I honestly only really liked The Ribbajack... the rest were just so-so. They didn't sparkle like the Ribbajack but maybe that's just me...

The Ribbajack is a short story that follows the swashbuckling theme that Brian Jacques uses in almost all his books. The story has the feel of a folk tale and teaches a moral at the end of the story. I have always been a fan of Brian Jacques stories and this one did not disappoint me. It was a little different in its character development due to the brief nature of the story.

The tale is of a boy who is as bad as can be. The whole school is afraid of him and he dabbles in the dark arts. When someone finally stands up to him he decides to get his revenge. He is going to learn, however, that when you seek out revenge it is usually you that pays the price.

I haven't read a Jacques book since I finished the Redwall series. And, when you read a bunch of different stuff for over a year, you kinda start to forget certain things about certain authors that you really love. And that's kinda what happened to me; I had forgotten just how great of an author he was. Of course, I knew that Redwall was one of my favorite series and that Jacques is a great writer. But every author has a different style. From Tolkien to Rowling to Meyer, every single author has a different style. Some are more modern, some more golden oldie. Some prefer first-person views, some third-person. There are even some second-person books around. But I have to say that Brian Jacques's style of writing is possibly my favorite of any author. The way he words things is so...clever. He often uses words such as "jolly-good" and "bravo" in ways that I've never read before. And I absolutely love it. Jacques thinks of things to put in his writing that I have rarely, if ever, read. And The Ribbajack is one of the many examples of this.

This book is, I guess you could say, a book of short stories. The Ribbajack and other Curious Yarns is a book of six short stories in which Jacques shows his writing skills on a different level then in his other books. Some of the stories are creepy, some humorous, some both. And, it was awesome. In starting this book, I had pretty high hopes, seeing as how high my expectations were. Jacques most certainly did not disappoint. I held on to every word, reading awesomely. Yeah, I'm so cool that the manner I read in is awesome. You read right.

So, in conclusion, I leave you with this: Brian Jacques is a great author. If he wrote it, it will probably be good. The Ribbajack is great. Awesomely great. So, read it. Or I will consume your spirit.

Austin
http://ReadingTeen.net/

These are the kind of stories i'm not used to hearing from Brian Jacques but they were wonderful, inventive and interesting. I highly recommend this.

interesting little eerie stories