Epic

Epic
Awesome and then you will love it!
I'm in bed all over it with me on your phone and

There are few things more imaginative than a battle of good vs evil raging between a cannibalistic wolverine and Scottish squirrels. Children’s books aren’t often known for their deep and detailed world building, but Redwall is an exception and I’m satisfied with Rakkety Tam being my first foray into the series. Mossflower country and its history were built so warmly and passionately, and each character is given their heroic moment.

What stops me from loving the book is that I did struggle with the dialects and what felt like drawn out dialogue passages at times, though I appreciate how these aspects add to the world of Redwall. Personally, it made the actual reading experience challenging for me, even if the plot isn’t all that complicated to understand. On top of a standard plot structure, the cast, as lovely and lovable as they are, are not deep characters by any means. Gulo, the antagonist, is a meathead crazed with power while the good guys are just that, just and fair. Despite that, it was easy to feel invested in the characters, which made their sudden deaths all the more tragic. Gotta respect a children’s author to not shy away from portraying the horrors of war.

I have to say, this is probably one of my favorites, along with Triss and others. This was VERY good, I always love to re-read this one.

All time great! So fun to return to this adventure, the one that got me started on this series in the first place. Three cheers for Redwall!

It's been twelve years since I've read a Redwall book. And I was about twelve when I realized the series had declined in quality. Now, here at twenty-seven, I tried to pick up where I left off in the series: Rakkety Tam.

As an adolescent, I loved this series more than any other. It had animals, adventure, swordfights, honest good guys, vile villains, epic journeys across majestic landscapes, and best of all a gorgeous map at the front of each book. But after Lord Brocktree came out, I noticed a decline in quality. This time in my life also coincided with my maturation as human being, having discovered objectivity, and hormones having discovered me. The next novel, The Taggerung, was... okay, though it did have reptiles, so I carried on. Triss was predictable, and Loamhedge was a carbon copy of Triss with the names changed. Even though I owned Rakkety Tam, I put it aside, untouched.

Now, twelve years later, I picked it up again, wondering if my past distaste was just a rebellious streak.

It was not.

The problems are all here. Characters' voices are incomprehensible unless you speak them aloud, interrupting any flow of reading you've built up. Characterizations are broad, plotting is obvious, and sentimental descriptions of a simpler life are filled with food descriptions. It was the same as before, nothing had changed, only this time it was a Scottish squirrel instead of a mouse.

Not that all of the book was terrible. The descriptions of violence by the antagonists, how they eat their enemies, leaving only fur and bones behind, was surprisingly gruesome. Had they always been that dark? Aside from phonetic accents, the action was clear, the characters memorable if not new. The adventurous streak carried me through half a dozen chapters, but even then I itched for something, anything, different.

So I stopped reading. This shames me. I hate not finishing books, but I have more and more books to read and less and less time to read them. But once I set the book down, tore out my bookmark with teary eyes, felt relief. I would gain nothing by finishing this book.

Now, were the earlier books as bad? Do the cliched plots start earlier than I remember? Rakkety Tam itself, out of the context of the other twenty novels, is probably serviceable, if not decent. But why read this one if there are others, potentially better ones at that?

This series, though not this book, will always have a special place in my heart. They helped to transition me from chapter books to novels. Yes, there were still pictures before each chapter (which are still beautiful, in their animals-acting-like-humans way.), but the book is definitely a novel. It's not as impenetrable as Tolkien's language, nor as subversive as LeGuin's Earthsea, or even as enlightening as Watership Down. The characters are black and white, the tropes are fulfilled, and the text is light, though lengthy. But I will always remember the adventures of Matthias, Martin the Warrior, and Mariel with fondness. The Redwall books were a stepping in stone in my reading maturity, one I do not regret, but one I fear I cannot revisit.

My son is seven months old, and in time he will (probably) read these books. My shelf still bears their spines, and he may learn to love them as I did. And in twelve more years, who's to say he won't also grow too old for them, stepping slowly into the world of adulthood?

This is definitely the most indulgent of the Redwall books. You can tell that Jacques wrote it because he wanted a protagonist with a Scottish accent. And this indulgent feel makes the book tons of fun to read. Plus, Tam and Doogy are some of the more endearing heroes of the series as a whole.

Rakkety Tam does away with the annoying “hares are constantly hungry” trope that Jacques constantly takes up to eleven, and instead focuses on the “hares are perilous beasts” trope which is much, much better (hence why The Long Patrol is so good). Really, any book with The Long Patrol taking center stage is good, because it focuses more on military technique than the overused “where’s the scoff?” aspect of the hares.

And speaking of military technique, I loved the strategy used by the creatures in this book, especially the “use the terrain against your enemy” strategy and the “let’s let them think their plan worked” strategy. It’s all the more satisfying because the villain of this book, Gulo, is from the start described as Awful and Terrible, even more so than other villains. He doesn’t just kill innocents, he eats them. And speaking of Gulo, hooray for a death scene that is not anticlimactic!

Also, there are moments of humor in this book that I found especially good and memorable, notably the scene where Brooky is sure that the snake threatening Armel is a grass snake, only to wipe away the mud and find out that it was an adder as Armel thought and thinks it’s hilarious. Oh, and “cwown pwince Woopert.”

For the most part, I think this book did a very good job of avoiding or subverting a lot of the tropes that Jacques has used in the previous Redwall books. However, it’s still the same basic plot as all the Redwall books. It’s just less noticeable because of the aforementioned avoidance of tropes.

Overall, Rakkety Tam has an indulgent feel that just makes it fun to read, and in this book Jacques avoids or is more subtle with the tropes he has used to death in previous Redwall books, making for a Redwall book that at least feels different. The military aspect of the book is very good and the inclusion of The Long Patrol does away with the “solitary hungry hare” that is so ridiculous in previous books. It’s a fun book, and a welcome relief from the monotony of Redwall plots.

3.5 - 4 Stars

Rakkety Tam is the seventeenth book in the epic Redwall Series by Brian Jacques. This series is aimed at Middle-grade aged/YA readers, but I am waaaay older than that and still enjoyed the adventure.
-with an all-ANIMAL cast (woodland animals)
-Fantasy
-Action
-Adventure
-Warriors
-Drama
-Danger
-Quest
-Journey of discovery/Courage/Strength
-Emotion
-Enchanting

Eulaliiiiaaaaa!

This book is super duper violent, funny, exciting, nerve racking . I could go on and on.

After Redwall this is my next favourite by Brian Jacques. As a young Scottish lass, it was awesome to pick up a book and read some dialogue in Scots (or as close as you could get at the time!) I adored the friendship between Tam and Doogy, and their quest for independence interweaving with the larger battle between Redwall and The Long Patrol against the evil Gulo the Savage and his cannibal horde.

You want some cool songs, riddles, poems, fight scenes, friendship, loss, courage, romance, adventure, humour, and an all-round good time? You've got it here in spades!

Another one of my favorite Redwall books. Mostly thanks to Tam himself. I mean, who doesn't love a Scottish inspired, kilt wearing, claymore wielding squirrel? I also love some of the different tactics used in this book to defeat the enemy. I thought I remembered more people dying than actually did, but I'm okay with less death.

My youngest of 4 was barely two when we started collecting Brian Jacques Redwall series. As there were SO MANY books on our reading list I cheated and bought the Audio books (the ones read by Brain Jacques himself) to do the reading for me. As it happened the books were often played on long journeys and while they kept our young brood aptly entertained their Father and I would take advantage of their preoccupation and enjoy some grown-up conversation. So I would only catch snippets of the stories, while at the same time coming to know the sound of Brian Jacques' mellow and rhythmic voice well. (He did an exceptional job of reading his own stories).
One time I did read one of the Redwall books aloud to my children, and that book was 'Redwall'. However there was no way I could master all of the wonderful accents and brogues that Brain Jacques wove in to these delightful tales.
By the time our Iain was 7 he was devouring every Redwall book he could get his hands on. And the Redwall series began to influence our picnic and tea-time fare thanks to Brian Jacques extensive description of food, meals and feasts. I learned to make short work of baking scones, shortbread, tarts and a number of other delicacies! Then, a few years ago, I was excited to come across a delightful cookbook to go with the Redwall series... 'The Redwall Cookbook' by Brian Jacques and illustrated by Christopher Denise; a wonderful addition to my bookshelf.
In 2011, when Brian Jacques passed away, my children and I were so sad and grieved. I no longer had young children...my oldest was in university and my youngest was in middle school. We decided to celebrate Brian Jacques life in true Redwall style. In spite of it being winter, we headed to our favourite woods for a long hike that had often reminded our Iain of Mossflower wood near Redwall Abbey. It was a cold day and the hoar frost clung to our coats and hats as we tromped the woods reminiscing favourite Redwall tales. We returned to our cozy bungalow home, lit a fire in the fireplace, drew the coffee table and chairs close to the fire and I fixed a tea that would have made Brian Jacques proud...sharp cheese, scones, cake, sandwiches, fruit and a large pot of piping hot tea! We burrowed into our comfy spots and opened one of the Redwall books and read several chapters in honour of Brian Jacques as we celebrated his life and grieved his death.
And yet...in all of that...I had never picked up a Redwall book and read it on my own. So when visiting my son Iain without a book in hand, I perused his extensive book collection to find a book to read and asked him for a recommendation.
"Have you ever read 'Rakkaty Tam' Mum?"
My inclination was to pull out a Dickens or re-read a Sir Walter Scott book, but I decided to give Rakkaty Tam a try.
For the first half of the book I read it with Brian Jacques voice loud and clear in my head, right down to the accents --- proof to the MANY hours I heard him through his audio books. It was actually a comforting and pleasant experience. But the more I got in to the story, the more the characters took on their own personalities and by the end of the book I'd forgotten that these brave warriors were woodland creatures...although the antagonist remained the vicious wolverine that he was. By the end of the tale not only was I ready to pick up another one to read, but I began to feel a stirring fondness for squirrels --- a creature I've never really liked.

Tokoh utamanya tupai (lagi)! (✧ω✧) Dua prajurit tupai dari utara yang mengembara dan 'salah pilih' dalam memilih raja, yang membuat mereka harus menunaikan tugas khusus dari sang raja demi bisa 'pindah kewarganegaraan' (o´▽`o) Tugas berat yang mengharuskan mereka berhadapan dengan makhluk buas pemangsa, yang tega menghabisi* musuh-musuhnya (*dibaca: mengalahkan dan memakan).

Dibanding judul-judul lain dari seri ini yang sudah dibaca, yang ini terasa agak beda dalam hal alur ceritanya yang 'lurus' dan terpusat. Soalnya selama ini kisah-kisahnya seperti ada beberapa tokoh utama yang saling bertautan jalan nasibnya, tapi di sini tokoh utamanya terpusat pada Rakkety Tam saja. Juga ada beberapa kesalahan(?) seperti  nama tokoh yang sama, yang biarpun cuma figuran tapi sempet bikin bingung, karena dikira udah mati, tapi kok muncul lagi. Juga jumlah anak buah Gulo yang berubah pas akhir, dan jumlah rekan yang dibawa Tam di pertempuran final. Untunglah bukan kesalahan fatal, jadi bisa ikhlas menerima apa adanya ^^ karena sudah keseret dengan keseruan pertempurannya.

Lumayan kesel dengan tokoh Yoofus si pencuri (^_^#) Gatel banget tangannya~
Favoritku, Abbot Humble, si landak kepala biara Redwall, yang sederhana dan humble♡︎