For this enchanting novel Brian Jacques has brought to bear the experience of his eventful and adventuresome life, a life which has taken him all over the world and seen him variously described as folk singer, playwright, and broadcaster. No doubt his usual writing environment--garden in summer, conservatory in winter--provides him with the ideal theater for observing the wildlife on which the book's unusual central characters are based. It is, perhaps, appropriate that the story line revolves around the theft of the famous Redwall Tapestry, for Marlfox is a richly woven tapestry, skillfully running together threads of the magical and mythical with the "natural world," to give its audience a heady blend of fairy tale and medieval adventure. The result is a tale of grand themes and conflicting human passions played out against a backdrop of humor and uncertainty; yet the author manages never to lose sight of the reality of life as experienced by the human and animal kingdoms alike. Young readers will gorge themselves on this literary feast, a spread worthy of comparison to other classics in this vein such as The Hobbit, Duncton Wood, The Mythical Knights of the Round Table, and the stories of C.S. Lewis.