Innocent forest creatures get captured by nefarious forest creatures. Innocent forest creatures outwit nefarious forest creatures to make their escape. Innocent forest creatures eat scones, drink cordials, and sing songs to celebrate. Repeat eight more times. The End.

Jacuques tells his story in a very rambly way, with so many diversions into singing and eating that I was starting to roll my eyes a little bit whenever somebeast started bursting into song. There's also some old-timey attitudes towards children and child-rearing that now, as an adult, kinda rub me the wrong way. Not to mention, there's not a lot of depth to be found in the characters; you can often get a grip on what a character's all about in the first few lines they're mentioned.

All that said, though, this was still pretty delightful! This one was always a favorite of mine as a kid, and I found my revisit as an adult to be just as fun and thrilling. The author has a way of illustrating the story with his prose, giving both the setting and his characters enough definition to feel lively and believable, despite the aforementioned flatness. The arc of the story also travels to some surprisingly mature places amidst all the swashbuckling and singing, and the conclusion is a *fantastic* culmination of everything before it.

I don't know how well this fares in the greater Redwall canon as of writing this, but I can confidently say this is still one of my favorite fantasy novels period.

So, this is possibly the best Redwall book that Jacques ever wrote. It’s focused (no random sideplots that have nothing to do with the main one), it has a lot of characters but doesn’t jump between them too much a la Salamandastron, it has unique features that depart from the formulas of previous books, and the ending is simply fantastic (but also sad).

And the number one reason why this book is so great is:

ROSE!! WHHHHHYYYYYYYY?

Main warriors never die in Redwall (well, rarely)! Only slightly less important characters do, like Felldoh! I mean, in hindsight having read Mossflower, it makes sense that she dies because Martin is alone in Mossflower and Jacques had to avoid retconning (although he’s never been reticent about that…), but still! It also explains everything about Martin in Mossflower. But Rose’s death really just makes this book stand out.

It’s also one of the best books in terms of plot. As I mentioned above, there’s no irrelevant sideplots, all the creatures have the same quest, there’s not too many viewpoints, and there are a lot of original (to the series) features introduced. Brome has great development, and Martin has heartbreaking development. All of these add up to the Redwall series’ best book, in my opinion.

Also, Clogg is a hilarious villain. Jacques said that Clogg was his favorite villain to write. He’s also the only villain to not die at the end of a book.

Nitpicky: Why is Saxtus characterized as an old mouse when he’s the same age as Dandin?

As much as I liked this book, I hated Felldoh. Every single time someone called him a warrior like Martin, I wanted to scream. Felldoh is not a warrior like Martin, in fact he’s more of a foil to Martin because he shows all the reasons why Martin is a better warrior than him, and a better character. Felldoh let his revenge overtake him and in the end acted more like a villain than a hero. I couldn’t stand him, but that’s just me.

Overall, Martin the Warrior is the best book in the Redwall series. The ending is possibly the saddest in the series, but that’s why it’s so great. Jacques does new things with this book, departing from the formulas of previous books to deliver a tightly focused, heart-wrenching story with characters that actually develop and whom I actually care about. The Martin books are the best books.

As epic, heartbreaking, and full of charm and adventure as it's ever been. Martin the Warrior played a huge role in getting me into fantasy and therefore reading in general when I was young so it holds a special place in my heart, but even without that the journey this fantastical and rich story takes you on is just simply incredible. Every character springs larger than life off every page and the Brian Jacques-led audio production makes it even better again. Fantasy masterpiece.

Martin the Warrior by Brian Jacques

I had been pretty burnt out on the Redwall books after Mossflower, Mattimeo, and Salamandastron. Redwall was a creative and fun book, but it seemed that all its successors were progressively formulaic and uncreative. Martin the Warrior, however, is a return to the same creative spirit of the original book, and, in my opinion, improves upon it.

The book explores the early life of Martin the Warrior after he has been made a slave by Badrang, the cruel tyrant of Marshank. Escaping with a small group of captives, and washing up on an unknown shore, Martin attempts to return a mousemaid named Rose to her family at Noonvale and build an army to return and challenge Badrang.

Jacques still uses his familiar formula from the previous books, but by not feeling the need to set the book near Redwall Abbey it becomes more of a novel adventure and a great fantasy yarn. If someone wanted to read just one of the Redwall books, I think that I would recommend Martin the Warrior above the original.

5/5 stars.

A classic, definitely one of the best Redwall stories out there. Even if you've never read a Redwall book, this one gets you started on one of the oldest and most important of the stories, centering on the great warrior mouse, Martin. It may not be the first in the series, though these books do have a wonderful way of functioning perfectly fine no matter which one you start with (I've found). Adventure, love, courage, tears, humor, the Brain Jacques-experience.

The story itself, without spoiling too much, focuses on Martin son of Luke the Warrior, and his struggle against the tyrant Badrang and sea captain, Clogg. Together with the fierce Rose of Noonvale among other companions, Martin must go on a daring adventure to take back his father's sword, and the freedom of Badrang's slaves.
Like all of the other Redwall books, the entire cast is made up of animals who can speak and cook and fight from fortresses and ships. It is another fine addition to the many adventures of Redwall, even if the story takes place before the actual Redwall abbey was even built. Like it's fellow books in the series, this book is filled with adventure and laughs and even some love. Still, I would certainly credit this book with having some of the sadder moments than others did. Sure, every Redwall book tends to have a somber moment here and there, and death is not uncommon in these books, though this book does have what I would consider one of the more famous tragedies within the adventure. However, I would quickly assure any potential reader that the majority of the book is, in fact, full of high adventure and laughs and love, and leaves you with a warm satisfaction, even amidst heartache. Highly recommend to fantasy readers.

This is definitely my favorite book in the entire series. The ending is so tragic though.

Marvelous! Read by the author and a full cast of colorful characters, whose voices brought their already vivid personalities to life. I love how Brian Jacques told real stories of heroic valor and war and strife and suffering, but made them accessible to children as well as adults by using animals instead of humans. Loved it.

This book was a little bit too childish for me, to be honest. I had started Jacques' series years ago as a 12 or 10-year-old, and liked it then, but even then it was a little too easy for the characters, a little too simple-minded for me.

Now it is even moreso since I'm an adult, however...this book does what it sets out to do. It is a heartwarming tale, written in simple yet pretty prose. Jacques' descriptions of landscapes are captivating; he knows how to set a scene. His eating and food scenes are so well-described, they either make you hungry or bored.

The characters are the best part of this book, and I believe the entirety of the Redwall series. While the plot may be juvenile and things are a little too deus-ex-machina for an adult reader, the characters are engaging. From Ballaw the magical hare to Rose the sweet mouse maiden to Martin, the vengeful, noble, and brave, fierce warrior of the book's title...this book will keep you reading, at least for its characters.

I gave it 4 stars because it is a very well-done book for children ages 8-10. The reason it's missing a 5th star is because I believe even a children's book should have its characters undergo hardships. In this book, much is lost and the characters DO develop, but...there are a few too many convenient friends dropping in to save them, and the villains are pretty much idiots.

All in all, by the end of the book, I had to begrudgingly admit, these books are damn good middleschool-grade books. By the end of the book, I had shed a tear or two for well-loved characters; let's just say, in a battle story this big, not everyone gets a happy ending.

Another bouncy fun epic by Brian Jacques. As previously mentioned in my review of the last book, I feel as if Brian is attempting to create many arcs that all apex together at a last critical/final battle. While this is interesting, the way he bounces around between characters and plotlines makes it very difficult to distinguish where creatures are in space and time.

Ah, Redwall. A source of much enjoyment to me as a young leveret. Oh the feasts! Oh the adventure! Oh the villains!

Obviously, it doesn't hold up well. I mean, I'm rarely one to be overly focused on poor writing if there are some redeeming features (a good plot will allow me to excuse bad style), but Brian Jacques isn't a very good writer. I know children's books are very often clunky as all hell, but that's not good enough. I can understand wanting to tone down themes a bit for youngsters, but that doesn't mean they have to be offloaded with crap. (Admittedly, this is more a rant directed at my hatred of the decision that nothing good is allowed be a "children's" thing, whether it's WALL-E or The Amber Spyglass.)

So, yeah. Clunky writing, formulaic plot. (seriously, do any Redwall books barring The Long Patrol have a different plot arc? Even then, it's the same story but from a different point...) Stereotypical villains with less in the brain tank than... something very not-smart. And OH GODS WHY IS AT LEAST TEN PERCENT OF THE BOOK SONGS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF FOOD?

For all those faults, it's still pretty good.

An epic adventure tale. The personification of creatures is hardly noticed as Jacques immerses you deeply in the lives, emotions and thoughts of the characters in this unforgettable tail (tale).