Not the best Redwall tale. Certainly campy like the rest and the badger lore is always really interesting. I liked the fun ending and what happened to Veil.

Finally, fans of Redwall get to know more about the badgers of Salamandastron. A young badger is held captive by an evil ferret, Swartt Sixclaw. Coincidence and bad weather brings the hawk, Skarlath to the camp of Sixclaw. The badger and Skarlath help each other escape, but not before the badger seriously wounds the ferret warlord. Skarlath names the badger Sunflash, and together they journey through Mossflower, helping those in need and making friends along the way. But Swartt Sixclaw has vowed to avenge his wounded paw, and builds an army to find and defeat Sunflash. Back at Redwall Abbey, the peaceful creatures take in an orphaned baby ferret, unbeknownst to them, the only son of Swartt Sixclaw. Hard as they try, the Redwallers, and a young mousemaid named Bryony who is responsible for the young ferret, are unable to show Veil how to live peacefully. True to Jacques style, the stories of Sunflash and the Redwallers intertwine, and the reader is lead on a journey of fierce friendship, loyalty, fate and the battle of good vs. evil.

Sam Bequette
1st period

In ‘’The Outcast”, I like a lot how the author really includes you in the story and make you feel a part of the action, like how he’’ll say ‘’Sunflash rolled down the hill into a thornbush, much like you have probably done at one time or another.’’(137) Also, contrary to what I just said, he doesn’t need a narrator to tell you what the characters are doing, because of the author’s amazing story telling. The author only really uses the narrator when including the reader in the story. One critique I have is the book can be a little bloody and violent at times, which truly, probably makes it more appealing to the general public, but not to you if you don’t like that. Like when Jacques says ‘’He watched in horror as one of his crew was impaled by a spear.” (253) Another thing I loved about this book was how the moral and the theme of the story were really thought-provoking and opened my eyes to a new way of thinking. All and all, I would definitely recommend this to a classmate who was searching for a good read, because it is impactful and thought-provoking.

I read this book back in middle school (10+ years ago) I have been searching for it for the last 5+ years as I have thought about it numerous times through out the years! That I may say makes for a GREAT book, if 10 years down the line not only do you remember the book, but feverishly search for it so you may read it again! I can't wait to re-read this amazing book, and now that I know it's apart of a series I will be looking into the other books for a great read! I don't think I would honestly suggest this book to middle school students, but high school and above I believe will absolutely fall in love with the characters and the story!

Probably the Redwall novel which touched me the most (although I have not read the whole series). As regards the series as a whole, these books characterized by childhood. Brian Jacques has crafted a unique and vibrant world full of lovable characters and equally despicable villains. What's not to love about talking woodland creatures that live in a little red sandstone abbey, eat good food, laugh and sing?

I've slowly been reading all the Redwall books as an adult, and I have to say this one is easily the weakest in the series so far. I appreciate that Brian Jacques tried to stray from the typical formulaic plots in these books, but the execution is far from perfect.

First off, as others have stated, I'm not a fan of how this book chose to address the whole "nature vs. nurture" question. Veil automatically written off as evil or "vermin", even as an infant by nearly everyone except his adoptive mother Bryony. Veil continues to lie, cheat, and steal while displaying little remorse over his actions.  He even tries to poison the friar at one point, which is what leads to him becoming the outcast of Redwall. Veil ultimately does save Bryony's life in the end by shielding her from a javelin and dying in the process, but Bryony accepts the fact that he had always been evil.  

Fate and nature are constant themes throughout the book: That certain species are innately evil, or Sunflash becoming badger lord because he's fated to. That it's just how things are and the characters aren't capable of change or carving their own path. This black & white morality is nothing new, but other books have addressed it in a better way AND shown that the characters are capable of change: Blaggut in The Bellmaker, Gingivere in Mossflower, etc.

I think this one could've been one of the most interesting books in the series if Veil was given more depth, rather than a one-note character who ultimately isn't much different from most of the other vermin characters in the series.

evil people can have some good in them

This was an intense book and had you rooting for the bad villain to turn from their evil ways and get frustrated when they didn’t… then when they finally did you are crushed because they are gone.

I thought this could have been named differently… like badger lord or something about Sunflash and his best friend Skarlath. Like two true best friends. The outcast wasn’t even born until a third of the way through the book and then he seemed like a minor character but I guess the outcast sounds like a good title.

Either way this was still a great book that had lots of depth and was somewhat introspective of characters and gave us q look at the nature vs. nurture debate.

This was very good. My enjoyment of it was quite vast in dimension.

When I was a kid, this was one of my favorite Redwall stories. Now, however, I do have a few problems with it.

Storywise, I enjoy it. I like Sunflash and Skarlath and Bryony is the sweetest mouse ever. It has a solid through-line that's very engaging.

My problem is with Veil. He's a ferret, but grows up at the Abbey. But Jacques seems to imply that he's inherently evil, which is kind of problematic. I'd much rather he showed him struggling between evil and good before ultimately choosing evil, but we never see that. I know some people still turn out bad even when raised by the best people ever. But it doesn't feel realistic for Veil.

Because of that, 4 1/2 stars for this one.

I loved this.

It gives you the backstory of Sunflash the Mace, who appeared at Salamandastron at the very end of the original Redwall book.

Appears:tMossflower, Outcast of Redwall
Mentioned: Mariel of Redwall, Salamandastron, The Long Patrol, Eulalia!

The first book (each Redwall book is split into three smaller books) deals with Sunflash's beginnings, and how he came to Salamandastron. The second book deals with Redwall Abbey, and the titular "Outcast of Redwall," Veil the ferret. The book starts off differently than the summary on the back leads you to believe, as Veil isn't introduced until the second book, really. The summary leads you to believe the entire book deals with Veil, but that's not it. The majority of the book deals with Sunflash and how he came to be Sunflash the Mace.

This book fits very well into the Redwall chronology, and gives us another view of Bat Mountpit, as well as a different view of Salamandastron. Although we see a ton of Salamandastron it its self-titled novel, we really get to know what's going on behind the scenes in this one. We see Sunflash arrive and set the stages for how things are run in future novels.

The one character I couldn't stand was Bryony. I know she was willing to suspend disbelief that her adopted son, Veil, could do any harm, but it ended up ruining her character for me.  Particularly after it's clear that Veil poisoned Myrtle, and that he was willing to kill an old dormouse that had done him no harm. It's clear that Bryony's love for Veil will overcome anything, but at some point, even a mother will see that her offspring is just evil.

I do love that we get to see  Bella of Brockhall finally reunite with her son, Sunflash the Mace.  

I think the main weak point for me was Bryony.

I would have liked this book better if the themes of racism wasn't so overwhelming. The premise was good, of having a "bad" animal being raised at Redwall, but the overt prejudice of many of the adult Redwallers against a BABY just felt too blatant for me, as if Brian Jacques didn't put in as much effort into this, and figured he'd write about racism in an "easier" way, if that makes sense.

There were some good parts about this book, but the author could have dealt with the subject in a more subtle/mature way. Racism in real life is not always so overt, and it would have been nice if the author used this book to deliver the message in more ways than one.

This chapter of Redwall is as absorbing as the previous segments of the series, doling out familiar comforts in generous measure. There's mouthwatering feasts and heavy vegetarian stews, warm hazy days spent in play and feasting and gardening and song, newly established friendships, maternal loves, and the heartbreaking return of a prodigal son. (His redemption story is brushed over a bit hastily) There's also the obligatory hundred-page battle at the end where allies and foes reunite.