Book Review: Mariel of Redwall by Brian Jacques

"Old stories told by travelers / Great songs that bards have sung / Of Mossflower summers, faded, gone / When Redwall stones were young / Great hall fires on winter nights / The legends who remembers / Battles, banquets, comrades, quests! / - Recalled 'midst glowing embers / Draw close now, little woodlander, / Take this to sleep with you / My tale of dusty, far-off times / When warrior hearts were true / Then store it in your memory / And be the sage who says / To young ones in the years to come / Ah yes, those were the days...." - From the introduction

****

I probably mentioned earlier that I love Brian Jacques as a writer. His prose is beautiful. The first book in the Redwall series, called - wait for it - Redwall - was the best one so far for me: I gave it one of my rare "A" rating, also known as five stars (out of five). The second book (Mossflower) was good on its own but received a "B" due to similarities to its predecessor, and book three (Mattimeo) got a "C" for further formula. Alas, I must say about this one...it was different. I was impressed. Granted, there was a poem-riddle, but something I can't quite pin about it made it different. Please don't ask me unless in jest; it just seemed original. The second book takes place many,  many seasons prior to the first, and this one is somewhere between those eras.

PLOT: Mariel, a mouse maid and a slave to the wicked sea-rat captain Gabool the Wild, is lost overboard during a violent storm. After a bit of finding shore and surviving there, she comes across three hares who place her in the care of a squirrel named Pakatugg, who [sort of] leads her to the currently incomplete abbey of Redwall. She remembers nothing of her previous life until, as I recall, the animals at Redwall give her some sort of sleep-inducing medicine which causes her to unconsciously recount her forgotten tale. There are at least two or three different sides among the sea rats, ever-quarreling creatures with awesome names for both the rats themselves (Saltar, Grimtooth, Riptung, Graypatch, Kybo, Lardgutt, etc.) and their ships (Darkqueen, Seatalon, Greenfang, etc.). Plenty of awesome scenes and such, and overall the best installment so far besides the original.

The problem I've noticed with the series overall is, as much as I hate to say it, hints of racism. There are some exceptions, such as wildcats, sparrows, and shrews; but mostly animals are considered good or evil based on their species. Among the benevolent creatures of Mossflower Wood are mice, badgers, hedgehogs, squirrels, moles, voles, otters, and hares, whereas foxes, rats, ferrets, weasels, stoats, and adders are considered to be horrible vermin simply for being born into their respective races. Earlier this month I made a post about the first villain, a rat named Cluny the Scourge (just happens to be a Redwall baddie, as the point would remain for any story), and how he didn't strike me as evil. An honest opponent is not wicked, in my view, simply for fighting for his or her rights. A backstabbing liar who harms totally innocent people for a selfish purpose? Now there's a problem. A real villain (sorry, Cluny, old pal, you're still awesome, particularly when you fight Matthias) needs to be unethical, I should say. And truth be told, a lot of the other villains (Gabool, Tsarmina, Slagar) are downright heartless. But saying that being a species of aggressive or predatory nature plays dirty simply by being a rat or fox seems rather unfair to me. That's why I disagree with people who hate spiders or snakes or what-have-you: I don't mind if you have a fear or phobia; just don't regard them as evil beings simply because of their birth...or, er, hatching, or whatever. I take it back, in fact - don't let me tell you how or what to think, as long as you don't expect me to understand or agree with it.

Final grade: B

On Cluny the Scourge

"Cluny was a god of war! Cluny was coming nearer!" - from Redwall, end of Chapter 2

For those of you who do not know, Cluny is the villain from the original novel Redwall by Brian Jacques. He's one of my favorite baddies, a rat with a poison barb attached to his tail. His voice in the audio book was amazing. He was freaking intimidating, if you're a mouse or something.

Yet he didn't seem especially evil. He did things I wouldn't do, sure. He tried to conquer Redwall Abbey. But...I don't know, he meant business. He may have been in opposition to the woodland creatures of Redwall, but I don't recall him doing anything unspeakable. He always kept his word and was an honorable, non-backstabbing warrior. He told his rats to execute the fox Sela (who I didn't think was that bad either) and her son Chickenhound (who was actually quite a nasty, evil villain in Mattimeo [he survived the execution attempt, but Sela did not]). The rats jabbed both foxes several times with spears and left them in a ditch. Ouch! Other than that, and maybe the bit about threatening the cook, Friar Hugo, with death, I thought he was a reasonable rat and an honest foe.

This is just my viewpoint. What do you think?

Winter Reviews: Mattimeo by Brian Jacques

I listened to this audio book several months ago and never reviewed it for some reason. Now don't get me wrong: I love Brian Jacques' writing style. His descriptions are beautiful. Apparently he once wrote for blind children. But the story lines, while good individually, are starting to get formulaic, as my friend Elijah would say. I think a bit of formula is OK, but this (the third book, after Redwall and Mossflower) is starting to push it. If you read my post about the original novel, you'll see that I gave it an "A" - a grade that still stands. The prequel, Mossflower, got a "B" due to a repeated formula.

Now this one, which takes place a couple years (eight seasons, as they say in the book) after the first one. Redwall Abbey has had that amount of time filled with peace and happiness, when a fox and his band of rats and weasels and such approach the castle and are allowed in to perform circus tricks. They drug their hosts and kidnap several young, including Mattimeo, the son of the abbey's champion warrior Matthias - the main character of book one and, actually, the main character of this one as well. The fox, Slagar the Cruel (pronounced "Croo-elle" by the awesome and rather scary voice actor), turns out to be none other than Chickenhound from the first book. He was not allied with Cluny (the original villain, who was a rat) - he represents another faction altogether - but I found him to be much more evil than Cluny. Cluny, while awesome, never struck me as a horrible being, more just a warlord who meant business. Maybe I'll make a different post about that rat. But the Sly One (Slagar) kidnaps and kills totally innocent creatures rather than only those who stand against him. He murders Friar Hugo (a Redwall mouse), which is a shame because Matthias had just barely saved Hugo at the end of Redwall, when Hugo was being held hostage by Cluny just  before Cluny met his end. Anyhow, this is book three I'd like to discuss.

This one had a pretty original plot, as Mossflower was sort of a recycled version of the first, but what threw me off was the riddles. I like a good riddle now and then, but it seems that every single book "just happens" to involve a riddle painfully similar to the other ones. It's been several months and now I might attempt to listen to another one (Mariel of Redwall). Each book I've read seems stand-alone enough, but still...gahh. I must say I loved Slagar, as horrid as he was (terrible creature morally, but a great villain). Horrible people (or animals) can make great characters.

One other thing gets me about this whole series, or what I've read of it: Jacques was probably not a remotely racist man, but it seems like certain creatures are labeled as vessels for good or bad: rats, foxes, and snakes are evil; mice, hares, badgers, and so forth are good. There are also some creatures who have both good and rotten members, such as wildcats, sparrows, and shrews. It doesn't seem right that every time a fox or rat approaches the abbey, he or she is patronized and ostracized.

I may sound a little fifty-fifty on this book, because I am. I enjoyed it, but I hope four is less redundant. Basil Stag Hare is still awesome. "What, what?"

Happy reading,

Lewis

On Sequels

"Call no man happy ... until he is dead." - Neil Gaiman, American Gods

"Obla di, obla dah, life goes on, bruh! La-lala-lala-la!" - The Beatles

Sometimes we accomplish something and feel great about our victory. Sometimes we lose something and despair. Never is it the end. That's what I like about the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and the novels of Brian Jacques: the adventures continue, as in life. Now I don't mean to contradict my older post "The Serial Killer" - Hollywood certainly does not know when to stop with sequels and remakes and so on - but if done properly, a second story and so on can be great. Not necessarily a continuation of where the last one left off; it can also be an entirely different story in the same universe.

I was very happy when I got out of middle school, but it was not the end. New adversities popped up, and t obe quite frank I am glad they do. Life's no fun without a bit of spice, and while the outcome might not always be favorable, if it was I'd get bored. Olivia posted a while back about the novel Things Fall Apart and how just because Okonkwo dies at the end, that doesn't make it less of a story. (Spoilers, sorry! Too late.) And I agree wholeheartedly.

Life does not end until death. And perhaps not even then.

Book Review: Mossflower by Brian Jacques

This is a prequel to Redwall (which I reviewed a while back) and is the second book in the Redwall series. I loved the first one, as well as this one, but this one was less awesome than the first. Not to say it wasn't brilliant, but it just wasn't quite as brilliant.

The hero is a mouse called Martin the Warrior - a legend by the time the first book takes place - and when he travels to Mossflower country, he finds it ruled by the wildcat Tsarmina, Queen of the Thousand Eyes. Martin believes that to slay Tsarmina, he must find the mythical mountain of Salamandastron and meet the badger Boar the Fighter. It's got great description of landscapes and great-sounding food, as well as delightful characters such as the hares of Salamandastron and the mousethief Gonff.

But certain parts, such as Martin's and Bella of Brockhall's characters (Matthias and Constance), and the riddle-solving, seemed a little too close to Book One. I like it when series can produce something entirely new with each installment. Overall I liked it, however.

Final Grade: B

The Serial Killer

"SQUIRREL!!!" - Doug (talking dog from Up)

No, this is not about a murderer. It is about books killed by serial overload. I'm saying that if a book is part of a huge series, then many people do not have the focus or speed to read through them in order. It is different if the author simply has many books--many of my favorite writers do--but if there are twenty books in one string, they have to be pretty darn good for me to read all of them *cough, Robert Jordan*.

The same applies to the telly. Many things I have begun or plan to have a bazillion seasons in order, and while some of them are almost definitely worth it (Doctor Who), I simply don't get enough time to watch all - especially since nobody mentioned the good shows until a year ago. I don't watch a whole lot of TV, but there are certain things of interest. Another thing is that I don't always have the time.

I don't expect you guys to read every post I've ever written--you don't need to scan through them all to understand this one, do you? If there is a technique to doing so, please comment and tell me.

The recently deceased (rest in peace) Brian Jacques seems somewhat of an exception to me. I am listening to his first in the series (book and series both called Redwall) and have the one for the prequel, Mossflower. There are, I believe, twenty-one books in order, but this one is pretty good so far. I plan on at least listening to the first two, and eventually the whole series. This is because it retains interest, and because each book sounds like it has its own ending (not "To Be Continued").

I have school in about an hour, so I'll leave it there. I don't think I've ever blogged this hour on a school day before. Also, I seem to be BEDA-ing without exactly meaning to--I've been blogging a lot, but not because it is April.

Anyway, take care.
Lewis