I love all the redwall books, but I think this is my favorite. You can't help but love the otters!

Such an incredible story! It was good to get back into the world of Redwall with its array of characters, both good and bad. The story is great, with close-calls, a bit of wit and poetry, and the fine food. You just can't beat the feasts that the abbeydwellers put on throughout the story. The main hero, an otter, embarks on a journey back home, while the Redwallers have troubles of their own. Great writing!

With multiple story threads, book keeps your interest. Good character study of the Taggerung. Lots of violence in this book, lots of it gratuitous and cruel.

While I'm firmly of the opinion that no Redwall novel is inherently bad (with the possible exception of Loamhedge, and that's only for its bat's arse stance on being able to 'cure' disability with the POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING) Taggerung doesn't live up to the high standards of its predecessors. It doesn't help that the plot is almost identical to that of Outcast of Redwall, already a fairly mediocre entry into the series, albeit it flipped on its head. This time it's a good creature being raised by vermin, and the results are even more predictable. It's never Veil's actions in Outcast that make his outcome certain, but the actions of everyone around him, convinced that as a ferret he'll turn out to be evil. In Taggerung, despite the fact that Deyna is raised by vermin he never once acts in ambiguous manner; his first on-page deed as an adult is to spare a creature's life. He doesn't even speak with a villainous accent. Maybe posh Abbey voices are genetic.

Once we've got the obviousness of Deyna's good character out of the way, we've got the Abbey plot, and it's another of those 'solve the riddles to find the new Abbey Leader' type of affairs. It's not a spoiler to tell you the Abbess will be Mhera because Cregga Badgermum tells Mhera it'll be her about five chapters into the novel, which really does render Mhera solving a load of puzzles and then being appointed leader at the end of the book completely pointless. I say puzzles, once the initial location riddle is solved, it just amounts to Mhera and her friends finding scraps of cloth with 'ITTAGALL' written on them all over the place. Don't worry, fair review reader, no-one knows what 'ITTAGALL' is supposed to mean, and when it's revealed at the end of the book it doesn't make a great deal of sense either. You know how they say a joke isn't funny if you have to explain it? Turns out a Redwall riddle doesn't work if you already know the outcome but people keep leaving bits of cloth everywhere. The 'Fifteen Seasons Later' concept, flinging all the characters ahead a few years is a great idea though.

What Taggerung does have over previous books is its cast of villains. We've got the suave, genre savvy Sawney Rath, scheming mother Antigra, her stupid son Gruven, the deadly tag team of Eefera and Vallug Bowbeast, and finally the terrifying Ruggan Bor. The Juska clan conceit feels really fresh and interesting, there's always this sense of danger just bubbling up under the main story. It's a shame then when, right at the end, Russano the Wise shows up out of nowhere and sends the main gang away, robbing us of an epic Abbey smack-down. Deus Ex Badger Machina does not a good resolution make.

With that said, there are a lot of things Taggerung does really well. Nimbalo is a deftly written and well rounded character, and his journey with Deyna through the flatlands is never less than engaging. Like that bit where they stop a gang of pygmy shrews making Wicker Man-like sacrifices to a giant eel, or when they reveal his dad was beating him as a child because whu-uuu-uuut the f*ck that came out of nowhere. Brutal. Cregga's death is one of the best written moments in the whole series, poignant and bittersweet. Her death lends the book a sense of finality as well; Taggerung marks the final Redwall book to feature recurring characters and not be set in a far-flung, non-specific future period. It's Triss after this. And we all know what Triss means. Nazi Ferrets. And not in a good way.

Also, and it's a small niggle, but I first read this book when I was eleven and it annoyed me then and it annoyed me again on this re-read so I'm pointing it out. When Mhera is OFFICIALLY announced as Abbess at the end of the book, one of her closest friends leans in and says 'best wishes from myself, Fwirl and Friar Bob.' That's not something you say to your best mate when they've just been offered the role of top dog! That's what you write in a card when your mum tells you your second cousin has just passed her driving test and you don't know her very well but you have to put something, otherwise it would be rude, right? It takes me RIGHT OUT of the story and I've been bothered by it for almost twenty years. I'm sorry.

I found myself laughing and jumping through every page- Tagg is a character that I really could follow through with, from the first page to the last.

This is the story of a baby otter who was kidnapped from Redwall, who was kidnapped for the purpose of being made into a warrior that legend spoke about for this clan of miscreants. I was so invested in this character and what was going to happen to him. I liked this story a lot. This is a wonderful series.

From memory, as with all the Redwall books, great stories but interruptions of poetry & song lyrics irritate me a bit. Cracker read though!

Taggerung is a book about a Redwall otter named Deyna who is kidnapped by vermin as a baby so that he can be a Taggerung, a chosen beast fated to be the fastest, strongest, vermin in his or her lifetime, and lead their clan to victory against any foe. Tagg, as he is called by his clan however, defies his destiny as a Taggerung and leaves his clan to seek out the place of his birth. One thing I liked about this book was that the characters, who are animals, talk in different ways depending on what species they are. Another thing I liked about this book was that it switched viewpoints a couple of times a chapter sometimes it was Deyna's viewpoint, sometimes Mhera's, his sister's viewpoint, some sometimes Gruven the villain's viewpoint.

February 2020: It has been ten months since I last read this book and I am not ashamed. I listened to the audiobook this time. The first time I read Taggerung (back in 2006 - oh my!) it was the audiobook book. Listening to it again reminds me how entranced I became with the story and characters because of Jacques’ narration and the voice actors for the characters. Also, perhaps reading it twice in a year helped the story stick better so I was able to actually think about the characters and plot more than just taking the story at face value. This time after finishing the story I find that I appreciate the simple charm of the story for a lot of different reasons. What is the difference between the vermin killing and Tag and Nimbalo killing? Their intentions. And I think that while the morality of the Redwall stories can be taken as simple black and white there is a lot of complexity to it as well that I want to explore further.

Some of me still wonders if the reason Taggerung remains my favorite Jacques book is the memory of almost eleven year old Sara road tripping with her parents and brother to North Carolina listening to the cast bring this story to life. There are so many of the quintessential Redwall hallmark traits in this story that some could consider it quite basic or tame. But now, almost fifteen years have passed since I first read this story and I think that the charm of this story is only heightened by my memories.

April 2019: I haven’t read this in 7 years. And it’s just as endearing a story as I remembered. Although it is a bit darker and gorier than I remember since there is some head chopping and “human” sacrifice and all that.

This is my second favorite of the Redwall Series. This book showed a completely new way to view people. Just because you are raised a certain way, does not mean that you have to carry that with you. I love this series for all the real world lessons being taught through the animal world.

Pretty standard Redwall fare. Some ridiculous side plots and the ending dragged on forever. But the main character is a super otter warrior, so the kids loved it.

Juska is a good name for a vermin clan.