#and c) someone explaining to me about the discworld reading order

[elodieunderglass]

[thelastspeecher]

TOLD YOU I WAS GONNA DO IT

Disclosure: This list is incomplete bc I haven't finished rereading the entire series (I don't even own the entire series...yet) and I don't want whatever I remember from reading as a child to color my opinion as an adult. For example, my opinion of Mossflower did a 180; I like it way more now than I did as a kid.

I WILL be updating this once I finish rereading the whole series.

I'm gonna write out the tiers btw bc Tumblr crunchitizes images and the covers were difficult to read before the crunchitizing. But if you're a Redwall stan who can identify based on the covers (like me) you won't need the list written out.

(Also don't read into the order of the books in the tiers. I moved some around bc I put some thought into it, and even before then I had the pictures uploaded based on order in the series.)

S Tier: Redwall, Mariel of Redwall

A Tier: Mossflower, The Bellmaker, High Rhulain, The Sable Quean, Doomwyte

B Tier: Triss, Marlfox, Lord Brocktree, The Rogue Crew

C Tier: Eulalia!, The Long Patrol

And fuck it, I'll put some of my reasons under the read more if you're curious.

I'm not explaining my thought processes for all of them, bc for some books it just boils down to "idk I just liked this one better", but here are some of my thoughts that I can actually articulate.

Be warned - hot takes (and spoilers) ahead.

Redwall: Not only is it a tough task to knock the one that started it all, but there's very little to knock about the book! I was DELIGHTED rereading this. It's so well-written and has everything I love about the series in it. And I had forgotten just how endearing most of the characters were.

Mariel of Redwall: Look. I'm biased. I love a good warrioress story. But like Redwall, this one held up way more than I was expecting. Again, there's not much to knock about the book, and props have to be given for putting a gal in the spotlight and knocking it out of the park, particularly given the tendency towards some sexist tropes in the series (esp in later books, as stuff got a bit flanderized).

The Sable Quean: I think my literal only complaint about this book (other than Diggs, who is just Way Too Much, and I love the hare characters) is the implication that Clarinna was possessed by the spirit of Martin the Warrior and that's how she killed Zwilt. Come on! This series is all about persons from humble beginnings taking up arms and finding heroism, and there are SO MANY characters who are after vengeance for the loss of their loved ones. My girl Clarinna deserved better. If it weren't for that and Diggs, this would be S Tier.

Triss: As I said before, I love a good warrioress story. But Triss falls a bit short for me. Maybe because it feels a bit like a rehash of stuff we've seen again and again in this series. Kinda hated Scarum as a character which is wild bc I usually love the hares. Also wtf is that scene where Welfo and Urtica are like, silently staring into each other's eyes while they eat? The mental image of that scene haunts me. And how did Triss not know her full name, legitimately.

Lord Brocktree: Brocktree is such a milquetoast character. He's just some guy! The book shouldn't be named after him, it should be named after the TRUE hero and person who brings some personality to the story, Dotti.

The Rogue Crew: The setup for this book is killer. But the execution is mid. In particular, the beginning of the book felt more like a summary of someone's outline notes. I know that this was published posthumously, so I wonder if that could play into it. Maybe the book wasn't fully done, it was mostly done. Which would explain the parts of the book (like the beginning) that felt like a very different style of writing from Brian Jacques' usual. Another thought would be that maybe his health wasn't as good, which could have influenced the writing. Like Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett, written as he was struggling with Alzheimer's, and imo one of the weakest Discworld books. But who knows.

Eulalia!: This is my least favorite book I've reread. I couldn't remember jack about it before picking it up to reread and I understand why now. It just...dragged on. A lot of the little side adventures that tend to happen in these books felt extremely extraneous. There wasn't enough to make it feel different from the other books in the series. And I had difficulty really enjoying or connecting with many of the characters, with the exception of Mad Maudie. She's the reason the book isn't D Tier, tbh.

The Long Patrol: I actually REALLY enjoyed this book, it was really good. Which is why it's not D Tier. I bumped it down from A or B bc I really didn't like how Cregga got fixed by basically becoming a mother at the end. The Redwall books definitely have some sexist tropes here and there, which I've noticed in rereading, but this was very blatant and a rather upsetting resolution to a warrioress like Lady Cregga Rose Eyes. Though I will admit she never fully abandons her warrioress ways (as seen in later books), it left a bad taste in my mouth here.

One of these days I'm gonna do that tier rating thing but do it for the Redwall books bc like everything in my life I have Opinions about them