Redwall by Brian Jacques

ISBN: 0441005489
352 pages
published in 1986.

I loved these books as a child. Recently, my boyfriend and I have been getting back into them. We just finished this one tonight (we like to read aloud to each other) and we’re very excited to move on through the rest of the series. I didn’t read all of the books that had been published when I was younger, but I did read quite a few of them. I believe there are 21 in total right now (as one is due to be published in February). It’s really mind-boggling that Jacques continues to publish as I believe he is 70 by now!

Redwall is the first book in the world-famous Redwall series of books, about various woodland animals (most typically mice, badgers, otters, rats, foxes, etc.) This particular story takes place at Redwall Abbey in Mossflower Wood, where a community of peaceful mice live deep in the forest, caring for the animals that live around them and generally promoting peace and prosperity in the land. An infamous evil rat shows up and threatens to take over their home, and the peaceful mice and their allies must fight back to defend themselves. At the heart of the conflict is Matthias, a young mouse from the abbey that longs to be as strong as Redwall’s mythological hero, Martin the Warrior. Given the opportunity to prove himself, Matthias struggles to find Martin’s sword and fight for his home.

The storytelling is wonderful. The description is vivid and beautiful. The characters are charming and well thought out. Each one of them is distinct, even the minor characters. The only major problem I have with this book, and furthermore, the series, is the way that creatures are divided by species as “good” or “evil” and rarely (really — never) cross that line. Rats are always evil, mice are always good. There is no grey. Jacques has confirmed this himself in his answer to a question that was sent in by a fan on his website, and this left me with a bit of a sour taste in his mouth. However, it doesn’t detract from the quality of the novels and I’m excited to relive the ones I know and discover the ones that are new to me.

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