Reviews
You know, after having reread Redwall after many years, I found that book to be disappointingly simple and I felt it dragged more than need be. However, reading this second book and a prequel story to Redwall, this book was twice as good as the first book. I feel like I can safely give this one 4 stars. This story follows Martin's journey in coming to Mossflower in the first place and about the times and events that brought Martin to becoming the legend of Redwall that he became. I was very glad to see the weirdly impossible anatomical inconsistencies were absent from this book, which was a blessing. That was one of the criticisms that I had for the first book. The pacing was also much better in this book, although I did feel that it began to drag a little bit toward the end about the time that Bane showed up. The biggest criticism that I had was (view spoiler)[that a fully grown, feral cat couldn't kill a mouse with a mouse sized sword. Now, assuming he is in fact a normal sized mouse, she could have just pounced on the sucker - being Martin - and done away with him. Instead, they have this epic duel at the end and Martin is injured but lives. (hide spoiler)] I also didn't like the gender roles that are constantly enforced in this story, where female badgers have to be scholars and can't be warriors that journey to Salamandastron and where almost all the female characters are home makers and healers or villains. This is obviously not something I picked up on as a child and it irks me quite a bit. Even in Redwall, the best warrior was their female Badger, so to see that all changed between one book and the next was a little bit disappointing. Also, good grief, why are all the rats and stoats and weasels evil? Surely there must be some among them that aren't born with the devil in their souls. Still, this story was far better than Redwall was. If you're looking to start off reading this series, I would recommend reading them in chronological order. Redwall was in no way superior to this book. This story is definitely good for someone in late elementary school or older. There is violence and death, but it's wrapped up in the guise of cute animals and medieval dramas.
This second installment in the Redwall series is actually a prequel. Here we learn the history of Martin the Warrior and see the eventual founding of Redwall Abbey. Our story begins with the creatures of Mossflower being severely taxed and oppressed by Lord Greeneyes, the wildcat king of Kotir, a fortress in Mossflower Wood. Upon his death Tsarmina, his even more evil and far crazier daughter, takes his throne and vows to suck the larders of the forest creatures dry and force them to labor for her. Obviously, any animal dwelling outside of the fortress heartily disagrees with this plan, and a war ensues. The action in the series is pretty basic, as are the narratives. However, Jacques excels in two areas: description and characterization. What I remembered most about this series from reading it as a child, aside from the anthropomorphic animals with weapons, are the descriptions of food. These novels shouldn’t be read on an empty stomach, because the descriptions of feasts and even “basic” picnics or breakfasts scattered liberally throughout each novel will make you incredibly hungry. Everything sounds delicious. Jacques originally wrote these stories to tell to students at a school for the blind, and you can tell. I also suspect that he was quite the foodie, because again, all of the dishes described in the series sound truly, mouthwateringly scrumptious. The other area in which Jacques excels is in his characters. While his villains tend to be one-dimensionally evil with no redeeming qualities, his heroes and their supporting casts are wonderfully easy to root for. Mossflower is a fantastic example of this. Gonff, mousethief and poet extraordinaire, is a delight on every page. The Mask, an otter who is a mast of disguise, was fascinating. Colimbine, the Loamhedge mouse whom Gonff loves, Bella the badger, Young Dinny the Mole, Logalog the shrew, the hares from Salamandastron, and even Tsarmina’s peace-loving brother, the wildcat Gingivere, were all lovely characters. And then there’s Martin. Martin is a truly epic character, a larger-than-life hero packed into a tiny package. He’s noble and fierce and kind and fair, and he never backs down from a challenge. He’s also a very good friend. Who could help but love him? Mossflower is a worthy sequel to Redwall, and even improves upon the story in various ways. While the characters are incredibly black and white, and the stories can be a bit simplistic, I have to remind myself that children are the target audience here. And for fantasy starring animals written for children, these hold up remarkably well as an adult rereading them. It’s a world that I’ve never forgotten, and revisiting Mossflower Wood and beyond, reacquainting myself with charming characters and experiencing once again their lavish feasts, has been an incredibly cozy experience.
This book is intising and exciting with elements of friendship war and devilish plans.
