Oak. Revealing herself as a Hobber, she steals the silver acorn and leaves Ysabelle to be devoured by toads. Vespertilio rescues Ysabelle and the two emerge to see the bat and squirrel armies engaged in battle. Using special herbs given to him by the Ancient, Vespertilio creates a beacon fire which draws the bats and squirrels. They are shocked when he kisses Ysabelle, and listen in amazement to what he has to tell them. Though the bats are initially appalled that he would accuse Hrethel of treachery, they soon realise that it would explain a lot. As Hobbers surge up the hill, the bats and squirrels finally come together to fight their common enemy. Suddenly, the gigantic horned rat god Hobb emerges from the earth, much to everyone's horror. As Morwenna is the one presently wearing the silver acorn, not Ysabelle, Hobb mistakes her for his intended victim and incinerates her by breathing fire. Upon reclaiming the discarded pendant, Ysabelle performs the ritual that gives her all the powers of the Starwifeship, then confronts Hobb. She casts a spell that imprisons him in an acorn before collapsing from exhaustion.

Weeks later, Greenreach is being restored to its former glory for Ysabelle's coronation day. Vespertilio arrives and asks to speak with her. He professes his love and asks her to run away with him, but she declines, telling him that her duty is more important. Left alone, the despondent Vespertilio is offered a drink by a cloaked stranger. He takes it, only to find to his horror that the drink is poison and the stranger is the ghost of Wendel Maculatum, having returned from the dead to ensure his curse was fulfilled. Meanwhile, all through the coronation ceremony, thoughts of the young bat fill Ysabelle's mind. Ultimately she publicly refuses the Starwifeship and races to find Vespertilio. She is heartbroken to find him lying dead, surrounded by bluebell flowers.

The Final Reckoning, the third book in the original Deptford Mice trilogy, mentions a long ago war between the bats and squirrels. In writing The Oaken Throne, Jarvis "wanted to finally tell that story properly."[3] Per his usual technique, he sketched his cast of characters before writing about them. The first one he drew was a leprous old mole who became Giraldus.[4] The mole's shrew guide Tysle was created shortly after, and the pair would become Jarvis's favourite characters in the story.[5] He "was also very pleased with the Hobbers, they were all so vile and despicable."[6] Jarvis has clarified that Ysabelle is not the elderly Starwife who appears in the Deptford Mice books.[7]

Sally Estes of Booklist described The Oaken Throne as "darker in tone than the previous book, with [sic] full of terrifying and gory scenes, but it is also filled with inspiring heroics, and its sentient characters are true to their animal natures."[8] Kirkus Reviews called it "a perfect choice for fans of the Redwall series ready for richer fare."[9] Christine McGinty of School Library Journal said that "readers will have a hard time putting down this dark, gripping tale of love, treachery, and the clashing forces of good versus evil. This second book in the series stands completely on its own. The well-rounded characters enhance the excellent plot, which is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats up to the very last page."[10]

• http://www.sjcs.co.uk/Book%20Reviews/agerange%2012-13/The%20Oaken%20Throne.html