Has anybody read Brian Jaques' Redwall series?

[Guest Karana Majin]

I have to admit I am hooked! I know they are for young adult readers, but I am enjoying the heck out of these books. I just find them so cute and light-hearted and the characters are funny and adorable. Let me know what you think, even if it's just that you read them in middle school or something.

 

Kar

[Kadere]

Yes I have, in fact I've mentioned them quite a few times in my recommendations. I started reading them when I was in 5th grade, and I still read them today. Since one comes out every year, I get it at christmas. I've always loved them, though the stories almost all follow the same generic formula. My favorite one has to be Martin the Warrior, that one was just freaking cool.

 

Glad you're enjoying them.

[Guest Karana Majin]

I just finished Mattimeo, which is the one after Martin. I loved Martin, too. I'm trying to read them in order, which I rarely do successfully with old established series.

 

They DO follow a generic formula, but it's a formula I like, so, so far so good!

[Incubate]

I started reading Redwall, but i never got the point,

 

Here's the jist of it as i see it

 

Lots of little furry creatures running around on weilding tiny swords and daggers and axes and stabbing the heck out of each other...

 

I wish Brian Jaques would write one book where all of the Redwall Characters were getting ready for a giant Battle, then a bunch of hungry Vikings, or some such, come along, spot lunch, and have a feast...

 

That would be more realistic

[Kadere]

....I'm sorry but Mattimeo comes after Mossflower, not Martin the Warrior. Martin is the 6th in the series. It goes Redwall, Mossflower, Mattimeo, Mariel of Redwall, Salamandestron, Martin the Warrior, The Bellmaker, Outcast of Redwall, Pearls of Lutra, The Long Patrol, Marlfox, Legend of Luke, Lord Brocktree, The Taggerung, Triss, Loamhedge, Rakkety Tam, High Rhulain.... Unless you're reading in chronological order, but even then Mattimeo comes after Redwall not Martin the Warrior.

 

It doesn't really matter if you read them in any order, since almost none of them have any REAL connection to any other. They're all entertaining though. The only one I don't own is The Bellmaker, and I don't really know why.... I should go to my used bookstore and buy for $4.

[Kadere]

I started reading Redwall' date=' but i never got the point,

 

Here's the jist of it as i see it

 

Lots of little furry creatures running around on weilding tiny swords and daggers and axes and stabbing the heck out of each other...

 

I wish Brian Jaques would write one book where all of the Redwall Characters were getting ready for a giant Battle, then a bunch of hungry Vikings, or some such, come along, spot lunch, and have a feast...

 

That would be more realistic[/quote']

 

....but they're aren't any humans in the world, so where would the Vikings suddenly come from?

[Guest Karana Majin]

You're right! I've read Redwall, Mossflower and Mattimeo. Those three in that order. I assumed that other one was Martin the Warrior because it was about him. Now I have another one to look forward to.

[Jade]

Okay, take it from someone who, before WoT, was obsessed with RedWall. I have EVERY MAJOR book in that series.

 

It Goes (By order of release, not timeline):

 

Redwall

Mossflower (My FAV)

Mattimeo

Mariel of Redwall

Salamanastron (My hard Second-fav)

Martin the Warrior (Thirdly so)

The Bellmaker

Outcast of Redwall (A BLOODY GOOD SECOND TIE!!)

Pearls of Lutra (Based more on the otters, twas kinda nice)

The Long PAtrol (Based on the Hares, again, nice)

Marlfox (my least fav...really odd)

The Legend of Luke (Another 2nd Tie)

Lord Broktree (GOOD tie for 3rd)

Taggerung (2nd least fav...again, odd)

Triss (Funky, 3rd least fav)

Loamhedge (Good book)

Rakkety Tam

High Rhulain

 

As to chronology...hrmm...VERY Hard...but.. I'd say:

 

Mossflower

Loamhedge

The Legend of Luke (based on luke)

Martin the Warrior

Salamandastron

The Legend of Luke (based on visitors)

Mattimeo

Mariel of Redwall

The Bell Maker

Outcast of Redwall

Lord Broktree

PoL

TLP

MarlFox

Tagg

Triss

 

 

There, I'm done ^_^

 

Only now do I see that Kadere also posted it :)

 

and I havent read Rakkety Tam, High Rhulain

[Kadere]

Martin the Warrior comes before Mossflower when Martin was a slave.

[Fantasy Fan]

Ohhhh I use to read these books back in the day. Boy were they good.

 

Ill have to read them again some time...

[shanara74]

I used to read 'em and got 3/4 of the way through the series about three years ago... then came high school, which eats up all my time except in the summer. *note: This includes friends, parties, skinny-dipping, and whatever else.

[Guest Cadsuane]

I have been reading them since I was a child, and I own nearly all of them! Although, I found a couple years ago that I was getting quite tired of the formula, so I figure I'll give it another couple years before I reread any of them. :D

[Guest Karana Majin]

I finished Mariel of Redwall while I was here at the beach (Hilton Head!) Anyway, I liked it. I had found some of the previous books to be slightly (slightly) misogynistic? Chauvenistic? Chivalrous? I don't know exactly, but very much implying men were the warriors and women needed protection, unless you're a giant badger.

 

So, needless to say, I enjoyed this one more as it had a strong female lead. But boy, the formula is in place! Warriors go off on a quest, someone finds and tries to take over the Abbey. But heck, I enjoy them anyway!

 

KarStar

[Niamh Sedai]

I started read them when I was about 9. I loved Redwall and Mattimeo but after that I lost interest fairly swiftly :S The confusion about chronology (I like to read everything in order ;)) really got to me so I sort of gave up...

[drizzt_scimitar]

The problem with the chronilogical order is that they are written in sort of "chunks" of time (where several books will be linked together), and that there are spaces between the major groupings of books. Then, another book will come out and may fill up a hole, add onto another "chunk", or start a new area entirely of its own. So, a timeline is always going to be incomplete.

 

I've read most of the books in the series except for the latest few, and I loved them. They do get a bit formulaic (hmmm.... another warlord from far away with a horde of evil vermin), but you can't help but like them anyway. Martin the Warrior is probably my favorite character, and I think that Mossflower is my favorite book in the series (I love the quest to find salamandastron).

 

As far as the "chunks" go, the first one mainly features Martin the Warrior. In order, here are those books:

 

-Lord Brocktree (earliest book, but doesn't feature Martin)

 

-Martin the Warrior Deals with Martin as a slave

 

-Mossflower Martin helps start Redwall

 

-The Legend of Luke Deals with Martin's father and some with Martin (although parts of this book are a flashback to before Martin the Warrior)

 

-The Outcast of Redwall

 

That's the end of this "chunk", and then many undefined years pass before the next group of books starts:

 

-Mariel of Redwall

 

-The Bellmaker

 

-Salamandastron

 

That's sort of the next "chunk". Then, there is the section of time of the original book:

 

-Redwall

 

-Mattimeo

 

-Pearls of Lutra (I liked this one a lot too)

 

After this is where a lot of the later books come in , so I think that I will stop there.

 

I'm new, by the way... so hello all!

[Guest Karana Majin]

Hi, and welcome! I've been reading them in published order, but since I am reading them all nearly one on top of the other, I'm not having too much trouble keeping the chronology straight in my head.

 

I do like these. I went to my parent's for the 4th and I left my book (Salamandastron) at home and I was devastated! How could I lie on the dock with no book to read!?

[Kivam]

gotta say, Brian Jacques feels the same to me as Terry Brooks does - great stuff the first time you read the story, good the second, dull the third, deadly the fourth (and I don't mean rereading the same book)

[Guest Karana Majin]

Yeah, I may be hitting that point, although I love it. I'm a high school teacher because I get along with adolescents, mainly because I still think I am one. And I tend to read a lot of juvenile/young adult fiction, anyway. (The librarian at my school asks me for reviews since I am one of the few admitted fantasy sci-fi readers there.)

 

Anyway, I am really digging the books this summer because they all take place in the summer (so far) and they all have the beautiful descriptions of these idyllic, pastoral places. I tend to get lost in the imaginings of the places and I feel happy. And having just finished a master's in engineering, my 2nd year of teaching, and my education classes, I am taking this summer off from thinking! So, they work for me. But I don't know if I will make it through the whole chronology.

[Kadere]

Well one of the great things about the series is you can come back to them when ever you want. So if you start getting sick of them, take a break and read some other series, then come back and read a few.

 

That's why I like the fact that since I got REALLY into them when I was like 9, I can now just buy the new ones when they come out once a year and read them as a light snack, then go back to something like GRRM, or RJ, or Terry Goodkind, or Hobb....

[taters]

They were probably the first proper series of books i read, my favourite was the first i read - outcast of redwall, followed by the Long patrol, that one was cool!

[Angel of Death]

Yeah they are pretty good. Even for adults.

[Guest Karana Majin]

I love how they have such pastoral elements, and so far the ones I read have always taken place in summer. So, it puts me in mind of fertile green meadows in England, lazy naps under a tree by a river, etc. Very wonderful soothing images for a book. And as someone said, they are not difficult to apprehend, but they ARE entertaining. Well worth the read.

 

I think I took 4 of them home from my school library this summer (I'm a teacher) and finished them all in June. *pouts* But I needed a break from them, they start to get repetitive if you read them consecutively.

[AtheistMonk]

I had almost forgot about these - stopped reading them 5 years ago, when they began to become a bit asinine. I had read about 7-8 of them by then, and I think it might be worth re-reading them, considering that I used to like them. My favorite was most definately Marlfox, which was, as far as I recall, the last one I read.

[Hannibal King]

Yeah. I read em. And I liked em.

[HunterShaw]

I also started Redwall when I was about nine. I loved them. From then on I read every single book, though it was a bit hard for me to get ahold them at that time. (I had to borrow them from a neighbor).

Even now I still love them because they are so wholesome. I don't re-read them as much anymore however. I still read each one when it comes out though. But you guys are right; the story is much the same in each book. The redwallers solve a mystery while the only warrior around goes on an epic quest. Gets a bit boring after the sixth or seventh time