Brian Jacques does Walter Scott - ie. a medieval tale of mad, warrior Scot[tish squirrel]s, fighting for their simple, traditional way of life against the seemingly inconquerable English [wolverine and his] army. I found this one of the more gripping Redwall tales.

I'm under the persuasion that villains make the book. Or they make the hero that much greater. I'll start off with Gulo the Savage. This guy’s is one of my favorite Redwall villains. He and Ungatt Trunn are up there at the top of villains along with Cluny the Scourge and... I should really stop myself before I reminisce back to all of the awesome Redwall villains. But Gulo the Savage is awesome! He's a wolverine for Pete's sake. Gulo and his horde of fox and ermine vermin eat other creatures. That takes his whole level of fearsomeness up like 82 notches. And Gulo ate a seagull after roasting it just long enough to burn the feathers. You don't get much more evil than that. This wolverine’s strength rivals and even surpasses that of badgerlords. And puts a wildcat’s fierceness to shame. Gulo carries no weapon but uses his powerful teeth and razor sharp claws to slay his foes.

Next is Rakkety Tam Macburl. Like Martin and Mathias he makes a great leader when the need arises. He is one of my favorite lead heroes. Tam isn't as pure as Martin and Mathias though. He's got more of a Luke feel too him. He comes from the far north and has a slight highland accent which makes him all the more cool.

Tam and Gulo drove this story into being one of my fondest Redwall books. But there are plenty more awesome characters that aid in making this a great chronicle of Mossflower. Wild Doogy Plumm for one, Tam's best friend, and a squirrel with an even broader highland accent. And the Walking Stone. Though he doesn't say much, he totally rocks!

Awesome accents, fabulous feasts, vile vermin, Martin's magnificent sword, and the warm homey feel of red sandstone walls. Yep this is a Redwall book, and one to be treasured.

This is a typical story of Redwall which is why most fans of these books are fans.
The hero in this story Rakkety Tam MacBurl, a squirrel from the border. He has pledge himself to an unworthy squirrel king. He is sent off on a quest to retrive a banner taken by a hord of vermin. Tam goes to avenge the squirrel deaths and the promise of his freedom.
The villian is Gulo the savage, a wolverine ruler from the north who wants to kill his brother and find the Walking Stone he stole.
Yoofus the volethief gets himself stuck in the middle of everything by stealing from Tam and his friend, Doogy; stealing from Gulo and his brother, stealing from Rewall even if they don't know about it and stealing from the Long Patrol.
There are lots of battles and lots of food and visions of Martin the Warrior.
There is also a lot of talk about cannabalism. Gulo eats the flesh of his enemies and it seems to be part of what he wants to do to his brother. Most of it really just seems to be eating rats, squiirels and hares. Other Redwall books have enemies eating birds and Redwallers eat fish, but this still might be a little much for some young readers.
The only question left is what happened to Arflow? (Minus 1/4 of a star for that.)

In the words of Rakkety Tam and Doogy Plumm: "Aye, 'tis a braw book, laddie!"

9/10

Sketches before every chapter liven with villains and dibbun babes.
Typo:
"I thought it was ole Sarge Wonwill for a blinkin' moment!".. "Sounded jolly well like him, wot!.. I miss him." p 308.
Sgt Wonwill is thought dead, then voice loud and clear, then participating in "clever scheme" p 256. I think Cpl Butty Wopscutt was misplaced for living Wonwill.

tRakkety Tam, written by Brian Jacques. Rakkety Tam, the fiction novel, is a redwall adventure fiction story about a mouse and its followers that try to hunt down the kingdom’s evil foe, Gulo the Savage. Rakkety works for the Queen and King (who are fairly arrogant and only care about themselves.). Rakkety has to find the royal banner (that Gulo stole), and return it to its rightful place with his sidekick Doogy. While they’re doing this, Gulo’s brother has stolen the walking stone. Whoever possess the walking stone gains power. While the books main storyline is fun to read and keeps you reading, It has its downfalls. The main downfall that I saw was that the book is sometimes hard to focus on because of the fact that all the characters have a British accent. Also during half of the book, the writing is in British stereotypical words back in the medieval day and hard to fluently read (i.e. “Aye wherefore ain't it enow?”). Besides the language, the plot is thrilling and has enough “silent action” to keep it enjoyable.

tI especially like the characters in this book because of the stealing and thief “work”. While Rakkety is a mercenary working for the arrogant King and Queen, he fights for good and seeks out to remove his loans that he owes. (i.e. “He sneaks around Gulo’s camp without a hint of noise while rescuing his trusty pal Doogy.”). He just seems so relative to me as a character. I like every detail about Rakkety which makes me love the book even more.

tIf you need to relate to another book, Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson narrating a tale of "buccaneers and buried gold". It may not be the same personality or race, but it has a close plot of stealing and revenge for the better.

tI read a lot of fiction because I like the creativity. If they ever make more of this great series, I will pick them to read in the future. I like everything about fiction, from sci-fi to adventure. They are good books that I enjoy reading. In the end, I give this book a 5 out of 5 of what I have read so far in my life. This book involves stealing and talking animals that are the characters. It has fine creativity throughout and is a great novel.

you can never get enough brian jacques

There is one thing you need to know about my relationship with this series:
Redwall NEVER gets old.
EVER.
I don't care how many times I've read the descriptions of feasts and battles and Mossflower and Dibbuns. I don't. Redwall will always have a special place in my heart, and on my shelf. The novels go next to the two picture books and the cookbook and the Map and Riddler and all the different tribe guides and someday, dammit, I'm going to buy that abbey model.
If I ever have children, I am raising them on stories of talking woodland creatures.
That is all.

TLDR: The feel-good adventure I was hoping it would be.

Redwall is a series near and dear to my heart and though I haven’t managed to read them all yet, I read many in my younger days and plan to finish them all in time.

This particular tale centers on the Highland squirrel warrior Rakkety Tam and his fight against the wolverine Gulo the Savage. I was once again drawn back into the world of Redwall and it greeted me like an old friend, with a warm hug and a delicious meal.

The pacing was wonderful, the action suspenseful, the characters charming, and the descriptions of food mouth-watering. This was everything I want in a book from this series.

Tam was a great lead and his best friend Wild Doogy Plumm the perfect companion. Sister Armel was both feminine and strong. The Long Patrol bares were courageous and fun.

I also appreciated that one of the creatures you would have expected to be great in battle and ready to defend the Abbey ended up dealing with the post-battle horrors badly and vowing not to kill again. It was a realistic foil to the other warriors.

5/5 stars for me, hands-down. Everyone should read this series.

Hawaay the Braw!!

scottish squirrels in kilts (with claymores) fighting a cannibal wolverine who eats children. brian jacques' imagination is like unto a furnace from which the gods create new life.

Like an old friend, I picked this Redwall book up at a book drop and read for the nostalgia. Delightfully warm and inviting, with a touch of violence, these critters took me right back. Nae did I believe tha last page would make my eyes water.