3.5 - 4 Stars

High Rhulain is the eighteenth book in the epic Redwall Series by Brian Jacques. This series is aimed at Middle-grade aged/YA readers, but I am waaaay older than that and still enjoyed the adventure.
-with an all-ANIMAL cast (woodland animals)
-Fantasy
-Action
-Adventure
-Warriors
-Drama
-Danger
-Quest
-Journey of discovery/Courage/Strength
-Emotion
-Enchanting

This is one of my favorite Redwall books. Tiria is a strong leader who steps into her role much like a younger, more confused, otterish, female Aragorn, but there isn't really a "feminism" view-point going on here; it's just that the otter culture has a Queen, the High Rhulain, and by heritage, it's Tiria. She's a brave young woman (female otter?) and is just as much a loyal friend as a commander. As usual, there's plenty of action, some family drama among the villains to spice it up, a puzzling riddle, an abundance of good food, unexpected pockets of wisdom, the bitterness of a tragedy, and a sprinkling of humor to top the whole book off. Altogether a wholesome read for any child or adult.

This one seemed similar to Pearls of Lutra to me, in that it was one of the rare occasions there was an otter protagonist I wasn't interested in. That said, it was still better than Pearls of Lutra, and I enjoyed the story overall.

Otters, cats, and prophesies, oh my!

I did enjoy High Rhulain when I got it for Christmas as a child, listening to the audiobook and reading along, and while it does have its charms and follows a pretty generic set of plot points - it's just not as enjoyable as some of the other Redwall books...

If the otters were your favourite of the Redwall folk, you might have more enjoyment in this one.

If you do want to give it a go, definitely go for the audiobook as it's very well cast and the songs are fab!

As a teenager, I read every Redwall book I could get and bought the new ones as they came out. I stopped fairly recently - after Lord Brocktree - but recently checked out the newest book, Eulalia, from a library. I was so disappointed by it that I hardly dared try any of the others, but I did want to determine whether an author I used to love had plummeted downhill recently or had just written one bad book. When I read the also-recent High Rhulain, I was happy to conclude the latter.

This is possibly not as good as some of the earlier Redwall books, but it has little or none of the awful cheesiness of Eulalia and contains much more of the good stuff: accurate references to earlier books, villains who are actually threatening, etc. I found the riddles a little annoying, and the band of rats hanging around Redwall seemed both convenient and unnecessary, but the cats were really pretty good, especially Pitru. A lot of fun to be had. (Also, for what it's worth: this looked like the same edition as the copy of Eulalia I read, but had MUCH better copy editing. Eulalia was absolutely painful.)

I do have to wonder: at what point did Jacques run out of names? I've noticed that in several of the more recent books. The early Redwall books have mostly British or Biblical-sounding names for the good guys and names like "Grubgut" and "Hangnose" for the bad guys, which was nice just because one can pronounce and remember them. A lot of the bad guys retained their name style in more recent books, but the good guys switched to names that Jacques seems to have made up, and even besides what this does to continuity of the world, they just don't seem . . . namey. This book had important characters with names like Girry and Brinty. I wasn't feelin' it.

This book used to be one of my favorite Redwalls, and it honestly still is. It may also be the source of my love of "young person has nobility unexpectedly thrust upon them; must figure out How Does One Royal?" plotlines. Or, one of the many sources for that. Whatever. The point is: I like this book, and yes, in many ways, Rakkety Tam is objectively better — they were my two favorites ages ago, and I still like them nearly the same amount now — but I just really like this. I don't know. It's like that meme with the cars. Part of the thing may be that I've never met an otter I didn't like, plus I always love the nautical Redwall books, so . . . yeah. That's what I've got.

Tribsy commandeered another sandwich. “Oi’ll just finish off ee vittles whoile us’ns bee’s waitin’. Ho joy, this ’un’s gotten cheese on it, moi fayverite!” Brinty looked at his molefriend in amazement. “Is there any sandwich that isn’t your favourite?” Tribsy shook his head solemnly. “Oi b’aint found one as yet, zurr.”

Little ’uns will repeat wot they’ve heard to anybeast, an’ old ’uns can’t resist gossipin’.

Little ’uns will repeat wot they’ve heard to anybeast, an’ old ’uns can’t resist gossipin’.

“There are many places a spirit may rest when life’s long march has ended. Every creature returns to its home, exactly as nature intended. The cowards and traitors, the liars and cheats, each in their turn is awarded, someplace that they deserved to go, as their actions in life accorded. Those who proved untrue to their friends lie thick in the dust of the earth, trodden on forever by all to show what treachery’s worth. In the mud of swamps, in rotting weeds, they lie imprisoned by evil misdeeds. But the warriors true, the brave of heart, who valiantly upheld the right, they are raised on high, to the velvet sky, bringing light to the darkness of night. They’ll stand there as long as the sky will, their honour in brightness will glow, a lesson to see, for eternity, of where the real warriors go! So ere my eyelids close in sleep, these are the words I will say, may I have the courage and faithfulness, that my spirit should join them one day.”

“Thy memory stays midst friends, ’neath water thy body lies, thy spirit lives, a warrior star, set high in darkened skies. I’ll look for thee when day is done, thou jewel in night’s crown, a fearless legend, burning brave, forever shining down.”

More winter comfort reading. Quite enjoyed this one.

A novel setting for the Redwall series is ultimately let down by a predictable plot that, unlike other entries, talks down to its readers.

When writing a review it is imperative to remember the demographic the book is aimed towards. With that in mind, Brian Jacques did not write for adults, and this was no exception. The book is an enjoyable read, and the few plot holes it had should be overlooked since most children would not even notice such things.

The book starts off enjoyable as we meet Tiria, Leatho, and a few other main characters alongside a bit of backstory. The book makes no attempt at portraying a gray area between good, and evil. The mice, and otters are the good guys, and the cats are the bad guys. Creatures in the plot are one or the other. We are introducted to characters like Pithru who are evil just because.

There are a few minor plot holes as I mentioned prior which likewise can be forgiven. I can give without spoiling too much an example in which the death of one rabbit is not explicitly mentioned that he died. I reread that part twice because I was sure he had lived as there is no obvious outright mention until creatures started talking as if he had died.

Despite a few inconsistencies, and a rather simple plot of good versus evil the book is an enjoyable read even for an adult. Things do end on a rather quick note, and in some cases just in one sentence, but again guys it is just a book for kids. It is quick, easy to comprehend, and very positive throughout the tale as good triumphs over evil.

Another good book from one of my favorite authors of children's books

It gets better every time!