I don't know what it was that made me pick Salamandastron to mark my return to the Redwall universe - in this case, via an audiobook - in close to a decade.

It was far from my favourite in the series, given the miniscule impact the characters of this story have on the overall lore compared to some others. Nor was it high on my re-read list, with Pearls of Lutra, as its one of the books in the series I enjoyed the least, being one of the top I want struck off it.

But I couldn't find an audiobook for Pearls of Lutra and as it turned out, I remember very little of the contents of the story going in due to its small lore footprint, though I recalled a general enjoyment of the story relative to the others, and a feeling as to its straight forward nature. I guess those factors converged into me hitting play on the audiobook.

It was surprising how many memories of the characters of the book came tumbling back into my head as I encountered them. From the main villain in Ferahgo the Assassin, to main protagonists Mara, Pikkle, Samkim and Arula and everyone in between.

But when it came to the overall story, I remembered the final conclusion, but not the things that got us there. I didn't remember the two GUOSSSOM tribes, the monster in the lake, nor the island at its centre, though I remembered the island plays a future role. Heck, I didn't remember the birds of prey making an appearance either.

Ultimately, I think this is due to the fact that the story plays a non-existent role within the wider universe. While it foreshadowed many future settings, the story is pretty disposable in that you could remove it and it would neither impact events before or after it in the timeline. And truthfully, none of the ensemble cast of characters really stood out among heroes of Redwall, with many of them overlapping with other, more impactful creatures of past and future.

It was a fun read when I first encountered it because it was straight-forward. But it's straight-forwardness is what made it completely unmemorable in the long run for me.

Does that make it a bad book? No. It was enjoyable and the premise was generally good, if uncomplicated. But it is a children's series at its core given the anthropomorphic creatures it employs, so complex concepts is not something Redwall is known for nor particularly sought in.

Ultimately however, this generally juvenile storytelling is likely what will make most revisits to Redwall only happen via audiobooks. While the nostalgia is real and treasured, the repeated use of the heroes' quest and/or journey trope by the series will likely test my patience as an adult seeking deeper meaning and concepts than this series was meant to give its mostly young readers. At least, the well-worn trope has led to me failing to launch on a number of foundational fantasy series before. (Looking at you Shannara)

At least in audiobook form, that different medium enacts different demands on me than a book does, making for such parts that I can sometimes find debilitating derivative to pass much more painlessly. And the voice acting in Redwall audiobook offerings seem to be treated as close to a cinematic experience as one can ask for, adding to the ease in which to consume the content.

I read the first of these books nearly 30 years ago, at the time I was running out of Fantasy books I could find at our local Bookshop and I tried ‘Redwall’ almost out of desperation.
I remember at the time I was pleasantly surprised, although written with children in mind they were actually a very good read.
I only read the first 4 books partly because the range of ‘adult’ fantasy books had increased rapidly by the mid 1990s, but also because the plots were beginning to get a bit repetitive, the ‘cuteness’ became a bit annoying and the constant use of the ‘country’ accents was unnecessary.

Having found this book in a sale I thought I would give the series another try. Unfortunately those earlier faults are still there and in the end they were just too much for me to keep going with this book.

If this was not enjoyable, then neither is a concoction of cocoa. And that is all I have to say on the matter.

Summary: The Badger Lord of the mountain fortress Salamandastron faces the overwheming forces of the Corpsemakers led by Ferahgo the Assassin and his son Klitch while Redwall Abbey is laid low by a deadly fever.

In this fifth book in the Redwall we are faced with the possibility of the fall of the mountain fortress of Salamandastron to evil forces and the extinction of Redwall Abbey to a deadly plague. So much will hinge on the actions of a few creatures we follow through the story.

The story begins with the restlessness of Mara, the young ward of the Badger Lord of Salamandastron, Urthstripe. She chafes under the discipline of the mountain fortress, and wanders off with Pikkle, a rogue hare with a huge appetite. They meet up with a couple of weasels who seem friendly enough that Mara invites them to dinner. Hospitality prevails but Urthstripe is suspicious and forces them to leave with the morning. He is right to do so, because they are spying out the fortress for Ferahgo the Assassin, an evil weasel who heads up a large band known as the Corpsemakers. One of them is Klitch, Ferahgo’s son, second in command, itching to take over. Mara resents Urthstripe’s coldness to her new friends and decides to run away. She is joined by Pikkle, they meet up with her weasel “friends” who take them to Ferahgo where they are held captive and questioned about the “treasure” in the mountain. They know nothing of this. Ferahgo sets his sights on conquest, eventually besieging, attacking, and through a secret agent, poisoning the food and water in the mountain.

Meanwhile, two stoats from Ferahgo’s group, unhappy with their lot, go wandering in the forests and find their way to Redwall. The Abbey, hospitable to all, welcomes them and the join a feast. That night, a storm descends, and a lightning strike looses the sword of Martin the Warrior that had been affixed to the weathervane, nearly killing Samkin the squirrel, who has been having dreams about Martin. They place it in the Great Hall by Martin’s Tapestry. The next morning the stoats are fooling with arrows in the hall and accidentally kill a brother. They flee, but before escaping, spy the sword, which they take to present to Ferahgo. Samkin and Arula the molemaid go in pursuit, only to find one dead along the way. They encounter a hermit, Furgle, who tells them it is Dry Ditch fever. They press on while Furgle goes to warn the Abbey. Too late. The sickness is spreading throughout the Abbey. Legend has it only the Flowers of Icetor in the North Mountains can cure the sickness. So Thrugg the otter, accompanied by Dumble the Dormouse set off to find the flowers, braving an attack of crows, only to find the flowers guarded by a majestic golden eagle, King MacPhearsome.

Meanwhile, Mara and Pikkle escape, and through a series of adventures join with an army of shrews. Samkin and Arula eventually join another group of shrews and recapture the sword. The groups face a lake serpent, Deepcoiler and a fearsome white badger who holds a stone sacred to the shrews. Eventually all go to relieve the beseiged forces of Salamandastron. Will they make it in time and defeat such a wily foe? And will Samkin and Arula find anyone alive should they make it back to the Abbey?

Jacques offers a clear contrast throughout the story between good and evil–courage, camraderie, hospitality, and integrity on one side and treachery, backbiting, servitude, and betrayal on the other. Even amid challenges, there is the love of goodness, of friends, and of food. Once again, Jacques creates a strong female character in Mara, as ready and courageous in battle as her guardian Urthstripe. And in a theme that has developed in these stories, the spirit of Martin continues to watch over the Abbey.

This really has two parallel stories that come together with the finding of a new badger guardian to occupy the long-unfilled position at Redwall Abbey. It takes its time getting there, with multiple points of view, multiple plot threads, and a big cast of characters.

While the villains, a father-and-son duo of weasel assassins at the head of a large horde of "corpsemakers", are pretty standard Redwall badguys, right down to the plotting to stab each other in the back, the addition of an epidemic threatening the abbey brings a new type of threat to the fore.

The author does an excellent job of juggling multiple groups of travelers on multiple quests and journeys, and the descriptive language is as lush as always in this series. There is also some nice character growth among several of the main characters as they begin young and reckless and get a hard lesson in the dangers of the world.

I appreciated this book because it was a bit of a departure from Jacques' prior books, in which he uses a formulaic, repetitive plot. This does still have similarities, but it also expands. I imagine that the books in the series after this one will continue to grow his universe quite well.

That being said, there was a LOT going on in this with, I believe, six simultaneous sub-plots, and 95 named characters, almost every one of which is new to the series and brought up multiple times. Even as an adult, I found it hard to keep track of them all. I'm not sure I'd recommend this one to young readers. I also assumed that, having been named "Salamandastron," I would have been given the opportunity to learn a significant amount in regard to the inner workings of the mountain and what takes place inside there. However, I walked away with hardly anything I didn't already know from prior books, which wasn't much.

Lastly, I hope Jacques stops using the word "bodily." As in, "Fearago threw himself bodily at Urthstripe." It just... sounds bizarre and makes me picture a creature picking themself up and flailing through the air at their enemy like a living meat projectile. He uses it often enough to make me cock an eyebrow.

Thrugg and Dungle won my heart.
I didn't notice the main plotflow of the story for the most part (I have a habit of zoning out on books from time to time), but when I heard about the disease, Dryditch fever, my little ten-year-old mind went into a panic. I've always had a great fear about getting some kind of horrible incurable infectious disease, and Dryditch is just the kind of thing that got my little heart racing (I'm more worried about Ebola these days). Then of course Thrugg comes along; otters everywhere are my weak point and he was no different. Dungle of course had the perfect adorable little dibbun name which I just loved to pronounce. I may have ignored the main plot of this story the first couple times I read it, but trust me. Thrugg and Dungle alone are worth the stars.

A fun, nostalgic romp through the pages of my childhood’s favorite series.

Another book in this series that is absolutely amazing! These books are the prototypical adventure book-the worlds that are unlocked while reading, the adventures that readers get to go on, the characters that you laugh and cry with. These books are absolutely fabulous!

Mara was mildly irritating at the outset of this book, but she grew..and grew on me as well. I loved the divergent adventures-in the previous book, it felt a little overwhelming, but this time it was perfectly balanced, and everything came together well in the end. This made for a complete and satisfying read.

Food, humor, and characters, as always are stellar. I'm pretty sure Redwall Abbey is Heaven.

I recommend to all people who love reading, adventure, or better who are already fans of the series. Such an excellent book in a fabulous series!

I really enjoyed this book. It is a wonderful adventure story. I think what I enjoy the most is the detailed descriptions of the food. I have never read a book where there was descriptions of food that I actually read through...normally I skim past those passages in other novels.
The other thing I really like about the book is the high positivity of the characters. They are always doing their best to reflect high spirits even in the most dire situations and it's hard not to want to reflect that.
Anyone who enjoys fantasy novels and adventure stories will enjoy books in the Redwall series.

It's a fun series and I liked this one more than the first one.

that’s the lot of a soldier, mate: carry out orders and don’t ask questions. But I’m tellin’ yer this, I don’t fancy gettin’ slain in battle fer summat I don’t know about!”

Amid a clatter of bowls and spoons, the feast began. Tables had been joined together to form a large cross shape, and there were five centerpieces. A Redwall jubilee trifle of pears, damsons, greensap cream and hazelnut truffle was on the north end. Opposite at the south trestle stood a magnificent blackcurrant pudding, swimming in a peach-covered cream of whisked beechnut and strawberry topped off with a sugar-preserved sprig of maple. The east side was graced by a high wobbling redcurrant jelly with flaked almond and chestnut suspended inside like a sunset snowstorm, and it was wreathed in yellow-piped meadowcream. At the west board was a golden honey-crusted confection of latticed pastry with mintcream and candied chestnuts oozing from it onto a bed of purple plums. In the center stood a wide diamond of sweet arrowroot shortcake with all the fruits of the summer piled on it, fixed there by stiff comb honey blended with a purée of apple and raspberry. Salads of ten different kinds ranged amid the wedges of white, yellow and beige cheeses, studded with nuts, herbs and celery. Oatfarls, cottage loaves and batons of ryebread, all hot from the ovens with their crusts gleaming brown, lay scattered between vegetable flans, shrimp and hotroot soup and massive deeper’n ever turnip ’n’ tater ’n’ beetroot pies beloved by moles. Redcurrant tarts, bilberry scones, plumcakes, latticed apple pies, strawberry flans and damson puddings radiated out into patterns, dotted by bowls of nutcream, meadowcream, Abbeycream, rosecream and buttercup fondant. Pitchers, flagons and jugs overflowing with October ale, strawberry cordial, dandelion and burdock, berry wine and cowslip cordial jostled for position amidst bowls of warm scented rosewater and embroidered napkins standing by for sticky paws.