OMG. I feel the way I felt after first reading Martin the Warrior This should be the beginning of more tales.

This was not my favorite Redwall story but I was happy to be back in the Redwall world again after a long break. As always, the badger lord character did not fail to disappoint and became my favorite, although his appearance was brief.

There was a lot that went into setting up this story. I wished I had a little more background on main character Leatho Shellhound, an otter, and how the Rhulain started ruling the Green Island in the first place. But, there was a lot of riddle solving and digging in the Abbey's attics as usual that kept the story busy.

The food did not fail to disappoint, leaving me hungry after each chapter!

I've been reading Brian Jacques since 7th grade when I picked up Salamadastron. They are a little on the young side for me nowadays but I still love the stories and how they all the books relate with past stories in some way. They are quick reads and they are just cute stories with happy endings. They are nice for inbetween books or just a fast read. I plan to read these to my children one day. I am sorry Jacques passed away. I would have loved the story of Redwall to continue forever. :)

One of the best Redwall books that I've read. The otters and hares have always been my favorites, and this book has tons of both.

Although not my all time favorite (Long Patrol is definitely still #1), this is definitely in the top 5 of favorite Redwall books. Adventure outside of the Abbey is always one of my favorite things...ironic considering the series is named after the Abbey and is mostly centered around the Abbey.

The story of Tiria, an ottermaid, visited by the legendary Martin the Warrior, sets out for Green Isle, where she has been summoned to be the queen of the otterclans, and to free them from the wildcat family that forces them into slavery- High Rulain!!!

I didn't remember a lot about this one going in, but it was amazing. It takes some of the previous storylines of freeing a group of slaves from an evil ruler, but takes it up to eleven. Whole sections had me on the edge of my seat. Shellhound was a very Robin Hood-esque character, and I loved him for it. Although if I had to change anything about this book, it would be removing most of the Redwall parts. They just weren't that important to the overall story.

In lieu of reviewing the 18th book in a series of 22, primarily aimed at high-achieving children and medium-achieving young adults, here is a tiered ranking of the "good" species of characters in Redwall books, based on how cool they are.

S-Tier
Otter: Seadogs, brother. Hell yeah. They all enjoy a specific spicy soup. This is what we love.
Hares: Perilous beasts, chow down on anything in sight. The Long Patrol rules.

A-Tier:
Moles: Subterranean kings (gender neutral). Weird accents.
Badgers: Sick lineage, rule over a dormant volcano as lords, absolute tanks. Slight demerit for engaging in autocratic monarchy.

B-Tier
Mice: The manila envelope of heroes. Can't have the series without them, but vaguely bland-and-scoldy in a Captain America sort of way.
Squirrels: Nice tails. Slings are one of the most boring weapons imaginable. I see plenty of them in real life and none of them have ever been heroes.

I thought this book showed true companionship and loyalty.

Guys! This book was so good!
I cried. The deaths broke my heart and yet they were beautiful too.
Brave hearted warriors dying for their friends, for the innocent for the defenseless.
Tiria was an amazing strong female character and had such an amazing support group too.
The hares were priceless and perilous as always and the otters so self sacrificing as they fought for their freedom.
Brian Jacques never ceases to amaze me with his fascinating, beautiful stories of love, bravery, honor, valor, food, friendship and adventure.

Another grand Redwall adventure with new characters and lands, and some unexpected surprises. Redwall books may often follow a certain story "formula" but they always surprise me in some way, and this one was no exception. Great story!

I loved the addition of several characters but the story failed to capture me in the same way other Redwall stories have.