Marlfox [Import] [Paperback]

Brian Jacques (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Philomel; 1ST edition (1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0091769302
• ISBN-13: 978-0091769307
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (169 customer reviews)

More About the Author

A well-known radio personality in his native Liverpool--as well as an actor, stand-up comic, and playwright--Brian Jacques (1939-2011) was the host of "Jakestown" on BBC Radio Merseyside. Ever the performer, Jacques was well-known for applying his acting and entertainment background to his lively presentations to legions of young fans at schools across the United States and England. Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool, England on June 15th, 1939. Along with forty percent of the population of Liverpool, his ancestral roots are in Ireland, County Cork to be exact. He grew up in the area around the Liverpool docks. His interest in adventure stories began at an early age with reading the books of: Daniel Defoe, Sir Henry Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Thomas Malory, Robert Michael Ballantyne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Kenneth Grahame. He attended St. John's School, an inner city school that had its playground on the roof. On his first day at St. John's, at the age of ten, he had an experience that marked his potential as a writer. When given an assignment of writing a story about animals, he wrote about the bird that cleaned a crocodile's teeth. The teacher could not, and would not, believe that a ten year old could write that well. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as "a liar". He had always loved to write, but it was only then, that he realized that he had a talent for writing. "My favourite teacher was Mr. Austin Thomas. He looked like Lee Marvin. Big Man. A Captain in World War II. He came to school on a big bush bike with the haversack on back. He was a man's man. Always fair. I was fourteen at the time when Mr. Thomas introduced the class to poetry and Greek literature. (Because of him, I saved seven shillings and sixpence to buy The Iliad and The Odyssey at this dusty used book shop.)" This interest in poetry extended to Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Goldsmith. It was also at St. John's that Brian met a teacher, Alan Durband (who also taught two Beatles, Paul McCartney and George Harrison), who, more than thirty years later would bring about a major change in his life. After Brian finished school at fifteen, he set out to find adventure as a merchant seaman. He travelled to many far away ports, including New York, Valparaiso, San Francisco, and Yokohama. Tiring of the lonely life of a sailor, he returned to Liverpool where he worked as a railway fireman, a longshoreman, a long-distance truck driver, a bus driver, a boxer, a bobby (Police Constable 216D), a postmaster, and a stand-up comic. Jacques passed away in February of 2011 at the age of 71.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I recommend Marlfox to anyone who likes food and adventure., February 3, 1999

By 

Philip E. Nast (Manlius, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marlfox (Redwall, Book 11) (Hardcover)

Marlfox

When I first started reading Redwall (the first book in the Redwall series) it just didn't grab me. A year or two later I tried it again. I loved it. I read the other nine books in a year's time. Now I've read Marlfox, the eleventh book.

Written by Brian Jacques and illustrated by Fangorn this captivating story is full of excitement, suspense, emotion and drama. Sometimes you will laugh and sometimes you will cry. Also, sometimes you will be mad at the Marlfoxes.

The Marlfoxes are greedy, ruthless, and down right mean.They terrorize Mossflower and even kill each other! The mother Marlfox killed her husband so she could be queen, a daughter poisons the mother so she can be queen, and then a brother pushes her into a lake full of hungry pike so he can be king!

Because Queen Silth, the mother Marlfox, demands to be surrounded by beauty and calm, she sends her children to steal beautiful things. In their plundering, they take the Redwall Tapestry. The irony is that there is a beheaded fox on the tapestry.

When the Marlfoxes steal the Redwall Tapestry, the heroes Songbreeze and Dannflor, squirrels, and Dippler, a shrew, leave the Abbey to get it back. As they search, they meet Burble the water vole and make other friends and enemies.

I warn you. Do not read Brian Jacques on an empty stomach. As always, this book will send you to the kitchen drooling! In Marlfox, he describes cheeses, bread, flans, cakes, puddings, trifles, tarts, scones, crumbles, hot root soup, and deeper'n ever turip'n'tater'n'beetroot pie (made by the moles).

I recommend Marlfox to anyone who likes animals, food, and adventure.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Read by Brian Jaques, February 10, 2000

By 

Ryan Hill - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marlfox (Redwall, Book 11) (Mass Market Paperback)

Following in the tradition of his previous books Brian Jaques starts off this delightful adventure with a whole knew set of characters. The part that Brian readers will most enjoy is the connection between this book and the other books, allowing the reader to travel along with characters in their adventures. The apperance of the Marlfoxes brings in a mystery and gives the experianced Redwall reader a chance to quess to how they began. At the first introduction of these creatures I began to wish for a history on these fine characters. I sincerely hope thatt Jaques gives us a book compiling the Marlfox history. The one low point in the book was the carelessness of the abbey dwellers toward their children. They seem to be unconcerned with the younger ones(dibbuns), although this may be put in because of the days of peace that everyone at Redwall Abbey has experianced. Overall I recommend this to all Redwall fans as a way to explore farther into Mossflower. For those starting out on the series though I would suggest an earlier book that gives more background into the tale.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is one of the best books in existance!, November 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Marlfox (Redwall, Book 11) (Hardcover)

Marlfox was a wonderful book. It was very creative. I love how he uses the rhymes to help the characters figure out how they are supposed to win or find something. I suggest that everyone read these series of books. It is very cool how he makes the characters voices. In this book, Florian is very crazy. Baby Dwopple is a horrible little brat if you ask me. This was much better than some of the other books (not all of them). So if you don't read these books I think you are really missing out on something.