There is much good to be said about the Harry Potter series of books - their foray into wizardry, their magical locations and characters, the rhythm of their plots as you discover what Harry is up against. Most notably, Voldemort. Voldemort appears and disappears and you don't really have a handle on him until the end of the last book. It's great, and perfect for kids and adults who need to be given small doses to be kept interested.

This book, unlike the Harry Potter series, lacks wizardry, great characters, and a good villain. It lacks especially in the final category as the villains are all spread out amongst a family. This dilution of characters is what I believe is truly lacking in this book series. The characters cannot be properly developed because there are far too many of them. I've started skimming through these books and not really remembering who the characters because it doesn't matter.

Here's how the characters work: there are a few main protagonists spread among the animal species. They go out to save Redwall from intruder/villain x. Villain x never gets really close to taking the Abbey, but they will try. Meanwhile, the protagonists go to another spot to save slaves or prisoners from good species of animals. There's little if any backstabbing among the good animals, little chiding. They work together and get along together.

This world view of perfection among the good species is a load of horse crap. That's not the way the world works. No one is truly good or truly bad. We're all a mixed bag. So I'm getting tired of these books and their simplistic and unrealistic world view. What a load.

Meanwhile, due to my stringent world view about what books I read, I've already reserved the next book from the library. Forge on ahead I guess.

Okay but I wasn’t as excited to get through this book as I’ve been about other Redwall series books.

I was crazy about Redwall books as a kid. When I got older I saw how repetitive they were and I stopped buying the latest installment. I picked up Marlfox in a thrift store for nostalgia, and it was every bit as delightful as I remember. The characters aren't as memorable as some of the earlier books, but the feasting, questing, and adventuring is all here. And so is the food! What I wouldn't give to attend a Redwall feast . . .

very good would recomend

Gosh, I love this series. I say that in every review, but I really love this series. in this book, the villainous Marlfoxes are harassing the Abbey dwellers. They invaded the Abbey and stole the tapestry of Martin the Warrior. Some new brave souls go on a mission to rescue the tapestry and defeat the harassing Marlfoxes. This was a great book.

This was quite good. It deviated slightly from the other Redwall books [that I have read as of this review] plot-wise, which, of course, made for an enjoyable story, by cause of originality.

(fun re-read of a childhood fave over winter break)

Though I enjoy the earlier books best, this is a solid entry in the Redwall series. I love when characters carry over from book to book and this one has a lot of fun "historical events" mentioned in it.

3.5 stars / I've always loved these, and the conclusion where everyone returned to the Abbey so it wasn't so lonely anymore was great, but the characters are not as vivid as they are in other installments. Still a great story true to Jacques form.

This book was mediocre.

Great!!!!

One of Jacques best! Jangular is and forever shall be my favorite redwall character.