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Book Review | . |
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Redwall | . |
| . | By
Brian Jacques |
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| This is the first book written in this series but it is one of the last
that I read. Mum would not buy it because she has an original hard-back copy up in the
attic somewhere which she keeps meaning to get for me. In the end she got me my own
paperback. This book is about Redwall Abbey, a safe place in the Mossflower Woods where peaceful forest creatures can live together. It has already been built and we are told about an ancient Warrior Mouse named Martin but we do not know anything else about him (you find all that out in later books). The Abbey is run by elderly mice and badgers who make decisions and keep the peace. All the animals talk as if they were human and they have their own little society. The story opens when a mouse named Matthias arrives at the abbey from a distant village which has been destroyed by a rat warlord named Cluny the Scourge. Matthias seeks shelter amongst the friendly folk of the abbey. Before he has been there long, Cluny and his horde of nasty vermin arrive in Mossflower and demand that the Abbey dwellers surrender the abbey to them or die! Matthias is more important to the future of the abbey than anyone realises. The spirit of Martin the Warrior guides the folk of the Abbey through many clues and puzzles until they are equipped to fight for their freedom in an exciting finish to the book. Redwall is probably my second favourite book in this series. When you are reading it, you feel like you are inside the book and you are battling against the evil Cluny and his horde and helping Matthias return Martin the Warrior's sword to Redwall Abbey. It was odd reading it out of sequence because I knew things I should not really have known - like some of the ones who would survive to be in later books. It was still excellent though and I enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed it so much that I then spent a lot of my time making bows and arrows and crossbows out of cuttings off our willow tree! :) * * * * * * * I have the video of Redwall. It is a cartoon made by Tempo Videos and Nelvana ltd. (rated U). It was good and it followed the book quite well - it did change a few bits to keep it short (84 minutes). The characters were drawn quite well but not all like I would imagine them. The animation is ok - it is not Disney standard but well worth watching. Iestyn Evans - August 2000 |
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