Redwall
(Redwall series, Book 1)
Brian Jacques
Ace
Fiction, YA? Fantasy
***
DESCRIPTION: The animals of Redwall Abbey are known far and wide for their healing and peacemaking skills, but it has not always been so. Once it was home to Martin the
Warrior, the mouse who helped create the free land around the abbey. Today, his name is legend, and young mice like the orphan Matthais can only dream of such exploits.
In the Summer of the Late Rose, the animals face a new threat. Cluny the Scourge, a great rat with a poison-tipped tail, has arrived to pillage the land, and with him come
uncounted hordes of rat forces. Only by solving the last riddles left by Martin may the residents of Redwall fight back. As they search for answers that have eluded mousedom for
over a hundred years, Matthias and the monks of Redwall write the next chapter in the abbey's long history.
REVIEW: I gave this its rating based partly on the writing style, which I found dull, and partly on the inconsistent plot. The animals are cutesy and friendly one second, yet ferociously bloodthirsty the next. There are also distinctly sexist overtones, despite the women occasionally stepping in to defend the abbey; indeed, the women go frome being sweet and shy stereotypes one minute to sweet killers defending the abbey the next. Cluny the Scourge is an excellent evil character, suitably clever and ruthless in his assault on Redwall. My enjoyment of him helped salvage this book from a lower rating. If only the good side had anyone half as interesting to offer... Overall, it could be enjoyed, but I found myself being bogged down by the inconsistencies and snail's pace of the plot, not to mention the author's often molasses-like writing style. Some great moments, but I couldn't be talked into a reread, let alone the pursuit of the series. Younger readers might be more entertained by it than I was, though parents might want to know that there is a fair amount of violence and death. As always, you might want to give it a quick run-through yourself before giving it to your kids.
You might also enjoy:
Lion Boy (Zizou Corder, YA Fiction - A boy who can speak Cat sets out to find his abducted parents)
The Tale of Despereaux (Kate DiCamillo, YA Fiction - A brave mouse befriends a princess)
Dragoncharm (Graham Edwards, Fiction - Before the rise of Man, two dragons begin a quest to save their kind)
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (T. S. Eliot, Poetry - The poems that inspired the musical Cats)
Warriors: Into the Wild (Erin Hunter, YA Fiction - A housecat leaves his safe human home to live with the local ferals)
The Call of the Wild and White Fang (Jack London, Fiction - In two stories, a dog abducted to the Alaskan Gold Rush learns the savage ways of the wolf, and a wolf with a half-Husky mother learns the civilized ways of Man)
felidae (Akif Pirinçci, Fiction - A tom discovers a murdered cat in the yard of his new home)
Three Bags Full (Leonie Swann, Fiction - A flock of Irish sheep investigate the suspicious death of their shepherd)
Tailchaser's Song (Tad Williams, Fiction - A cat's search for his missing friend leads him to an ancient and terrible danger)
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