The Kingdom and the Cave

<p><b>FROM THE AUTHOR OF <i>THE WOLVES OF WILLOUGHBY CHASE</i></b><br><br><b>''She was a literary treasure, and her books will continue to delight for years to come'' PHILIP PULLMAN</b><br><b>''Witty and endlessly inventive'' CHRIS RIDDELL</b><br><b>''She''s one of the most important and interesting children''s fiction writers of the last fifty years'' NEIL GAIMAN </b><br><br><i>''The Under People. They live in a huge Cave. They are thought to be boring upwards. Giant worms and flying ants. Underground magic''</i><br><br>Mickle, the palace cat, knows the kingdom is in danger. He can feel it in his whiskers and he has found a mysterious note in the royal library ... (Yes, of course he can read, and speak - if he chooses to!) Mickle can''t trust the King and Queen with his mission, so he and Prince Michael, with the help of their animal friends (and quite a bit of magic!), set out on a perilous quest to find the sinister Under People, discover their secret power and save the Kingdom of Astalon.<br><br>In her first novel, written when she was only a teenager, Joan Aiken showcases the imagination, wit and storytelling zest that would lead to classics like <i>Arabel''s Raven</i> and <i>The Wolves of Willoughby Chase</i>.</p>