The Books of Brian Jacques

One of Jacques' hugely popular Redwall books, 'Salamandastron' is actually aimed at younger readers. In fact, this was one of the first books I ever read, along with 'The Hobbit' and 'Dracula'. Also, before I go on, it's fairly important that the characters in this book are all anthropomorphic animals (like in 'Wind in the Willows'). There are several parallel stories in this book which, in the way of classic fantasy adventures, all finally tie together in a grand finale. One of the story thread follows the Mara the badger and Pikkle the hare as they are driven from the mountain fortress of Salamandastron by the army of the villain Ferahgo the Assassin. Another features Samkin the squirrel and Arula the mole in their quest to recover the stolen sword of Martin the Warrior on behalf of Redwall Abbey. A third storyline involves Thrugg the otter and Dumble the baby mouse setting off in search of a cure to the deadly disease that strikes down the inhabitants of Redwall. The final, and by far the most enjoyable, story thread focuses on the defenders of Salamandastron and their desperate fight against Ferahgo's hordes. Overall this is a highly enjoyable children's fantasy with a good mix of action, cameraderie, sorrow and wonder. It's also fun to read the phonetically spelled accents of some of the characters, be it the south west England accents of the moles or the highland Scotland accents of the falcons. However, I would be lying if I didn't say that one of the points out of five that I've awarded this book is based upon my own nostalgic memories of the first time I read it.