My childhood from about 9-15 could be described with one name: Brian Jacques. More specifically, I read and reread his Redwall series. It was Brian Jacques and his abbey of Redwall that hooked me on reading, and it was his style that I first imitated when I developed an interest in writing. Even today, when I pick up one book of this series, I end up in a tale of amusing characters, fun adventure, and mouthwatering food all wrapped up in nostalgia and skillful storytelling. I love traveling to the western sea coast, to gaze upon the fire mountain of Salamandastron. I love entering Redwall Abbey, to walk beneath the light streaming through stained glass windows as I cast my eyes upon the legendary tapestry. I love exploring Mossflower Wood, seeing places that have changed from countless season prior, as well as the surprises hidden throughout. I love journeying down the River Moss or the meadow streams in Gousim longboats, seeing the fish and dragonflies as paddlers belt out river songs.
But I’m probably getting ahead of myself. First comes the mind behind the 25-volume Redwall series.
Brian Jacques was a British jack-of-all-trades and storyteller. His author debut occurred after he wrote a book for a school for blind children. The story found its way to the printing press, and then to the general public, beginning a long children’s series that would end up being named after this first book, Redwall.
So what is Redwall? The Redwall Series unfolds in a fictional, medieval-style world occupied by anthropomorphic animals. The protagonist of the first book is Matthias, a young mouse living in Redwall Abbey, who wants to be a warrior like his hero, Martin the Warrior. When his home is attacked by the sea rat, Cluny the Scourge, Matthias sets out to find Martin’s legendary sword to combat Cluny’s horde and save his beloved home.
From that Abbey and its surrounding forest of Mossflower Wood, the world expanded. Prequels were written, detailing the life of Martin, how he became a warrior and came to live in Redwall, and other characters influential in the formation of the world of Redwall. In the tale of the founding of Redwall Abbey, we are introduced to the dormant volcano, Salamandastron, ancient fortress of the badger lords, fierce fighters and skilled weapon smiths, and their British Royal Air Force-inspired soldiers, the Long Patrol Hares. Multiple times, characters travel across the sea, whether to distant lands or to escape from them. From the North and the East come enemies and go heroes. Slowly, over each volume, more of the world is formed, or what is known expands.
Of course as the heroes travel, whether to distant lands or just around their own homes, they encounter different creatures and what might be called cultures. The sensible moles, whose earthy ways include lots of solid wisdom, the sailor otters, fun-loving in peace but fierce in war, the rambunctious hares, perilous on both the battle field and at the dinner table, the argumentative and short-tempered shrews, and many more, including the variations of each group depending on their location. Sea otters and river otters aren’t quite the same, and never mistake a pygmy shrew for a Guosim shrew.
As you might have picked up from my descriptions so far, there are many ties throughout the stories, and not just geography or character type. In each story, there is always a riddle or puzzle to be solved, whether it be a map to the heroes’ goal or the location of a hidden item, for an example. Understandably, some people might find some of the elements a bit too repetitive. As might be expected of such a long series, sometimes these riddles overlap. What’s more, at times plot elements get recycled, resulting in two books that, while definitely different, feel very similar to each other. This could make the stories a bit tiresome to some readers.
Also, I will not claim that every volume is excellent. Some stories, such as Taggerung and Rackety Tam, I liked more than others, like Pearls of Lutra. Some I have only read once. Some I’ve reread multiple times. That’s just how series are.
In addition, as Brian Jacques initially wrote his stories for blind children, he uses a lot of descriptions, particularly for food, often toughing on taste, smell, and texture. Some people might find this tiring. I never did, nor do I now. To me, the food is part of the culture of Redwall, a symbol of prosperity, friendship, peace and goodness; where good food is absent or wasted, so they are as well. Still, if you hate descriptions of food that will make your mouth water, I’m sorry; Redwall is full of them.
One final issue some readers might have with the story is the binary nature of good and evil. Creatures such as mice, squirrels, moles, badgers, and the like are 99% good. In contrast, animals like rats, weasels, ferrets, and foxes make up the bulk of the villains. Sometimes you might end up with a vole that’s lured into helping the villains for his own gain, but these are rare. This does not mean good characters are without flaws or villains lack strengths, but the lines are clearly drawn Like with the food descriptions, I’m not bothered by this. I think having basic good-versus-evil stories are, in fact, healthy. However, this post is long enough already, so I won’t go into it here.
A final point I wish to bring up about Redwall is how, for a children’s book, it brings up tough topics. Sure, it’s not the deepest series, but it’s certainly not completely shallow. For example, in every book characters die. Good characters, even main characters, die. Sometimes it’s from courageous sacrifice, sometimes they are a casualty of war, sometimes they are killed only because they, harmless and kind though they are, happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Characters die, and it hurts, and this exposure to death within literature opens the door to thought on the universal experience of mortality.
Besides death, the Redwall series also covers topics such as revenge and killing, which can lead to important conversations. Is revenge okay? Should we ever seek revenge? What about killing? When, if ever, is it permissible? Brian Jacques gives his own answers to these questions, and I think his answers need to be examined and contemplated. Good, evil, death, revenge, killing, these are important topics and ones I wish more children’s stories today engaged.
To finish up, I love Redwall. I love the characters, the world, the food, and the stories. Any chance I get, I recommend this series because, Brian Jacques, you made my childhood, and you made it an adventure.
Redwall (c) Brian Jacques
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