I'm on page 66 and a rabbit named Meldrum has showed up and helped Mariel, a warrior from Redwall, defeat some vermin. I predict that Mariel and Meldrum wil help others on the island defeat the big group of vermin that the smaller group came from because the others on the island are all ready planning something and one of the islanders has had a dream about Mariel.



12/5/10 pg.125
So far Mariel, Meldrum, and Dandin, another warrior from Redwall, have been captuered by Urgan Naguru, the foe, and are being held prisioners. I predict they will escape.

Love these books. Reading them when I was a kid they just seemed like great adventure stories full of awesome little woodland characters who ate amazing food and had grand adventures. Now, this shit is dark! This one especially, like, what the hell was up with that brutal badger death at the abbey! I laughed out loud from the shock. Jacques was a stone cold b*tch when it came to killing off characters and I love it.

I have to say, I got really excited when Mariel and Dandin showed up in this one, and when I figured out we got to go back to them! I'm still continuing to enjoy them! I really enjoyed the otters in this one. This one had some fun adventures on the seas which I enjoyed. Heartwarming stories you just want to curl up and read! It was fun to see more of Joseph as well and get to know him better. And to see more of Rosie! and ruff and duddy! I may or may not find myself humming the music from the chapter breaks randomly. It's great! Still wonderful full cast audio!

This is a solid 4.75*. Rounded up because I'm feeling emotional after the ending.

Honestly the best one so far

When you open a Redwall book, you know exactly what you're going to find:

- A noble quest
- Dashing protagonists
- Beautiful writing
- And mouth watering food!

I'd never read this particular installment, but it invoked so much of the nostalgia I have from reading these books as a kid! The plot moved a little slower than I would have preferred, but it was still a fun read!

Ugh. Another mouse book. Seriously, I'm tired of these same rundown story lines of mice having people attack them and they responding by going on a quest to kill the people attacking them. Pretty boring books and I'm having a hard time finishing this series.

This one is notoriously boring as the Bellmaker really doesn't do much in the story, but strike up a special relationship with a sea otter. Whoop-de-whoop.

http://readingforsanity.blogspot.com/...

Brian Jacques knows how to right a story that has so many story lines tucked into it, and than in the end bringing them all together to make an Amazing climax that makes you want to keep turning page after page. It made me cry at least three times. XD

5+ stars (6/10 hearts). I was fairly confident I’d love this. Of course I was right. I mean, it had otters. I’m a huge fan of Redwall otters. It also have the besieged castle trope and the reclaim-the-throne-from-evil-conquerors trope and underground secret passageways and an educated librarian mole. But it also had pirates and sailing ships and castaway children and sharks and the aforementioned otters. AND plenty of babies and a softhearted searat and a cowardly captain and buried treasure.

*nods* yeah, it was epic.

So at first I got strong Scottish feels from the story—I don’t know if it’s the accents or the castle-on-a-stream part or what but I loved it. Gael and Serena were a wonderful royal couple and both had great characters and story arcs. Iris and Rab were another beautiful couple and I loved THEIR story arcs so much. And finally, Muta was awesome. Meanwhile, Urgan Nagru and Silvamord broke the mold by NOT being scary but just evil and irritating. I would have loved to see an interesting relationship dynamic from them, given that there never was another couple cast as the villains before, but alas, all they did was squabble and hate each other. (But the Dirgecallers CHILLED me and I was irritated they showed up so little! They would have totally ramped up the action.)

On the other side of the forest, Redwall Abbey was its usual lovely self and I adoreddd how much the Dibbuns had a part in this one!! Mousebabe & Co. were the QEW-utest things. And Joseph was amazinggg, far more than in n  Mariel of Redwall.n The rescue party and their whole ships-and-sailing storyline was epic—I absolutely LOVED Finnbarr, and Rufe + Durry were lovely together (Rufe was so sweet, okay?! I loved seeing a not-fierce and softhearted warrior for once). I wasn’t a fan of Rosie starting off on the adventure instead of staying with her family but I couldn’t help loving how sweet she was with the foundlings (and Finnbarr too) and I ended up liking her way more than I did in n  Mariel.n

I also loved how the different plotlines were tied together and how Joseph & Friends started the dominoes falling for Slipp & Blaggut to head for Redwall. That whole storyline was fascinating and hilarious and way sweeter than I expected. I couldn’t help loving Blaggut and I was so happy with how it all wrapped up. <3 (Also, yay for Oak Tom showing up again because that squirrel is just so epic somehow??)

Finally, Mariel and Dandin still weren’t my favourite pair (although Dandin is really sweet somehow) but I did enjoy their adventures. Field Marshal Meldrum Fallowthorn the Magnificent was quite an enjoyable old fellow, nothing like any of the other hares so far, and his little regiment of leverets (+ Bowly Pintips! and the moles!) was pretty fun. Also the Butcher. And the whole dungeon part. And Egbert!

The different storylines all ended up merging in a wonderful ending (RAB STREAMBATTLE!!) and I was perfectly satisfied with it all. Except for the deaths. Which had to happen and made it more realistic, but still. It’s sad. And I forgot to mention Tarquin was hilarious, specially with his family. XD

This review is all over the place and way more fangirly than it should be, but… it’s honest. So there you are.

*quotes & content list to come upon reread*

This book is at the same time one of the singularly most beautiful stories I have ever read, and one of the most original and humorous.

I can't explain how author Brian Jacques is able to turn out bold, mysterious, resounding and completely wonderful stories every time he takes pen to page, but The Bellmaker easily rivals any of the other classics that he has created. The depth and shining beauty of the writing is unsurpassed in all of literature, in my opinion; it is romantic and entertaining and fearless, while also being tenderly sensitive to bring the powerful emotions behind the complex tale to the forefront for readers, who will lose some dear friends along the way while gaining memorable new ones, all fashioned in the inimitable style of Brian Jacques that marks him for sure as one of the greatest imaginative writers of our time. I could hardly think of another author to challenge him in this regard.

The story that is The Bellmaker is as multilayered and multifaceted as the best works of Brian Jacques, classics such as Redwall and Martin the Warrior. What is especially splendid about this novel is how it departs from the normal kind of happenings to this point in the Redwall series, surely leaving even the most astute observers of the famed abbey's history guessing as to how things will turn out in the end.

Personally, what stood out to me most of all about The Bellmaker is the searat Blaggut. Never to this point in the series had any animal typically classified by residents of Redwall as "vermin" been seen to have a truly good side, yet Brian Jacques was willing to break with that "tradition" of sorts to show us that every heart is different from those around oneself, and one never can tell what someone will do based on the actions of others that are perceived to be like him or her. Brian Jacques weaves this compelling and profound thread into the novel with perfect ease, and thus has created some of the most thought-provoking reading in any of his books.

The Bellmaker is a quest that will capture the imagination and take hold of the heart almost from page one to page three hundred thirty-six, surprising and delighting and sobering eager readers along every step on its path. I would give it my sincerest and most fervent recommendation.

A pleasant surprise, mildly defying the expectations that Jacques has set in books 1-6. There's absolutely too many characters - shout out to Fatch the shrew, perhaps the series' greatest example yet of a character who exists only for another character's personal arc - but Jacques starts to show a *little* fun shades of gray within his typical good v. evil paradigm. I am an adult man reading my 7th book of the year about anthropomorphized rodent heroes.