Another fantastic Redwall adventure! Connecting back to the early books, we meet with Recorder Rollo (previously a dibbun during the days of Matthias) and Martin, the son of Mattimeo.

It's an epic journey,with so many great characters. It made me laugh, exclaim and cry , it was spectacular.

The best of all the Redwall books. It is the treasure of the series & Brian Jacques outdid himself with the magic & adventure found within its pages.

Nostalgia bias, what can I say...this was the book the hooked me into the series long ago

The puzzle-solving bit of this Redwall book is top notch, but there's a lot of time spent with the villains, and for some reason, I just wasn't into that part. In any case, this is a good one!

After "The Bellmaker" and "Outcast Of Redwall", I was very much looking forward to the first sequel to "Redwall" since "Mattimeo". First, the good. Similar to the previous two installments, I appreciated that there was more focus in the novel. Having too many storylines makes for an unnecessarily difficult read in my opinion, and it also tends to take away from the depth of the storylines in general. In "Pearls Of Lutra", although there are multiple storylines, they start intertwining early on which helps with establishing and building on characters. I found all the dissension and turmoil between the different "baddies" at Sampetra fun to watch, although I think there was some potential left on the table, that is, what would have happened if the Redwall gang show up a little earlier? What type of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" partnerships would have started?
Which brings me to the bad. I feel that character development in "Pearls Of Lutra" was kept too safe, and it came off as kind of weak. Particularly, I thought the characters of Tansy, Viola, and Grath Longfletch had such great potential for growth, but for whatever reason you never really get that deep into any of them. In "Outcast Of Redwall", the character of Bryony and her inner (and outer) torment over caring for Veil made the novel simply heartbreaking and, therefore, substantive and rewarding to read. Unfortunately, I did not get this type of feeling from "Pearls Of Lutra".

Overall, "Pearls Of Lutra" is a fine addition to the Redwall saga, although I did not feel as gripped as during other installments. However, maybe a pedantic view, but THANK YOU for having a title that actually reflects what the book is about! Every storyline in "Pearls Of Lutra" has at least something to do with THE PEARLS OF LUTRA. This is refreshing after several previous installments where the title is representative of maybe 30-40% of the actual content.

This was the first "big" book I read, in third grade. My teacher let me borrow it, and I hardly remember the content, but I remember enjoying it and being very proud to have read it as an 8 year old.

Brian Jacques is a genius. I have to say I find the dialogue amusing - it is so genteel and unrealistic.
I don’t know how he creates so many amazing characters, and plots- and the poetry he writes is really moving.
I have read many Redwall books since childhood but I have to say this one was one of my favorites. There is such a striking contrast between good and evil in his books and the fact that good triumphs leaves you feeling happy.
Of the many exceptional scenes that he paints, one stands out: when Martin (not the OG Martin but the current Abbey Warrior, named after him) makes eye contact for the first time with Ublaz. I could literally see the ship floating by, Martin leaning over the railings, and Ublaz losing his mind on the shore because for the first time his hypnotic stare is failing him.

This book has always felt sad to me. It starts off with the murder of an entire tribe of otters and includes an almost senseless death of a younger animal. It's also somewhat a story about growing up and things we have to do.

That being said, it's still a fantastic book and includes a lot of fun riddles, a pirate island, and seals!

Not a bad entry, but very busy and with a surfeit of tedious characters. Clecky needed to fall into a hole of editorial excision and never return, and the "cute" trio of Dibbuns was obnoxious. All four characters were a waste of paper that could have been better devoted to exploring Romsca, the ferret corsair with a conscience who protected Father Abbot Durral. Jacques has never been nuanced in his portrayal and examination of nature versus nurture and good versus evil, and this could have been a rare opportunity to play with the idea of redemption and repentance. Romsca could have survived and gone to live at Redwall, where she could have renounced her past and served as an example of the possibilities inherent in opportunity. But nope. What this book needs is pages and pages of Dibbun hilarity and endless bouts of Clecky the hare eating the cupboards bare. Yippee.

I've read about 5 redwalls so far and i love the series, but this is by far the worst one. it's by no means bad, and most of the book is incredibly engaging and fun, but the negatives outweigh them so much.

first, the story takes an unbearable amount of time to actually get going, and even into the last quarter of the book, the pacing slows to a grinding halt just to focus on Arven and his two friends.

also Arven and the 2 others have absolutely nothing to do with the story being told and take up nearly 100 pages of fluff. they don't even help find any of the pearls, the last one they happen upon by accident, and the other characters figure out where it is before it's revealed he has it anyway, and then he just gives it over in the span of 2 sentences.
every other character in the story felt purposeful so i don't understand what possessed Brian to spend so much time on these 3.

the other thing that i feel could have been trimmed a lot was the search for the pearls, it was fun for the first 3, but by the sixth it felt a bit too drawn out and pointless since by the time they actually find the last one, they really didn't even have any purpose since everyone who was after them was set up to die before martin and the others got back to redwall to use them anyway, not to mention the otter who was their original owner didn't want them, so they jest get chucked into the sea.

there was also this joke about how the nurse would give them gross nettle broth whenever in the infirmary which lost it's humor the second time it was mentioned, but was through the entire story multiple times every chapter that took place at redwall

overall, a good story unfortunately filled up with a lot of pointless diversions

A good one! Grath is a worthy wronged protagonist & Ublaz has the mad dictator vibes. Fermald's mysteries provide good side plot material & Seals (& Ruddaring) are an excellent addition. Jacques has incredible stamina (this is his ninth!)

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.