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Redwall: Redwall, Book 1
This book is a very good book and I encourage others to read it. I myself must admit that I am not a very big book fan, in fact I totally dislike them. It was first recommended to me by one of my cousins and then after that a whole bunch of other people. My first reaction was "THIRTY PAGES! I'D RATHER EAT A BUG!" But I read it anyway because it was on my reading list and I loved it! It all started out with a little mouse named Matthias who lived in Redwall Abbey. Striving to be a great, famous, hero like his ancestor Martin the Warrior, Matthias sets out on a journey to find Martin's lost sword. Mean while an evil rat named Cluny the Scourge and his gang of rats and weasels plans the death of Matthias and the entire Abbey. Matthias battles animals from crows and foxes to even the evil Cluny. While Matthias is away on his journey, Cluny and his horde of rats and weasels attack Redwall. Will Matthias be able to come back and save his Abbey in time and relive as Martin the Warrior, his life long dream? Find out by reading the Redwall series! If you like adventure, fighting, action, and gory books this is the book for you! It has very, awesome, descriptive, deaths and injuries in it like a bunch get poisoned and eaten by a snake, some get burned to death and boiled to death, others fall from great heights to their death or get crushed under giant weights or are stabbed to death. Dozens are shot down with arrows, and one was even knocked off a wagon and crushed under the wheel! Cluny the scourge was missing an eye due to a fight with an unfortunate ferret whose skull is now carried a round on Cluny's staff. I would recommend reading this book because it is the best (and one of the only) books that I have ever read! I might even read the sequels (no...I am not feeling ill, Mrs. Wylie) So I think we all get the point READ IT!
Redwall: Redwall, Book 1
My ten year old son has read every Brian Jacques book that has been published to date. Over a year ago, when he was nine, we began reading Martin the Warrior aloud in our family. About a quarter of the way into the book he couldn't stand the suspense any longer, so he picked it up and finished it on his own. Before that he had never read a book over 100 pages on his own.We went on to read several other Redwall series books aloud in our home.Please take the time to read this book to your children (boys, especially, tend to love this series starting at age 8 or 9). Brian Jacques is a superb writer and uses beautiful descriptive language in all of his books. The feasts he describes are mouth-watering!
Redwall: Redwall, Book 1
This is an extremely well written book with wonderful and vivid characters. Brian Jacques creates a unique world where animals walk around much like humans do. The characters are well developed and he gives each one it's own unique personality.The problems I have with this book, minor as they may be is number one the violence. In a book that's intended for kids eight to fifteen it's extremely violent. There are tons of animals dying right and left and some of them die in a very violent and horrible way. I found it annoying that Brian Jacques would create a lot of time creating all these wonderful characters and then kill them off a few pages later. Why did you take so much time to introduce several characters that you were just going to kill off in twenty pages.There is no swearing in this book that I can recall and if you have a kid or adult that doesn't mind a little violence then this is a wonderfully written book.I loved the character Matthias (the hero mouse).... he is everything a true hero should be. I also loved the main villian Cluny.... he is everything you would want from a true evil rat!Overall a great book.
Redwall: Redwall, Book 1
I was a little skeptical about reading this book at first. I thought a bunch of rodents fighting against each other would be a bit boring. I kept this book for a long time before I finally got around to reading it. Boy was I happy I did!It is a story about a mouse named Matthias. He is a bit clumsy and awkward. He lives a Redwall Abbey and everything there is quiet, happy and peaceful. That is until word of Cluny the Scourge and he army were coming to Redwall. He is an evil, villianous rat who is set on destoroying everything in his way and taking control over the abbey. Matthias steps up and becomes the warrior the abbey needs in order to protect themselves. But first they need to find Martin the Warrior's sword. Can they find it in time to save everyone from the clutches of Cluny and his army?*A note to young readers & their parents: this book does have a good amount of violence and deaths. Please consider whether your child will be able to handle this kind of content.
Redwall: Redwall, Book 1
I strted Redwall in the sixth grade and became hooked right away because the books are very appealing to a young student like myself. It had action, it had mystery,it had history,and it had great villains that were really nasty nd you were happy when they were destroyed. This book I thought was a great beginning because it introduced us to loveble characters and had a great storyline. Matthias a young mouse from Redwall must set out and look for the sword,scabbard,and armor of the legendary warrior mouse Martin. With this he must become the new warrior and defend the Abbey from a clan of villains led by a a terrible villainous Rat. I will not spoil the end or the specifics for you but I will highly recomend it to anyone who loves adeventure books and is a young child who likes to read. I also recomend parents to encourage their children to read this book and all the others.
Redwall: Redwall, Book 1
I did not expect this book to be so compelling. After all, the characters are all woodland animals, suggesting that this is a children's book. As it turns out, Redwall is wonderful for children, but also solid fare for young adults. I score it lower than the adult-targetted books of Tolkien, Herbert, Aasimov, Kim Stanley Robinson, Modesitt, Melanie Rawn, Pournelle, Stirling, and others, but Redwall fills a certain niche perfectly. Full of beautiful writing, outrageous dialects, a larger-than-life cast, adventure, magic, mythology, and ancient fantasy elements, this book can please people of all ages.Jacques' gorgeous prose is evident from the very beginning:"It was the start of the Summer of the Late Rose. Mossflower country shimmered gently in a peaceful haze, bathing delicately at each dew-laden dawn, blossoming through high sunny noontides, languishing in each crimson-tinted twilight that heralded the soft darkness of June nights."The writing remains vibrant throughout the story. Jacques commands an amazing vocabulary and selects only the most active and lively words. Some of his writing seems archaic, as though it belongs in ancient fairy tales.The story moves very quickly. Jacques keeps the action fresh by throwing in new twists and adversaries.Jacques could have written the same story with human characters, yet he risked losing the older demographics by using sentient animals. This strategy works surprisingly well. People attribute certain characteristics to animals, thus enhancing the personalities and perceptions of each hero and villain. The reader can easily envision the civilized, kind-hearted mice; the villainous piratical rats; the aristocratic cat; the engineering mole sappers; the champion-climber squirrels; the sly, spying fox posing as a gypsy healer; and the boisterous fun-loving hare.Characters remain distinct and flamboyant. They all have wonderful dialects. Moles use rustic speech and the hare sounds like an English gentleman officer.Cluny the Scourge, the piratical sea rat, is one of the greatest villains in fiction. He radiates evil power and embraces his role as a mean, ugly, fearsome barbarian warrior. He is devious and instills fear in enemies and subordinates alike. Naturally, his followers are all moronic, cowardly gutter trash, allowing the classic interplay of a nasty villain who must constantly berate the buffoons around him. His army of rats, stoats, weasels, and ferrets have some interest in Satan and plenty of interest in destruction, murder, and slaving.Cluny seeks to destroy Redwall Abbey, a peaceful refuge run by gentle monastic creatures who give aid to all woodland animals. Clearly this is a tale of good against evil, as compassionate heroes oppose heartless destroyers.Yet again the book surprised me: the battles are extremely engaging, ranging the gamut from one-on-one combat to large-scale assaults and siegecraft. The book is unexpectedly brutal, showing some cold-blooded face-to-face murders.Jacques draws upon a huge variety of classic themes, archetypes and story elements. Look for the coming-to-age quest for manhood; the humble, pious soul who becomes a hero; the search for a mystical sword; the ancient prophecy in the form of a riddle; glimpses of magic and the paranormal; the adventure through strange lands; the elderly venerable advisor; and more that I will not give away. It is all deeply rooted in old European tales and Arthurian legends. Sure, it has all been done before, but it is written so well that it feels refreshing.I definitely recommend Redwall, especially to young adults who appreciate great swash-buckling adventure and comedy. It features likeable good-hearted heroes who courageously confront the evil of the world and suffer poignant deaths. It reflects the author's great imagination and optimism. This is the beginning of a great series.-Zach Zelmar