Ease Reading-Find Your Next Favorite Book

Hot Search

Redwall #5

Salamandastron

brian jacques gary chalk

... Show More
The Redwall series is soon to be a Netflix original movie!

The beloved Redwall saga continues in Salamandastron .

The inhabitants of Redwall relax in the haze of summer-but as they do, the neighboring stronghold of Salamandastron lies besieged by the evil weasel army of Ferhago the Assassin. Worse still, Mara, beloved daughter of Urthstripe, Badger Lord of the Fire Mountain, is in terrible danger. Then a lightning bolt uncovers the sword of Martin the Warrior, and young Samkin embarks on an adventure that leads him to Mara. Can the good creatures triumph over the villainous Assassin?

Perfect for fans of T. A. Barron’s Merlin saga, John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice series, and J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series.

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1992
Series
Redwall
Literary awards
west australian young readers book award (wayrba), 

This edition

Format
400 pages, Paperback
Published
September 15, 2003 by Firebird
ISBN
9780142501528
ASIN
0142501522
Language
English

More editions

About the author

Profile Image for brian jacques

brian jacques

... Show More
Brian Jacques (pronounced 'jakes') was born in Liverpool, England on June 15th, 1939. Along with forty percent of the population of Liverpool, his ancestral roots are in Ireland, County Cork to be exact.

Brian grew up in the area around the Liverpool docks, where he attended St. John's School, an inner city school featuring a playground on its roof. At the age of ten, his very first day at St. John's foreshadowed his future career as an author; given an assignment to write a story about animals, he wrote a short story about a bird who cleaned a crocodile's teeth. Brian's teacher could not, and would not believe that a ten year old could write so well. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as "a liar". He had always loved to write, but it was only then that he realized he had a talent for it.
He wrote Redwall for the children at the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind in Liverpool, where as a truck driver, he delivered milk. Because of the nature of his first audience, he made his style of writing as descriptive as possible, painting pictures with words so that the schoolchildren could see them in their imaginations. He remained a patron of the school until his death.

Brian lived in Liverpool, where his two grown sons, Marc, a carpenter and bricklayer, and David, a professor of Art and a muralist, still reside. David Jacques' work can be seen in Children's hospitals, soccer stadiums, and trade union offices as far away as Germany, Mexico, and Chile (not to mention Brian's photo featured in most of his books).

Brian also ran a weekly radio show on BBC Radio Merseyside, until October 2006, where he shared his comedy and wit, and played his favourites from the world of opera - he was a veritable expert on The Three Tenors.

When he was wasn't writing, Brian enjoyed walking his dog 'Teddy', a white West Highland Terrier, and completing crossword puzzles. When he found time he read the works of Mario Puzo, Damon Runyon, Richard Condon, Larry McMurty, and P.G. Wodehouse. He was also known to cook an impressive version of his favourite dish, spaghetti and meatballs.

Sadly, Brian passed away on the 5th February 2011.

Readers also enjoyed

Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
31(31%)
4 stars
42(42%)
3 stars
27(27%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
jojo_____1234
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
The first noticeable shift in tone

Salamandastron is the first major shift in tone across the series thus far. The books to this point are wholesome and pulpy Adventures that do not need to keep you guessing to be entertaining. However this novel starts to deviate from predictable. While it is still a simple adventure and straightforward fun it very clearly begins to shift in a way that is not afraid to engage in mortality, morality, and prophecy subversion. That last point only the tiniest bit. While I feel the series continues to evolve and grow in strength, this one exemplifies both the classic feel of straightforward adventure while showing off where we are going next. The weakness, however, may be that that overall arc of the novel feels oddly short when it ends. When you reflect on where you start and then where you end it does feel strangely short compared to the other adventures and their fateful events. That said, it is still more than worth one’s time.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
3Cheers4Death
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
I love how Salamandastron abandons the pattern the first four books choose to follow. I think that's why it became one of my favorites right away. The way the story is told as a bedtime story to one of the dibbuns, it's rather clever. The pacing was also a lot more solid and I was always wondering how the good creatures of Salamandastron would protect their precious mountain from Ferahgo and his seemingly endless band of Corpsemakers. Definitely one of the best Redwall books so far, but I'm still looking forward to rereading my absolute favorite, Marlfox. Salamandastron also gives much love to the badger loving people, proving that badgers do not give up the ghost until they kill their target.

Side note: This is probably one of the fastest books I read, even with my cousins staying the weekend.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
OppaidragonB
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
This is another very "whatever" story from Redwall. It's not bad, just meh.

The reason this is two stars instead of one is simply because there some minor difference separating this from the Redwall-Mattimeo-Mariel formula, namely that Redwall is besieged by a plague and not a horde; that honor goes to Salamandastron. But again, everything is intertwined beyond the suspension bridge of disbelief. [SPOILERS] Mara is thrown into a pit by toads which just happens to have the Log-a-Log who happens to need a black pendant to be the rightful Log-a-Log, which just happens to have been taken by a badger, who just happens to be the long-lost brother of Urthstripe, who just happens to have adopted Mara as his ward. [END SPOILERS]

This again reinforces that these books can't be read without believing there is a guiding-hand in the fate of Mossflower. Is it the spirit of Martin the Warrior from beyond the grave orchestrating everything to perfection (see above scenarios for just how many pieces had had to perfectly move)? Is it the essence of Mossflower moving everything toward stability and peace? Who knows?! But if you believe everything that happens in these books are mere coincidence, they quickly become unreadable, so believe which one you want.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Ripo
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
‘Redwall’ is often viewed as children books, and it truly is, but it will always be one of my favourite series. Its appeal is undying, because it touches on timeless topics: the importance of family (complex relationship between Mara and Urthstripe), young ones growing up and learning responsibility (Samkim and Arula leaving their home to return to it different beasts), protecting the weak from the evil (Urthstripe and the Long Patrol defending the shores and all of Mossflower), giving your best to save your friends (Thrugg’s race against time to find cure for Dryditch Fever for the Abbey dwellers).

The heroes of the book were remarkable, but it was the villains who truly mesmerized me. Ferahgo the Assassin and his son Klitch stand high on my list of the best villains, those two ruthless lying blue-eyed sons of a weasel. And the reason Ferahgo and Klitch are so good is not because they are strong or cunning or have the superior numbers, but because they can lie so well that they fake kindness. Ferahgo always smiles but never jokes – and he would smile as he kills you. He is just the type of a person to arrange 'peaceful negotiations' and slay those who attend them, or to lie to his own officers, promising them piles of gold and giving them nothing. Klitch, too, is worth his father, for he has no trouble playing on Mara’s naivety and loneliness and pulling wool over her eyes, calling himself her best friend just as he leads her into a trap. Moreover, Ferahgo and Klitch have an interesting relationship with each other. Normally, members of the villain’s family just hate and backstab each other, but while there are tensions between father and son and they are deadly rivals, they don't just up and kill each other. Ferahgo outright says he wouldn't touch Klitch because he is his son, and Klitch does everything to undermine Ferahgo's rule and prove he is a better leader - but he doesn't plots against him. Aside from a couple of other instances, that’s the closest to familial love we get with the villains in ‘Redwall’.

Among the other great things, ‘Salamandastron’ also has a quartet of fierce falcons, ancient deep-water reptile, white ghost of a badger – or may be it’s the other way around, - the crew of fighting hares and a courageous babe dormouse.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
HAO0o
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
Nothing can beat a good Redwall story, and Salamandastron may be one of the very best in the whole series. It's full of action, adventure, heartache, and warmth.

What makes this particular entry into the series so special, though, is its central theme about relationships between generations. Two parallel journeys are reflected through the book, centered on Urthstripe, Badger Lord of Salamandastron, and Mara, his ward, as well as the villainous Ferahgo the Assassin and his son, Klitch. The loving father-daughter dynamic of Urthstripe and Mara is juxtaposed beautifully with the hateful father-son dynamic of Ferahgo and Klitch. All the action of the book thus revolves around these characters, which turns into a fascinating tale of power and evil, with incredible action, adventure, and lovable characters to round out secondary themes and adventures all in their own right.

In all, Salamandastron feels like a proper epic all its own, a worthy successor to books as dynamic and enthralling as Mossflower and Mattimeo. It is very much its own story, while still neatly fitting into the existing lore and setting of the series, a near-perfect encapsulation of what Redwall is and what Redwall can be.

Of the first 5 novels of Redwall, this may even be the best one, depending on your personal taste for adventure. Although bloody and violent, the book has a rock-solid emotional core, with powerful storytelling capable of joy and sorrow. It's simply delectable.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Ribbun
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
4 Stars

The books in this series continue to be wonderful, even if they are very formulaic. I think spacing out reading the next book in the series has been helping keep the books feeling magical and not being burnt out on the similar patterns between them.

As always, I loved the story and the characters. The only thing keeping this from being 5 stars is the lack of the emotional connection to characters. With some of the earlier books, we got several good chapters on each character's normal life before the major events of the book began. This book sort of skipped over that, so we went right into the action. While I love the action, I missed getting to see the characters just be themselves and living their lives a little bit before they were sent on life changing quests.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
lastnameEver
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
I decided to read this book because I wanted to understand the whole series of Redwall. This book was about a moutain called Salamandastron being attacked by a never-ending band of Ferahgo the Assassin's Corpsemakers. This really shows the writing skills of Brain Jacques. When reading this book, I thought of me being in Japan. I went to a mountain full of cave system, rooms, kitchens , staircase and I just thought that Salamandastron mountain in the book was just the same. I felt that I was Lord Urthstripe the Strong, wearing my heavy bag (which I thought it was the heavy amour he wore) and water bottle (which I thought it was the weapon he held). This book is a little different from the other books because the intro was the start of a dibbuns bed time story and there was no attacks on Redwall (I guess because this book was called Salamandastron). I feel proud for Brain Jacques because he was the author of the book I read which got me into reading. Before, I can only read about 10 min but now I read for more than 2 hours if I had the time and I get engaged easily.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Elfezen
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
So much fun! The ending just left me so happy and satisfied. I liked getting to know Salamandastrom more and spending more time there and with the hares. It was fun to explore some new areas like the lake, and spending time with the shrews. I think I've said this before, but I think where the real magic comes from with these book is just that you really feel a part of the community. You feel like you're there with the shrews pulling the oars and you want to join in singing their rowing songs. You want to go help in kitchen prepare for the name day feast, or go play out in the orchards with the young ones. You feel like you're there sitting at the table eating and enjoying the feast with them. The Redwallers just have big hearts and are so willing to help any creature and you feel like they've taken you in and adopted you too. You get to walk through their adventures with them, celebrate with them, and weep with them, laugh with them. Brian Jacques didn't narrate this one, but it was still very well done. The full cast audiobook is still delightful. I love all the details they add with the songs and things like that. Well done!
0 0 Reply
Leave a Review
You must be logged in to rate and post a review. Register an account to get started.