This series was one of my childhood favourites. There’s something so cosy and soothing about medieval woodland creatures. I realised however I’d only read 9/22 of them so I thought this time of year might be a good opportunity to read those I had missed.

This wasn’t one of my personal favourites (3.5), and the characters didn’t endear themselves to me as much as those in previous books. Perhaps it had a few too many battles for my taste - I prefer the myths, storytelling, and sumptuous meal descriptions.

Loved this story just as much as I remembered.

It's possible I would have rated this book higher if I didn't listen to it primarily on audiobook while hating a few of the voice actors. There was a moment of bravery and sacrifice in this book that I really loved. It's crazy how Jacques can write something for "kids" that can also be somewhat brutal and extremely impactful to adults. Also, I think this is the first time a "bad guy" who is actually kind of good, finally doesn't get killed by some unfortunate luck which I really loved.

This is slightly too dark a story to feel like something you should use the word fun for, but it is gripping from beginning to end. You have the genuine peril of the fate of Mariel and Dandin, a villain in Nagru who seems to be capable of backing up his threats, and (at least for an MG book anyway) a thrilling battle that lasts for multiple chapters and covers quite a wide area (something the series rarely does outside of siege scenarios).

Also, Finbarr Galedeep is still one of my favourite characters in the whole series.

Also also, it almost amuses me the level of irony involved in Nagru's ultimate fate.

3.5/5 December means time to get nostalgic with another Redwall book or two. The Bellmaker is the 7th novel in the franchise. While it's not amazing it is good and fun and serves my purposes of reminiscing on reading the series when I was younger. This was my first reading of The Bellmaker. I originally thought it was going to be a prequel to Mariel of Redwall but it's a sequel that takes place a couple years after the events of that book.

The book may be called The Bellmaker but I don't even consider Joseph the Bellmaker to be the lead character. There are just so many characters this time around with a lot of different points of view. Probably too many actually as the book is kind of bouncing all over the place. Oddly enough the POV of Blaggut the ship rat I felt was pretty unnecessary to the story but found that he was still my favorite character in the novel. Probably because he's a change of pace from the baddies of the previous books.

The novels do seem to be maturing a little. They are a little more violent anyway. Though I would not say excessively so.

Redwall gets a little too into their "prophecies" though. A prophecy leads Joseph to leave Redwall with a group of adventures to join up with his daughter Mariel and friend Dandin. They are off adventuring and become pivotal players in retaking Castle Floret whose king was had it taken by the evil fox Urgan Nagru and his mate Silvamord. As Redwall baddies go they weren't my favorite but they were ok.

So the novel bounces between all of these characters and it feels a little flighty because of it and the tying of everything together at the end just feels a little too prophetic and convenient. Still fun enough and I still want to try and make it through all 22 of these novels at some point. A few a year is plenty though otherwise you'll burn out on them.

My kids really love reading these books out loud together. I'm finding they don't have quite the same level of plot/character depth that they did when I was 12, but they're still fun adventures to read out loud.

The Bellmaker is one of the books in the series that doesn't entirely stand alone. It really helps to have read Mariel of Redwall, its predecessor, so that you know why you should care about the characters. Fun moles, shrews, rabbits, warrior mice. It's a great late elementary school/middle school read. And the writing and language are descriptive and beautiful-I don't think they talk down to the audience at all.

I first read the Redwall books years ago and I still enjoy them when I recently re-read them. I love the world building and the creativity with which these animals were anthropomorphized. The level of description is really well done and very detailed. So adventurous and so very entertaining.

more adventures

More villains and more adventures. I like that there are different bad guys in each series and that you can’t always tell exactly how things will turn out other than good will prevail. Sadly good guys die along with the bad but overall, the good always come out on top as it should be. I do wish Finnbar could have sailed home on his ship but he helped his friends and got his ship back before he passed on.

One of the fun things about revisiting this book is the details you forgot. I loved this book and I forgot how much I enjoyed Finbarr Galedeep. There were some great moments in this book for sure, but some of them hit harder now that I’m in my mid 30s. Now that I’m a father, I fully empathize with Joseph the Bellmaker sailing off to go help his daughter. As much as I love the Redwall books, I always find pleasure in the ones where they go to the ocean.

A solid adventure tale with animal characters, just like all Redwall books up to this point. I've enjoyed reading these as a bedtime read-aloud to my kids.

A good story whose details I wish were more present in other Redwall books.

Battles that were dire, a villain leader with cunning and multiple plans, good friends that made you cry.

I wish there had been more tales about Mariel and her father, they were unique characters and always finding ways to solve problems.

Then there is Blaggut, at last proof that even as a more simple creature, not every vermin has to be evil. That perhaps after some good Redwall food and a trade to work with, a sea rat could do something better with their life. One of my favorite stories of the long history of Redwall.

Always fun to read a throw back