The Redwall Series

I used to love the Redwall series! I haven't read any in quite a while, but they were such good stories. :D If I have free time this summer, I may pick one up again, just for fun.
 
Benisse said:
Hi BK
If you are curious about the series but daunted as to where to begin, I would start with Redwall or Martin the Warrior (prequel) to just get a taste of the series. If you don't have time to read the book, check it out from the library on CD or cassette and listen to it as you drive to work.

One interesting background note on Redwall is that it wasn't originally written to be published. Brian Jacques wrote the story as an entertainment for kids at the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind, which was on his route as a milkman. The vivid descriptions in his writing are a tribute to his desire to help his young listeners really visualize and experience the twists and turns in the plot. A friend sent in a copy of the manuscript in for him, and the rest is history.

My son used to be such a fan of Redwall series that one 10/31 he was an otter warrior, and another year he was Silverstrip the Badger. Although the general plot threads tend to get predictable after awhile, the messages in these books are positive, and there is always lots of action (so they make especially good reads for kids with active imaginations). One of our highlights of our family's stay in England during my husband's 2003 sabbatical was that my son (then in 5th grade) actually got to meet Brian Jacques at a booksigning at Ottakars in a city near Stonehenge.
Click to expand...

OK! I'll read one of those you mentioned soon. I've seen many of them so I didn't even know where to start!
 
Last edited:
i never read the books, but i listened to some tapes and used to watch this awesome tv show about it. that was a long time ago but it was really cool.
 
Ok, I have these books now:

Mariel of Redwall
Marlfox
Triss
Lord Brocktree
Pearls of Lutra
Salamandstron
Taggerung
The Long Patrol
The Bellmaker

Now someone help me make sense of them. Which one should I read first. Besides Redwall or Martin the Warrior (which I don't have yet) where do I start in the list? :confused:
 
some suggestions

BarbarianKing said:
Ok, I have these books now...
Now someone help me make sense of them. Which one should I read first. Besides Redwall or Martin the Warrior (which I don't have yet) where do I start in the list? :confused:
Click to expand...

Hi BK,
This is the chronological order of the Redwall books, in case you want to read the earliest book that you currently have:

Martin the Warrior
Mossflower
The Legend of Luke
Outcast of Redwall
Mariel of Redwall
The Bellmaker
Salamandastron
Redwall
Mattimeo
The Pearls of Lutra
The Long Patrol
Marlfox
Lord Brocktree
Taggerung
Triss
Loamhedge
Rakkety Tam
High Rhulain
Eulalia!
Doomwyte

That said, my son has read all of the books you have acquired, so I'll ask him tomorrow what he thinks would be a good starting place. However, I am currently listening to Triss on tape and it is pretty interesting although it assumes you know:

1. Redwall Abbey is an idyllic, prosperous, medieval-like fortress-community where peace-loving forest animals dwell, but they can be mobilized to courageously and skillfully fend off attackers (usually vermin or reptiles and certain birds) = the good guys

2. Salamandastron is the fabled stronghold of famed badger warriors/lords and their allies = more good guys

3. The characters speak in a variety of (British?) dialects and made up dialects that bring out the character of each animal

4. Hares (good guys though somewhat egocentric) can eat a lot
 
Benisse, I appreciate you posting the order of the books. I had made an order myself, but had lost it, but now looking at yours I realize I had made some mistakes (placement of Redwall+Mattimeo after Luke the Warrior).

Most of these books are lighthearted, and are a very good tale of morals and virtue, though slightly repetitive, the stories never become old.

I believe that my favorite is Mossflower for the sole reason, it does not start off as a happy beginning followed by tribulations. The world is a dark place, where villainy has succeeded. I thought it was one of the more graver of all the books.
 
my son's advice on Redwall reading

BarbarianKing said:
...Which one should I read first. Besides Redwall or Martin the Warrior (which I don't have yet) where do I start in the list? :confused:
Click to expand...

Hi Barbarian King,
Well I finally got my son to give me the scoop on where to start in reading Redwall. The first thing he said was Redwall is >The< first book, so as soon as you get a chance read that because it is quintessential. After Redwall, Mossflower is helpful because it gives a glimpse of beginning history, and then Martin the Warrior introduces the recurring pirate theme. So those three books go well together.

Of the books you have, Mariel of Redwall and The Bellmaker would make a nice tandem reading set because their stories are so closely related (and the Bell has a significant role to play in Redwall later on).

But his personal favorite book in your collection is The Pearls of Lutra (one of his favorites). The Long Patrol and then Marlfox also make good tandem reading since they are closely related and interesting.

to Driad: I agree about what you said about Mossflower. I like the fact that it is less formulaic too.
 
Last edited:
Benisse:
Thank you for the information. I don't have Redwall as of now, but I'm looking for it. I did get my hands on The Legend of Luke to add to my list. So I am getting them. I will definitely like to start with Redwall since it was the book that started it all.
 
I just started reading the Redwall seris. I'm on the book Redwall.:) I read through the suggestions on which ones to read first and found them VERY helpful. Partly because my parents usually ask ME which book is next, and I don't know what order they are in anyhow.:D;)

I like them very much thus far, and will continue reading.:)
 
I also found some of the less 'formulaic' tales the best of the lot - I wandered off from the Redwall books after a while simply because they all began to feel the same. On the other hand, Martin and Gonff are the classic hero and trickster combo and just wonderful together and there are good moments in any of them.

I found Martin the Warrior to be much more meaningful to me after reading Redwall and Mossflower - though be warned it has a tragic twist. Likewise, Legend of Luke should come after all of the above for some of it to have the most impact.

I hope you enjoy them - they are great fun to read aloud doing all the accents and sound effects if you can. And they make you hungry.
 
Redwall and food...

Primsong said:
...I hope you enjoy them - they are great fun to read aloud doing all the accents and sound effects if you can. And they make you hungry.
Click to expand...

Yeah they do go rather heavy on the vivid food descriptions ;)
 
I picked up a couple more titles. I still need to find the first one, "Redwall." I'll start reading them next month.
 
I found what I saw of the television version to be painful after reading the books, definitely would recommend you go back to the source and see what you're missing. ;)

I have a couple of Jacque's 'Flying Dutchman' series as well, with the immortal boy and telepathic labrador - the first was interesting, the second less so and now it appears to be somewhat in a rut. I'm willing to be optimistic, maybe check out subsequent titles from the library rather than buy, tho'.
 
Primsong, have you read "Voyage of Slaves" It's the third edition to Castaways. It's an excellent addition.

Oh and I couldn't agree more about how the show absolutely butchered the Redwall novels. They had such an opportunity to make something great..but they failed.
 
I've never seen the show, but I've read the first ten something books. And they're good, with very vivid descriptions, but as christianrocker said, they tend to repeat themselves. So I really enjoyed the first books, but it started to get a little boring later on.
 
Back
Top