The good beasts at Redwall rescue an injured bird, and it sets them on a quest to discover all they can about the legend of the ancient Queen Rhulain. Meanwhile, on an island far away, otter clans are enslaved to a ferocious wildcat society, and only the clever outlaw, Shellhound, can outwit their evil wildcat leader. Caught in the middle of these adventures is the young Redwall ottermaid, Tiria. She dreams of Martin the Warrior, who guides her to find her true destiny.

What an absolute delight! This book has everything that I love about Redwall books. Ravenous hares, wise old scribes, adorable moles, silly shrews, and of course brave warriors ready to defend all good beasts.

As with all Redwall books, I made sure to have a stash of snacks on hand since the characters are constantly eating the most delicious food. They have massive feasts and parties, but even a simple breakfast will make your mouth water with all the descriptions of pastries and fruit pies and cordials.

I really loved Tiria's character. She is fiercely loyal and kind. She is always learning and figuring things out. She tends to sit back and see what other characters are going to do, and then she makes her own decision and takes action in her own way.

There are so many good supporting characters in this book. They kind of steal the show! Shellhound has such great development and depth. I just adored him.

I was laughing and giggling at the hares and all the banter between the otters. It's just wonderful, and gives so much depth to each culture that we encounter.

The action and pacing in this book are really excellent. The plot is always moving forward, but there are also scenes that take the time to show our characters grieving or resting or laughing together. It builds up the emotional components of the story, so that when you get to the big battles, we really care about what happens to the characters.

Theme: More can be accomplished together

A whole new land in the Redwall world is explored by another female heroine. This is a great new direction in this world to explore with more new creatures to discover.
Otters are the animals on the mainstage of this book as well as hares from the Long Patrol.

Trademarks are good food, good songs and poetry and lots of swashbuckling.v Excellent lyrical storytelling. A great listen as well.

One of the more generic Redwall books. The characters were even less developed than normal; I think this can be blamed on the fact that there was action taking place in as many as five different locations simultaneously (Redwall books usually have only three at once), so there were fewer scenes than normal dedicated to each set of characters.

Tiria annoyed me greatly. She was never really a part of the main story because she was just a very young Abbeymaid with no experience. In most scenes, she had nothing else to do but chat about her destiny with the characters who were actually driving the story. She was completely ignorant of everything to do with Green Isle and with warfare (except for the occasional use of the sling), so she just stood back and looked pretty while other characters got developed.

Banya, another ottermaid who was more of a secondary character, did a lot more for the story. I found her infinitely more interesting as a battle strategist and a cool, collected warrior fighting for her freedom, able to keep her calm even after her brother was slain. I wish the book had been about her instead. She certainly was much more capable of being queen.

But I guess that's the most realistic part of the whole book. Hereditary monarchies are one of the most absurd forms of government because they give one family the power to rule regardless of its members' abilities. If Redwall was real, Tiria's rule would be a failure. Foreign queens are inevitably resented.

The book was on its way to earning 5 stars. However, the rushed ending hurts its score. I wish the contents of the finale were spread out over more pages

This story is classic Redwall. In this episode, wildcats have made slaves of a group of otters on the Green Isle. The spirit of Martin the Warrior visits a young ottermaid named Tiria. She I destined to free the otters and become their queen or High Rhulain.
Riggu Felis is the villain trying to keep control of his island against a renegade otter and his own son. He also has a vendetta against bird's thanks to a Hawk ripping off part of his face.
Back at Redwall, Tiria's friends try to help solve the mystery of the High Rhulain while fighting a
young band of vermin trying to prove themselves.
The only thing that didn't make sense was why Tiria went off on her own and didn't take her father or any other Redwallers. It's not as if she arrives at the Green Isle alone. She makes a stop at Salamandastron and is accompanied by a platoon of the Long Patrol hares. One would think that her father at least would want to be with her as she becomes queen but what do I know. I am not an otter.

Not my favorite in the series, just too many characters, and some plot points that didn't really go anywhere. Still a nice entry in the Redwall series with some interesting otter lore.

High Rhulain
Author: Brian Jacques Pages: 341
High Rhulain is another book of the Redwall series, written by Brian Jacques. The setting is consisted of two places: Redwall Abbey and Green Isle. The protagonists are Tiria Wildlough, an ottermaid, and Cuthbert Frunk, a hare with many roles. The antagonist is Riggu Felis, a wildcat ruling on Green Isle.
Tiria Wildlough has peacefully live in Redwall Abbey with her friends for many seasons, but all that changes with the arrival of an osprey, captured by vermin. After saving the huge bird and helping it recover, Tiria receives a vision from Martin the Warrior, the founder and protector of Redwall Abbey. Little by little, Tiria and the others realize that she must go to Green Isle on a quest to save the otters from the rule of Riggu Felis and the wildcats. With the Guosim’s help, which is the Guerilla Union Of Shrews In Mossflower, Tiria meets with Cuthbert Frunk W. Bloodpaw, Terror of the High Seas. Cuthbert is a strange hare with many costumes: he’s a shrew, sea otter pirate, a Major in the Long Patrol, a band of warrior hares in Salamandastron, and a Badger Lord. Tiria later learns, while in her visit of Salamandastron, a large mountain, that Cuthbert became crazy because his daughter was killed by sea raiders. Cuthbert killed all the sea raiders, but was almost killed. He recovered from his wounds, but his mind never did. Cuthbert’s ship was named after his daughter-the Purloined Petunia. With Cuthbert’s help, Tiria and Pandion, the osprey saved by her, set out for Salmandastron, then Green Isle.
The Badger Lord, Lord Mandoral Highpeak, tells Tiria about the High Queen Rhulain, including the Queen’s tragic death and her clothing. Mandoral gives Tiria the armor. The only thing Mandoral couldn’t make was the coronet. They search where the High Queen Rhulain died, near the mountain. With no luck, Tiria decides to go to Green Isle anyway. Back at Redwall Abbey, Abbess Lycian and the other Redwallers work on the question about the High Queen Rhulain, from a journal about the Rhulain’s brother’s wife, to riddles leading to the discovery of Corriam (Rhulain’s brother)’s lance and the coronet. Meanwhile, Tiria, Pandion, and Cuthbert, along with about three score Long Patrol hares, sail on the Purloined Petunia for Green Isle. When they arrive, Brantalis, another bird Tiria helped at Redwall, delivers the coronet the Redwallers found. With her full regalia, Tiria, Cuthbert, Pandion, Brantalis, and the Long Patrol join with the otters on the island to free the slaves Riggu Felis still has captured. Who will win this war? What will become of both sides? Read the book to find out!
The theme in this story is dualities. Good is against evil-the otters and hares against the wildcats. The wildcats, led by Riggu Felis, battles for Green Isle against the otters and Long Patrol hares, led by the High Queen Rhulain (Tiria) and Cuthbert Frunk. This theme shows how the good must save their kind against the evil, and it always pays off. I rate this book, on a scale of one to five stars, four stars, because it was a great book, with intriguing mysteries and compelling adventure. It was missing a little bit of action, but otherwise, it was great to read. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure and action, with some good fiction in it.

5+ stars (6/10 hearts). Man, I did not expect to love this as much as I did! First off, I am totally a sucker for brave outlaws fighting tyrants *squints at William Wallace, Robin Hood, Wilhelm Tell, and many other childhood heroes* so, ya know… I fell hard for this novel. (Actually, the beginning reminded me of the scene in n  The Little Duken where Richard rescues the falcon from Lothaire. So extra bonus points there, because TLD was one of my childhood staples.)

Also, THIS BOOK IS ABOUT OTTERS!! I LOVE THE OTTERS!!!

So I liked Tiria from the beginning—she was a great otter, warrior, friend, and daughter. And of course Skipper is a darling father. ;) I wasn’t as huge a fan of the hint of feminism, but Tiria was a great Queen, and I did really like how everything worked out to make her fulfill the old legends. ;D Also I loved Leatho (of course) and all the other otters, and their struggles against the cats (the constant swinging between striking for freedom and then having to figure out how to rescue or save families and friends… it was definitely a gripping read). The addition of the birds (they’re hilarious), and the Guosim, and the hares… yeah, I loved them all and they all played their parts so well. But really, I loved the plot even more than the characters. It gave me all the Saxon-England-fighting-the-Danes-or-Normans feels!!!

And the ending is E P I C. Really. So cool. So well done.

Also the cat family dynamic was verrrry interesting.

So yeah. Bad review, but I really loved this and I can’t wait to reread (and re-review) it!

A personal favorite in this series.

This is one of the weaker Redwall books. The A and B Plots are interesting, and feature some awesome moments, but even they don't have a lot of oomph. The C Plot is lacking somewhat more than usual, even with one distinct character that I do like a lot. The villain is neat, but not great. The main character doesn't get as much time to shine as several others surrounding her, and it all boils down a little too simply in the end. That said, this also has one of the better B plots in the series, and its characters and moments elevate the story, including at the points when it intersects with the other plotlines. As I've said before, it's not like Brian Jacques to write a fully "bad" story anymore. This is still good.

This was a super easy read. The stories go quicker than they used to. I don't know if that is because I am an adult now or the author didn't put as much into these later books. Either way, they are good easy stories. This story is not different from all of the others. A young woodland creature must venture forth and battle vermin while finding out who they really are. The hares, shrews and otter tribes are all in attendance.