#well except for redwall - mattimeo

[talesfromthenorsesmouth]

quick question, does warrior cats..... ever end? is it still going?

have i trapped myself eternally in stories of fuzzy little war criminals?

[ihopesocomic]

iirc I think one of you said you liked the Redwall books. What's your take on the "racism" that goes in the books with the villains (the vermin, like rats, foxes, weasels and so on) and the good characters like the mice? Is there anything you would've written differently?

Oh boy, I have a lot to say on this. A lot of it does not differ from what various Redwall fans have expressed already but here goes:

As much as I like the Redwall books, I've never enjoyed the black and white mentality that "vermin will always remain vermin" (which is quoted quite a few times by several characters). Jacques even goes as far as to portray the vermin not even caring for their own kin or each other, with the relationship between Ferahgo the Assassin and his son, Klitch (from Salamandastron) being the closest to avert this. Even so, they spend most of their time backchatting each other and trying to outdo one another.

Even when Jacques tries to mix things up by making vermin "good" and woodlanders "bad", these characters are still pretty grey and they still follow a pattern. For example: voles - while starting out as good in the case of Rollo and his sister, Cynthia, (from Mattimeo) - become the grey species. Even when they're good, they're still grey and are often criminals like vermin themselves. It's just viewed as OK because their crimes are often committed against vermin as well as woodlanders. Whereas vermin are demonised for the exact same crimes (i.e. thievery). Whatever "good" vermin (which amounts to maybe three or four characters throughout the whole book series) there is, their goodness is marred by some pretty heinous acts, like killing someone. Accidentally or otherwise. Even Blaggut (the only true good vermin character in the series) is implicated in the murder of a beloved character and him being reformed is hardly explored. It just seems like Jacques came up with these examples on the spot to try and fend off ideas of racism in the series, as opposed to being actually interested in breaking his formula. Which is a shame because he's a good writer and he should've known breaking the formula isn't a bad thing. In fact: it could've made for a better story.

The two most egregious examples for me though are Tagg from Taggerung and Veil Sixclaw from Outcast of Redwall. Tagg - for some bizarre reason - is naturally good and angelic despite being raised by a band of vermin. He never exhibits any sadism or a desire to kill even when defending himself, and it's never explained why. It's just 'oh, he's an otter who was originally from Redwall and he's our protagonist so he's naturally good - so there!', which is fine and all but he has no idea of his origins until so many chapters into the book. What would've been better is if he'd developed some evil traits and the book was about him finding out his entire life was a lie and trying to better himself and make amends. He had it in him to be an interesting character but he's ultimately a copy-and-paste of other Redwall protagonists and yep, just extremely disappointing how the concept of an evil otter trying to reform himself was never explored.

Veil Sixclaw as a character just pisses me off. Like Tagg, he's seemingly born with his "natural" alignment (evil instead of good, because he's a ferret) despite receiving no love or attention from his natural parents and being raised by the good beasts of Redwall. The annoying thing is that the "good" characters that find him all behave like jerks and treat him like evil incarcerate because - get this - he does whatever tiny baby animal would do and bites fingers. I mean, wow. How dare he.

The lesson here should be: don't judge people based on their origins and Jacques seems to be setting the stage for it... except nobody is called out for doing this to Veil.

And naturally, what happens is that he ends up growing up into an antisocial teenager who has obviously been judged and blamed for things his entire life. Yes, he is often the culprit but if he has been blamed for such things even when he is innocent, of course he's going to declare 'fuck it!' and do these things anyway. What's the point in trying to be good if people are always going to view you as bad based on what species you are? Jacques then sees to it that the poor kid is portrayed as being an unfeeling asshole and it's like 1) he's a kid, 2) he's an orphan and the sole ferret living in a community of mice and 3) said mice blame him for every misdeed under the sun.

And then he deliberately poisons a member of the Abbey and it's like jfc why?? Again, the stage was set for the book to deliver a pretty powerful lesson and Jacques completely messes up by having Veil be completely evil anyway.

What I would've done is had Veil be a reckless but misunderstood youth. He's lazy and disobedient but he's a good person at heart. He's just never been given a chance, so why bother? He knows that his adoptive mother, Bryony, loves him and she's about the only person he 'lets in' and allows to see his true self, which is somebody who wants to fit in and prove himself to the other creatures of the Abbey. He's still blamed for things by certain residents of the Abbey because of past misbehaviour but he's either innocent or dragged into things by a gaggle of mischievous young mice, because he's desperate to be liked and have friends.

And when the poisoning occurs, there's a completely innocent explanation for it (i.e. there was a mix up or w/e) and he is blamed and exiled from the Abbey like in the original book. He's distraught that nobody but Bryony had his back and sets out to find his real family. Instead of being an utter dick to Bryony, he maintains that he cares about her but refuses to return to the Abbey on the grounds that nobody liked or appreciated him there. Which is the truth. That's not in his head. He eventually finds his real family and, instead of Swartt - his father - being a prick towards him like in the book (seriously, this is how all parent-child vermin relationships in the books go down), he's accepted by him and his horde and appreciated for who and what he is... Except Swartt wants him to do bad shit - like killing people - alongside him and Veil has to decide between staying with him (because he grows to love him as a father) and taking off with Bryony. I'd still like the ending to remain the same. It would make me sob like a baby but at least Veil would have the chance to show that he is truly good to the core, despite what his many detractors would maintain.

I love these books, there's absolutely no denying that but the whole 'these species are vermin and they shall always be vermin and shall always behave like vermin' angle really got stale and kinda problematic after so many books and I'm sure a lot of Redwall fans agree with him. I just really wish Jacques had deviated more and explored aversions to his own formula. Fortunately, stuff outside of his canon (i.e. a family of stoats in some of the spin-off video games) has been exploring the concept. Which I hope continues. - RJ

[readwall-abbey]

Talk to me about marriage in the Redwall universe.

I mean, you can’t really get into this without considering the way romance is written in the series, which is fairly unusual. First off, there are very few, if any, “designated love interests”. There are characters who fulfil that role, yes, but in addition to other roles. And the stories are rarely dictated by who is dating who. If Cornflower and Matthias weren’t interested in each other at all, Redwall would be almost exactly the same, because while Cornflower is the love interest, she’s not the designated love interest, IE, she plays other roles in the story besides that and that doesn’t have a serious effect on the plot. Some books don’t have romance at all, such as Salamandastron, and I’m gonna be honest, I know a fair number of people read Mariel and Dandin as a couple, but I don’t. There’s nothing in their relationship, to me, that says they’re interested in each other romantically.

That being said, I may be missing it because marriage seems to be a bit more... casual? than it is in the real world. I say this because Gonff and Columbine knew each other for a few days before Gonff went off on the quest for Salamandastron, but while Gonff is off on the quest, they talk and think about each other as if they’re engaged: Gonff says at one point that he’s “promised to his Columbine”, as an example, and that’s just the sort of language that seems to imply they’d already decided to get married, even in that short timespan. Partially I think this could be explained by the fact that they clearly mature much quicker than humans, even if you multiply by 4 to account for how they measure time in seasons rather than years: Mattimeo takes place eight seasons after Redwall, but Mattimeo doesn’t behave at all like a 7-8 year old.

But the ceremony seems to be a bit less of a Thing, as well, since Gonff and Columbine get married while Martin is unconscious, and one would think that if a very good mutual friend was in a coma but you knew he’d be coming out of it very soon, in the real world one would assume the wedding would be scheduled to allow for him to attend. I can only conclude that it’s seen as less of a big deal in-universe -- maybe it’s just a formal acknowledgement from the community leader? (I would suggest that it might not even be that formal, except that Gonff seems to be referring to a specific event when he tells Martin about it, not a huge big Thing but enough of a Thing that it was clearly more than them just deciding to start living together.) I can’t recall a specific incident of a wedding event in any of the books (though I may be forgetting, some I have only read once and it was some time ago), unless you count Abbot Mortimer’s last words with regards to Matthias and Cornflower (which I didn’t previously, but that certainly counts as formal acknowledgement from the community leader).

Kind of surprising, since I can’t imagine Redwallers passing up an opportunity for a feast, but then they don’t appear to celebrate birthdays either. (I’ve encountered a few fanfics that use “seasonday” in place of birthday but I’m 99% sure in canon that refers to the feast where they name the season.)

Anyway, what do you all think? It’s rarely the fore of the story, but I think it’s interesting how very different it seems to be in-universe than it is in real life.

[sharksandothernonsense]

Traditions (Redwall Secret Santa 2019)

Written for @divebombmod, for the @redwall-secret-santa exchange! This was based on the prompt “Matthias and Cornflower enjoy a summer day together”; I went a touch angstier than I meant to at the beginning, but I hope you still enjoy reading it!

(Posting to this blog for easier sorting--this is a sideblog to @autobotscoutriella, but I was afraid this would get lost in the Transformers stuff today.)

AO3 Link for anyone who prefers to read it there)

The first morning of summer dawned warm, bright, and cloudless, the sun burning away the last few traces of spring dew on its journey into the sky. Golden traces of sunlight danced across the Abbey pond, rippling reflections turning the still water into a kaleidoscope of colors that danced under a brilliant blue sky.

Matthias the Warrior made his way across the Abbey grounds at a leisurely pace, taking the time  to admire his beloved home along the way. The seasons never changed Redwall, no matter what effect they had on the creatures that lived there; the weathered red sandstone had stood tall and strong and safe through countless winters and summers, and Matthias had no doubt that the Abbey would outlive him and many generations after him.

“Morning, Matthias!” Jess Squirrel bounded out of an apple tree with an armload of dead branches strapped to her back, straightening up and adjusting her bundle. “Have you seen Cornflower this morning?”

“No, I’m afraid I haven’t.” Matthias paused mid-stride, momentarily distracted from the beauty around him. “Is everything all right, Jess?”

“As far as I know, it is,” the squirrel told him. “She mentioned looking for you when I passed her a few minutes ago, that’s all. Shall I help you look for her?”

“No, that’s all right. I’ll find her.” Matthias smiled and changed course, starting toward the outer wall and the nearest stairs. His wife had her predictable patterns, especially when the seasons changed, and he knew exactly where to start looking.

Sure enough, Cornflower stood on the walltop over the gateway, gazing out over the Abbey grounds, the pond, and the orchard. Matthias called her name as he approached, and was rewarded with a smile, one that still took his breath away just as much as it had the first time he had met her all those seasons ago.

“What’s going on?” The Warrior wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulders, the two of them leaning against each other as they watched the Abbey coming to life below them. Everywhere they looked, creatures bustled back and forth, beginning to prepare the lawns for the new season’s celebration planned that afternoon.  

Cornflower rested her head on his shoulder, humming softly before speaking. “Nothing, really. It’s going to be a beautiful day.”

Matthias smiled at her. “Not as beautiful as you.” He kissed the top of her head and held her a little closer. “But I know there’s something on your mind. Is anything wrong?”

“No, not exactly.” Cornflower sighed and leaned contentedly into Matthias’s side. “Season changes always remind me of waiting for you and Matti to return. He was so young last summer—they all were.”

Matthias nodded, sobering as he remembered their long quest, the terrible fear of not knowing if he would rescue his son in time, or if either of them would ever see Cornflower again. It must have been even worse for Cornflower, waiting at Redwall and facing down the raven general without knowing where they were or if they were even alive. And if he thought further back, to the Summer of the Late Rose, the memories of the terrible war and all the friends they had lost still lingered. “Summers haven’t always been easy for us, have they?”

Cornflower laughed softly. “No, they haven’t. It’s a shame. Summer has always been my favorite season. It’s so beautiful. The birds, the flowers, soft night breezes, watching the little ones chase fireflies…but the memories are still hard.”

Matthias rubbed her shoulder, watching Ambrose Spike and the young otter Cheek working together, with much grumbling and mock-complaining, to set up the first long trestle in the orchard. “You know what? We need some summer traditions that don’t involve kidnapping, mayhem, or the Abbey under siege.”

“Do you think so?” Cornflower tilted her chin up slightly so she could meet his gaze, a hint of mischief in her smile. “Well, I suppose that sounds like a good idea, as long as it doesn’t involve fishing.”

“Oh no.” Matthias laughed at the thought. “Matti and Sister May have taken over that tradition. Perhaps we could convince them to share the pond and enjoy a quiet midnight sail?”

“You may not need your sleep, o Warrior of Redwall, but I do,” Cornflower teased. “Perhaps we could find a tradition that doesn’t take place in the middle of the night.”

Matthias watched the Abbot, Sister Agnes, and John Churchmouse setting out a breakfast table beside the main Abbey door, arranging it so that creatures could either put together trays and find somewhere to relax and eat, or simply pause for something on their way to complete the morning’s tasks. “I might have an idea. How would you feel about taking our breakfast outside the Abbey today?”

“Outside?” Cornflower blinked in surprise. “Well, we can’t go on too much of an excursion. The Summer Feast is tonight, and they’ll need our help with the preparations soon.”

“I’m sure they can spare us for a little while. Besides, I know you’ve been working harder than any of them in the kitchens, and Mattimeo and I spent all of yesterday helping Foremole and his crew prepare the baking pit for tonight,” Matthias reasoned. “There are plenty of willing paws already helping, and we’ll be back in plenty of time for the final preparations. What do you say? A breakfast picnic in Mossflower Wood? It’s a beautiful day. We should at least stop for a little while to enjoy it. I’m sure our friends will understand.”

“You make a very convincing argument.” Cornflower squeezed Matthias’s paw and straightened up briskly. “Right, then, I’ll tell the Abbot you and I will be back before noon, if you’ll pack us a picnic basket.”

***

Mossflower Woods was peaceful and beautiful, with birds twittering in the distance, bees buzzing around newly blooming flowers, and the faint ripple of the River Moss audible on the breeze rustling the towering trees above them. There was no need to hurry, not under these circumstances; Cornflower and Matthias strolled leisurely through the forest, paw in paw, pausing here and there for Cornflower to collect a few pawfuls of herbs for Sister May, and for Matthias to examine a tiny grove of new saplings that had sprung up in a small clearing.

“It’s good to see the forest has recovered so well,” Cornflower remarked, brushing a paw gently along a new clump of brilliant green ferns. “I remember when this part of the woods was still burned and crushed after Cluny’s army passed through. Now you’d never know they were damaged, except for the old tree stumps.”

“And even those have been covered over by moss now. There’s no sign an army was ever here,” Matthias agreed, sitting down beside one of the stumps in question and gazing up at the leaves forming a soft green canopy overhead. Glimpses of a brilliant clear-blue sky were visible through small gaps, and rays of sunlight filtered down to create shimmering golden patterns on the forest floor. “It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

Cornflower settled down close to him, tucking her herbs into a corner of the picnic basket. “It is,” she agreed. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been out in Mossflower in summer.” She leaned over the basket and kissed Matthias on the cheek. “Thank you for this. It’s lovely.”

Matthias felt himself blush right to the tips of his ears, the same way he had when she had first kissed him all those seasons ago, and smiled at her. “So you like the tradition?”

“I think we should keep it.” Cornflower smiled, her eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

“I do too.” Matthias took her paw, and thought how very lucky he was that Cornflower Fieldmouse had agreed to give him the time of day all those seasons ago. “I don’t know where I would be today without you, you know.”

“I know.” Cornflower winked at him, squeezed his paw, and added, “You would still be the Warrior of Redwall, I am sure. And I would still be proud of you. But without you and I, we wouldn’t be here in Mossflower Wood today, making our own traditions—and there is nowhere I’d rather be than at your side.”

There was nothing Matthias could say that could adequately convey what he felt at that moment. Instead, he simply drew Cornflower close, and the two of them sat together in the warm sunshine, listening to the birds sing and the bees buzz overhead as Mossflower Wood came alive with the sounds of summer.

[veryotl]

oooo! i’m gonna read shades of magic soon ! what are your top 5 fav book series ?

OMG I hope you like it!!

tbh this probably isn’t what you’re looking for, but most of my favorites are kids books. I read a lot when I was growing up but I got frustrated after a bit with the fact that my father wouldn’t really let me read anything beyond kid’s fiction, so I stopped reading after I turned 16 or so. Now I’m breaking back into it, cause I love books and also I work at a bookstore so I should probably know more (so if you have any suggestions let me know!). Buuut the ones I love I really love, so. Also, since you specified series, that cuts out my favorite solo-one-off books :p 

1. Redwall & Warriors

My older sisters all kind of grew up in that time where you were either obsessed with Redwall or Warriors and I had one sister who was each series so I ended up reading them both. My favorite Redwall book was probably Marlfox or Mattimeo, with The Sable Quean and High Rhulain and Eulalia following close behind. I’m pretty sure I read every one of those books. Oh wait, then again, Outcast and Mariel of Redwall were both good... ;lkjhgf. As for Warriors, I liked most of the books because I really just liked having a world with a map and with routines that were set out and it felt like a real enough world to exist. I think I liked The Power of Three (mainly Jayfeather) and The New Prophecy (mainly the concept of having to leave home and find a new land) the best. 

2. Willow Falls Series 

So this one is kinda a weird one but basically it’s set in this town and it’s a series of kids books with ~weird magic~ aka pretty much my favorite genre. They all revolve around birthdays, like the first book follows a girl and a boy who used to always celebrate their birthdays together but this is their first birthday after a big fight and so the day keeps looping until they make up and find out what caused the loop. It’s in general just a lighthearted, fun little series. 

3. Tales of Magic

So again with the kind of weird ones here’s a really old addition. It’s probably best known for “Half Magic”, but each book follows a ~weird magic~ and a bunch of kids who discover it. Half magic is about a magic that only completes half of your wish. So if you wish to be back home you end up halfway home. Mostly I just liked these books for the clever and funny magic rules, and the fact that they mostly followed an ensemble of 3 or more children and I grew up mainly on books like Narnia so I was used to Strange Other Worlds

2. Kingdom Keepers

This was maybe the last series I read before I really stopped reading. It veers a little more into the YA branch, since it follows like... a teenager and various romantic and coming of age tropes, but I think what I liked about it the most is that growing up I wasn’t ever really a huge Disney fan? I liked the movies ok, but we don’t live near a park and I had very few friends to pass on the “magical branding” concept. So the idea of the characters walking around and living in a “character world” as well as the concept of the inner workings of the parks and the world there being important was really cool. I think the second book, Disney at Dawn, is possibly my favorite as it introduces a pressing narrative danger as well as a mysterious list of ~clues~ to follow. There’s also about 7 viewpoint characters, which is another love of mine. Also, the amount of Retcon in the second book is just... so good. You can tell from the first book he wasn’t expecting to be asked to write another and when he was he had to change... a few details. Amazing.

1. The Mysterious Benedict Society 

So in a twist that surprises absolutely no one, my favorite kind of books are ones that are clever, have a big world, and explore a premise that can be wrapped up in a nice moral lesson. This series is all of those things. Every single line is just... clever. Every piece of dialogue is sharp and witty and hits. Each book is built on puzzles and riddles and mysteries and, of course, there’s an ensemble cast of children who are each brilliant and vibrant in their own ways and compliment each other so well. It kind of reminds me of my favorite non-series book, The Phantom Tollbooth, in writing style except it’s set in a much more contemporary world instead of far far away in an alternate reality. I feel like people who liked A Series of Unfortunate Events would like this one, but I can’t honestly make that call as I Was Not Allowed To Read ASUE. Sad.

Honorary Mentions - I did end up thinking of a few more that I just never finished, haven’t read in a while, or I really liked but have a serious religious tilt to them cause they were probably discovered through my father. So I’ll just drop those down here~

The Books of The Beginning - The Secret Series/The Bad Books (also in line with ASUE) - The Door Within - The Restorer series - Princess Academy - Guardians of Ga’hoole - DragonKeeper Chronicles - Happy Happy Clover (do Manga count? if so, Cardcaptor Sakura too) 

[firstpuffin]

Seventh (point one) in a series: Review of Redwall episode Ten

Episode 10: A Favour Returned

In another made-for-television episode we see a problem come from characters ignoring other characters and a solution that comes from some serious gaps in common sense. What is an enjoyable episode on the surface falls apart when you look at it any deeper.

The episode begins with an excellent re-introduction of Asmodeus to the action where he attacks a group of dormice (I think) from within the deep grass. This is a worthwhile start to the episode as immediately after, Matthias is heading out alone (again) to finally face the snake. He is outside of the walls when he is surprised by Warbeak and her mother Dunwing who tell him that the rats are digging a tunnel.

  Meanwhile we see Cluny vocalising his doubts from losing so many lieutenants during this siege and as the episode goes on he remains introverted and struggling with nightmares. Some of his subordinates are somewhat aware of this and start talking of seizing the opportunity to lead the horde themselves.

  The Redwall moles are able to tell where the rats are digging (conveniently enough right alongside an existing tunnel where the moles can spy on them) but the Generals are unsure if this is their main attack or another decoy. Completely disregarding Matthias’s warning (which is always a red flag) the two sparrows head out to the camp, only to get shot down. Warbeak is captured but Dunwing is able to escape.

  The horde are about to roast and eat Warbeak when Cluny comes out to investigate the ruckus and comes up with his own plan: tie her up where Asmodeus frequents so that any Redwallers trying to save her may encounter him.

  Matthias heads out to save her (alone) and spies a cloaked figure who he immediately assumed to be Cluny (why though?) and the soldiers guarding Warbeak make the same assumption (WHY?) and leave under his orders. It turns out the figure is Basil in “disguise” and he leaves Matthias to rescue Warbeak. Asmodeus appears but they are able to narrowly escape.

  The vermin heading through the tunnel begin to climb out, only to be engaged by the waiting and fully prepared Redwallers (although Constance tells them to wait and lets two get out of the hole before commanding them to attack; why?) although one of them gets past (completely un-molested although there is no way they didn’t see him climb out) and is trying to open the back gate when the sparrows stop him.

 This is an odd episode. I loved the beginning with Asmodeus, they really do a good job of making him intimidating whenever he appears. I also enjoyed the rest of the episode, except! for the weird gaps in logic. The overconfident scout who ignores sensible warnings is overused in the entertainment mediums and is unforgivable at this point. I can forgive the convenient tunnel allowing the moles to spy on the vermin diggers (in the book they don’t even need to go underground), although I would like to point out this event is like that meme: “Can I copy your homework?” “Sure, just change it a bit so no-one can tell.” It happens slightly different in the book and I’m pretty sure it’s already happened in one of the earlier episodes.

  What I can’t let slide is why when they see a cloaked figure, walking alone and from the direction of the abbey, everyone’s first reaction is to assume that it is the leader of the attacking horde. There are so many reasons why this is bad; I can try and be generous and point out that the cloak seems to be the same colour as Cluny’s cape-thing, but that’s a stretch.

  And then there’s Constance: she was waiting at the tunnel for the vermin to open a hole in the ground and she was prepared with a cauldron of some boiling substance to pour in. Let me ask you this: when would be the best time to pour it into the hole? I would choose the moment a head popped out, that way they wouldn’t have time to understand my plan and run. Constance waits for two separate vermin to climb out of the hole first. And it’s not as though she gave the order and two vermin managed to get out before they tipped the cauldron, that would be forgivable as a cauldron of that size would probably take some effort; no, she actually told her fighters to wait, let the two get out, and THEN she told them to tip it.

  *sigh* I don’t like complaining, and I absolutely am complaining here.

  I could make a comment on how Matthias keeps leaving the abbey by himself, which is kind of ridiculous at this point, but I won’t. I could point out that Matthias didn’t need to return to the abbey after the sparrows warned him; even if the other Redwallers can’t understand them, Matthias could give them a note or he could have returned just long enough to tell the Generals before resuming his task of finding the sword. But it’s not important enough.

  The next episode is named “Asmodeus” so I’m guessing they are going to continue with the story at last, but I find my mind wandering to the next series. Series two of Redwall seems to be following “Mattimeo” which chronologically follows after “Redwall”, and much of it takes place outside of the abbey itself. If this series keeps pulling Matthias back to the abbey instead of letting him adventure like in the book, what are they going to do for the next series where that shouldn’t be possible.

Well whatever. In conclusion, I did enjoy this episode on the whole. It was fun and most importantly, the Abbot didn’t appear.

[mongoosefangs]

Redwall Revisited, Part 2: Pearls of Lutra

In light of all the Redwall fanart I’ve been putting out recently I’m going to be revisiting each of the books and posting my personal thoughts on them. It’s been a lowkey goal of mine for a while to write a sizeable story set in this world- a full novel, more or less, and I’d like it to read as authentically as possible. More specifically I want this story to feel like one of the early Redwall novels. I think most folks will agree that there is a certain quality shift in the series after a point (although this isn’t universal, there have been some underwhelming early books and some good later books IMO) and by taking a close look at every one I hope to pinpoint just what it is that makes a Redwall story feel ‘oldschool’ or not.

I’m not necessarily going to be reading these in any particular order besides 'what I feel like’, although I will probably post the reviews in the original publishing order.

Each book will be judged on its primary protagonist and antagonist, its notable supporting characters, my personal favorite minor character, the overall conflict and resolution, and any other noteworthy features or gimmicks. At the end I’ll give the novel a 1-5 overall rating with 5 being the best. I may also throw in a few fanfiction prompts based on questions left unanswered or characters who could stand to be better explored.

Second on my reading list is Pearls of Lutra (1996):

Two books in one year? Woah there Brian, take it easy, it's not a race. That said it's impressive that both Lutra and Outcast came out in '96 because they're both very solid books and don't feel rushed or half-assed at all! Where Outcast may have fallen a little flat with its titular character this next installment more than makes up for it, giving us one of the most memorable and well-received vermin characters in the entire series... we'll get to her eventually. Y'all know who I'm talking about.

This is one of those novels where most of the action takes place away from Redwall Abbey, and the main villain never even leaves his territory at all. While I do tend to prefer stories where the bad guy has more motivation beyond obtaining some macguffin, there's still plenty at stake here, and the social commentary is unfortunately very relatable in this day and age as so many characters suffer just so this one wealthy asshole can decorate a crown for his stupid vain head. Eat the rich, is what I'm saying. Maybe they do taste like pine after all.

The Primary Protagonist- Grath Longfletch You might argue that Martin takes the lead as the book goes on but Grath should be the main character and she's on the book cover, so there. She's definitely got more reason than anyone to be pissed, as her entire family and clan was slaughtered for their treasure, with Grath herself driven to the brink of death. After she recovers she does what any reasonable person would do. She builds herself a bow, gets herself a boat, and heads out to kick some pirate ass. Along the way she meets up with the Redwallers and it's here where she sadly starts fading into the background. In the end I feel that Grath Longfletch gets shafted (ha ha. arrow pun. get it). Her story doesn't even get a satisfying conclusion as she exits the novel off-camera and the Redwallers handwave her away. It would have been nice to get her thoughts on finally avenging her people, or at the very least a mention in the epilogue about how she's moving forward with her life. As it is Grath Longfletch is like a wave on the ocean, building up huge momentum before dissolving completely, and that's a real shame. She could have easily carried the book on her own without the Abbey Warrior coming along to steal her thunder.

The Primary Antagonist- Emperor Ublaz Mad Eyes Holy crap, it's a pine marten! Why were these guys so insanely rare throughout the series, anyway? Ublaz isn't the most interesting out of them if you ask me, but that's not really a knock against him- he manages to be a pretty decent villain even if he never threatens Redwall personally. I think a rich pompous dick who does nothing but hoard resources on his own private island is someone we can all agree to hate these days. The Emperor's entire motivation, besides clinging on to what he's already got, is acquiring more. This whole drama starts because he wants a set of six pink pearls for his crown! That's literally it! Ublaz couldn't care less about Redwall Abbey or Mossflower Woods. The only reason they're on his radar at all is because the pearls are there. He's shallow, vain, greedy, conniving and arrogant. If he's not the most threatening villain ever then I'll argue that he's at least one of the most loathsome just for being the 1%. Ublaz is notable for having some sort of weird hypnotic power with his eyes, hence the nickname. It's never explained how this works but simply making direct eye contact with him is apparently enough to drive his own minions to suicide. If this sounds cheap it's because it is, but Ublaz isn't much of a fighter otherwise. He's explicitly gotten weak and soft from living like royalty for so long and I appreciate that detail. Mad Eyes's greatest asset is his mind, whether he's literally puppeteering others or attempting to outsmart them as even his followers are sick of his shit. The moment he does get in a swordfight he goes down like a sack of candied chestnuts.

Other Notable Major Characters: Martin- No, no, not THAT Martin, the OTHER Martin, Mattimeo's son who was named after the legendary Abbey Warrior. That is a lot to live up to and probably makes for some awkward introductions. No. Sorry. You’re thinking of someone else. Can we just call him, like, Marty instead? Morton? Bort? I'm getting off track. Anyway, Martwo here fails to live up to his predecessors. He didn't rise from adversity like the original Martin, he didn't come of age like Matthias, he didn't have to learn a hard lesson like Mattimeo, he's just there because you gotta have a token mouse warrior in the abbey, I guess. Bort is as generic a hero as you can possibly get. This makes it all the more disappointing that he comes along to push Grath Longfletch out of the spotlight and steal her kill. Mar2n is just... extraneous. You could take him out of the story entirely and still accomplish the same thing. Rollo and Auma are still around so it's not like you need this guy to establish that Pearls of Lutra is the direct sequel to Mattimeo. Without this Martin, more interesting characters would have the chance to shine.

Tansy- When Redwall is threatened by the Emperor's agents it's up to this young hedgehog to find the coveted pearls in order to pay the ransom. With help along the way from her friends, she displays enough courage and wisdom that she ends up being nominated as Redwall's next Abbess by the end. There isn't a whole lot to say about her beyond that, but she does fulfill an important role and has the good sense to slam dunk those pearls to the bottom of the sea where they belong. She knows what's up.

Rasconza- The biggest thorn in Emperor Ublaz's side throughout the story is one of his own corsairs. This fox isn't even the one who first orchestrates the rebellion, he just swoops in later to run the show and ends up being a persistent threat up til the end. When mutiny happens in the Redwall series it's usually quashed pretty quickly so this is kind of a cool thing to see. It's nice that Rasconza is there so Ublaz can do something other than twiddle his thumbs while he waits for those pearls.

Romsca- Okay, okay, you can all sit down now. Romsca is probably one of the most memorable Redwall characters ever and even if her role in the plot is actually pretty small I would be remiss if I didn't include her here. She's a corsair ferret who is tasked with guiding Ublaz's creepy lizard army to Mossflower and obtaining the pearls. Why is that so notable, you ask? Because out of the precious few 'vermin' throughout the series who have any suggestion of morality to them, Romsca has a complete little character arc and ends up doing something unquestionably good and selfless. Unfortunately because we can't have nice things it comes at the cost of her life. In a perfect world we could see her go on to thrive and have nautical adventures forever, but it does go to show just how determined she was to stick to her guns, and shows us that vermin don't have to be innately bad. Except for when they are. (Lookin' at you, Veil.) I think we can all agree that Romsca is a breath of fresh air and the series would be better with more characters like her in it. They're few and far between to begin with, and those that do exist need to get on this ferret's level.

My Favorite Minor Character: Oh, we already did Romsca? Okay, then, I like Viola for sort of going in the opposite direction, starting out as the abbey's resident crybaby and going on to find a taste for adventure. She's a shallow, fun character and that's all right. They did a similar thing with Cynthia in Mattimeo which makes me wonder if bankvoles are just Like This? Is this a stereotype bankvoles have? What even is a bankvole, really?

Pearls of Lutra is probably one of the better books, I feel like it suffers from too many characters more than anything. Marty could be cut in favor of Grath Longfletch. You could ignore all the rebelling corsairs who came before Rasconza. Even Tansy isn't really as interesting as her buddies Piknim and Craklyn (who are totally a couple if you ask me). The narrative is solid but it starts to get bogged down by the sheer number of players competing for the reader's attention. This is a story about fighting for what's really important: life is more precious than any trinket, and it's worth defending to the bitter end. It's also about eating the rich. Wealth and influence will only get you so far: if you act like a jerk, nobody is going to put up with your crap forever. I feel that this might be, like, the most political of the novels in that regard. You can have your whimsical talking animal story but there's some serious subtext here too. Beyond that, the ninth Redwall installment is also memorable for being the one where they burn down a church (wow) and the one with an absurdly large percentage of reptiles and pinnipeds in it. There's also something I noticed while reading: the naming convention in this book gets really redundant. Like weirdly so. Grath. Grall. Graylunk. Grimjaw. Groojaw. Guja. Kuja. Two of these dudes who don't matter are even named on the same page! It's a minor nitpick but I just find it bizarre. It can't be that hard to think of various names for filler characters, can it? I hear Sampetra is completely sold out of Gort license plates.

Overall Score: 4/5

[mathmusicred]

Rereading the Series: Mariel of Redwall

Mariel of Redwall:

(what I remember from reading it ~10 years ago [may be hilariously inaccurate]):  This is one  book that I wasn’t a superfan of as a kid. Mariel’s father is a bellmaker, and she and her father were captured by an evil warlord. Mariel is pretty feisty, so she ends up thrown out to sea or somesuch by said warlord. She ends up on the beach by Salamadastron (I think?) without any memories. Renames herself Storm and uses a thick knotted rope called Gullwhacker as her weapon. She eventually ends up in Redwall, they figure everything out, and go rescue her father. Or something.

(after reading the book) Yep, that basically sums it up, except there’s Tarquin, a hare, who’s madly in love with Hon Rosie, who’s also a hare and one of my all-time favorite people (I’d entirely forgotten that she was in this book, but it was a welcome surprise!). She has an ear-splitting laugh but is one of the bravest of the brave, plus she later settles down and has 12 little ones. She and two fellow Long Patrol members end up saving Redwall Abbey from a bunch of sea rats with flame sling throwers (boulders wrapped with vine or rope that are lit on fire and swung over the Abbey walls—that was fun). The other two hares (top-notch chaps as well, I might add) give their lives fighting, and Rosie only barely saved. I may have skimmed a lot of this book except for Rosie and her two Long Patrol buds.

Links to other rereads below the cut

Redwall

Mossflower

Mattimeo

Mariel of Redwall

Salamandastron

Martin the Warrior

The Bellmaker

Outcast of Redwall

Pearls of Lutra

The Long Patrol

Marlfox (Coming later)

The Legend of Luke

[myupostsheadcanons]

Myu Ranks Books Read in 2017

Not necessarily based on quality, but how much I had enjoyed reading them. I do like me some fluff and popcorn now and again.

The Witcher: Lady of the Lake

The last book in “The Witcher” series, at least the ones made in the 90′s, before the games made them popular and the Krampus got mad enough to write more of them.  I’ve said enough on the series in general as is.

Cycle of Galand: The Red Sea, The Silver Theif, Wound of the World, The Light of Life

The follow up to The Cycle of Arawn. Most of the fun of the books is the character interactions. The main two characters fall between Anti-heroes and Anti-Villains, but in general try to do the right thing even if their methods are rather unconventional for heroic types.

The Blade Itself, Before We are Hanged, Last Argument of Kings

It combines most of what I liked of the previous two entries, morally ambiguous protagonists and dark fantasy elements. More blood and guts than either of the others, which is expected when one of your main characters is named ‘The Bloody Nine.”

Welcome to Night Vale

If you heard of the Night Vale podcast but don’t want to jump right in, starting off with this book is a great way to introduce the world. It is more main-stream and easier to digest.

Will Save The Galaxy for Food

Snappy and witty humor. I’ve liked “Zero Punctuation!” for years, so i was already accustomed to the author’s brand of sarcastic dry humor.  A solid soft-scifi book and adventure novel, a take on what happens when old industries are replaced by new ones and people have to completely readjust their lives or get lost in the past.

NPCs, Slit the Party, Going Rogue

I am looking forward to read more in this series. I was a big D&D player in my younger years and remember most of the same tropes. Making characters against the type or complete rip offs of already established characters... also a big fan of anything with “multiverse” aspects added in.

We are Legion (We Are Bob), For We are Many, All These Worlds.

This plays into my Scifi popcorn sweet spot. I place it on par with Jack Campbell’s “Lost Fleet” series of books when it comes to substance. There is also modern fan references, as expected from a nerd from the 2010′s finding themselves in the 22nd century as a computer. No where near as patronizing as something like Ready Player One is.

The Chronicles of Prydain

Lord of the Rings Lite. Still pretty good though.

The Once and Future King

Most people remember the first half, the adaptation of The Sword of the Stone, but forget the bulk of the rest.  A great way for a more modern audience to be introduced to the Mythos, and if they are interested in more head right into reading heavier things like Le Mort de Arthur.

Anne of Green Gables

The grandma of “slice of life” stories. Wholesome and charming. The character of Anne is still relevant to this day, and the book stands the test of time.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

A great character study, ever more relevant regarding the real life problems of the author.

The Guns of August

Non-Fiction. The war that brought the world into the modern era (WWI), when global superpowers were forged and kingdoms fell.

The Scarlet Pimpernel

The first of the masked Avengers! Established many of the tropes found in later series like Zorro, The Shadow, and Batman.

Redwall, Mossflower, Mattimeo, Mariel of Redwall, Salamandastron

The first book can be read on its own. The other books become rather formulaic, repeating the same “Introduce problem, go on quest to solve problem, bad guys get picked off one by one, main villain cause their own downfall, some of the heroes die along the way, then the remaining good-guys go home to live happily ever after.”

Shards of Empire

I got this as a book years ago on a road trip and never finished it. I kept remembering parts of it and went “hm, I better go finish that.”   It is Historical Magic Fantasy set in the late-Roman Empire. It is a solid middle of the road book, but I enjoyed at least finishing it.

Valhalla

One of those books that reads like a YA novel but isn’t a YA novel, kind of like the Red Rising Series of books, but not as well written. Even if they share the same theme of the background characters being more interesting than the main protagonist. Only the first book is available on Audible, so I am in no hurry to give a recommendation or not.

American Gods

It is a meandering book. There is a good idea here, and it is classic Gaiman in the way it reads and is presented. It is perhaps a bit too over hyped for its own good. It plods along for the most part.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

One of those stories you’d appreciate more if you are in a King Arthur Mythos Kick. It puts into focus a knight that is generally a background character in the popular Arthur stories (which often center around Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Morgan/Morgause, and Mordred). 

Adventure Time did a recent tribute to the tale in the episode “Seventeen”

The Lost World

Companion piece for any Sherlock Holmes Fan. Fits nicely in with the Adventure Novel Genera that thrived in the early 1900′s.

At the Mountains of Madness

H. P. Lovecraft can get a little too gabby for my tastes sometimes. This book is no exception. Takes the Adventure Novel popular in the 30 years prior and adds Horror Elements to it.

A Scanner Darkly

Not as good as say something like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep or Man from Highcastle. It is a dark commentary on drug culture set in the “near future”.. which makes it rather striking considering the drug epidemic that is going on in our society.

Mort(e)

Other than the main characters are animals, there isn’t too much new to do about this post-apocalyptic novel. Go Read “The Road” instead.

Private (James Patterson)

Picked it up because it was a free book from Audible. It reads like an episode of NCIS, not really worth getting into the series unless you read a lot of books in the Crime and Mystery Genera.

The Woman in Black

Its short, simple, and predictable.... and made into two bad movie adaptations.

A Brave New World

There is a lot of racism and anti religion wrapped up in this speculative fiction. A world where people are cloned, treated like machines, given drugs to be happy, and generally live by the “ignorance is bliss” attitude.

Red Planet

Typical Heinlein Anti-Establishment novel... but for the tweens.

Dandelion Wine

Rather boring, but if you’ve read or plan on reading “Something Wicked This Way Comes”, this is worth a glance at.

Books in Audio Library, but hadn’t gotten to yet:

The Tao of Pooh (I’ve read this before, i do recommend it)

The Daughter of Dragons (Jack Campbell)

Endurance: Shackelton’s Incredible Voyage (Free book from Audible)

The Good Girl (Free book from Audible)

Alien: Out of the Shadows (Free book from Audible, but had in my wish list already)

Alien: River of Pain

The Hobbit

I am Legend (Free book from Audible)

Vangard: The Genesis Fleet (Jack Campbell)

[readwall-abbey]

It’s interesting to me that throughout Mattimeo, Orlando regularly defers to Matthias’ leadership, despite being a future Badger Lord. In other situations where Badger Lords and Abbey Warriors work together, the badger tends to wind up in the position of authority, for one reason or another. Sometimes there are clear reasons for this: with Martin and Boar it was at least partially that they were on Boar’s turf and he seemed to have more experience, but even in situations where they generally regard each other as equals, such as with Dandin, Mariel, and Rawnblade, when Rawnblade makes a snap decision, in almost all cases the others obey, even if he doesn’t explain it (the exception, of course, being who gets to kill Gabool).

In the case of Matthias and Orlando, I think the roles are flipped for several reasons. For one, Orlando is a future Badger Lord, so he has neither the authority nor the experience that title comes with yet, although the frank way this information is dispensed in the epilogue of Mattimeo hints that both of them potentially knew he would one day become a Badger Lord. Although he’s clearly a seasoned warrior, we don’t know much about Orlando’s past, but we do know that Matthias has successfully fought a war before, so he may well outrank Orlando on the experience side of things. And then of course in the text itself Orlando admits he’s not experienced in the woods, and Matthias is, so he definitely outranks Orlando on the navigation side of things.

Then of course there’s also the fact that Matthias is very charismatic and tends to settle easily into a leadership role, but it sort of makes me wonder how Orlando was as a leader, when he eventually reached Salamandastron and presumably settled in as their new Badger Lord, or Badger Lord in training at least. (It’s possible, I suppose, that he just went to Salamandastron without necessarily becoming the Badger Lord, perhaps there was a different Badger Lord at the time, but I doubt it -- I get the impression that badgers are sort of rare in the Redwall universe; I think the most you ever see in one room is... uh, was it Russano who had two kids? I feel like it was either Russano or Urthwyte? Whichever of them and their family. But you know I could be wrong.)