As a child, I was deeply unsettled by this book, and I didn't understand why. Now I do. I'm revolted by the notion of being 'doomed' to go bad because of ancestry. I enjoyed most of the other Redwall books, but only this one truly stuck with me because of how unfair and cruel its message was. I do give Outcast of Redwall points for being the first book to make my younger self think about this. It did teach me a lesson, even though it was a harsh one: that there are people out there who believe you have a 'true nature' that cannot be overcome and you should be treated accordingly. ...yes, I still have a massive grudge against this book two decades later. I recognize it's not entirely healthy.

It's probably been at least 10 years since I've read anything Redwall related, and even longer since I read this particular book. My only memory of it is that it is sad. So I was a little apprehensive to read it again, and honestly wasn't sure I ever would. But I'm glad I did. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Brian Jaques along with a voice cast. If you haven't listened to Brian Jaques narrate one of his books, I would highly recommend it. He is a joy to listen to. The voice cast did an excellent job as well, they really brought the characters to life.

As for the story itself, I quite liked it. It's not perfect, but it's still good. I might write a longer review later, I could honestly go on for a while. But for now, just know that it is indeed a sad and tragic story. It's not as sad as I thought it might be, in fact, it's rather enjoyable for the most part. But the end hits hard.

I have loved this series since childhood, but I have not read all of them. I currently own 15 of them and now I will go back and read the ones I have in sequence! I love the descriptions particularly of the food and the characters are always well developed.

This is a classic children's book. I read it to some of my grandkids via zoom during our quarantine days and all ages loved it.

Full of worthy heroes and dastardly villains, this is a story of daring feats of war, of faith in the good, of standing for one's beliefs, of accepting what comes and doing what one can to protect those under his care. Although some of the accents and dialects are difficult to read aloud, the story flows through apt word pictures and realistic description.

One of many Redwall books, this is the first I've read.

So as a kid, I loved the Redwall series, and I remember enjoying this book in particular, which made me decide to go back and reread it as an adult. And honestly, it's kind of appalling.

There are basically two plot threads -- Sunflash and Skarlath, attempting to defeat Swartt Sixclaw, and Veil Sixclaw, the abandoned son of Swartt who was raised by mouse Bryony at Redwall. Sunflash is likeable still, a Badger Lord who's fond of children, food, and poetry, as is Skarlath. Veil is arguably the most interesting character in the book and yet also the one who gets incredibly shortchanged.

As a kid, I didn't really pick up on this, but the Redwall books are incredibly black and white in terms of species division. The moles, hares, mice, squirrels, shrews, badgers, voles, hedgehogs, etc, they're all "goodbeasts." The rats, ferrets, stoats, foxes, snakes, etc are all "vermin." So this book -- where a ferret child is raised by a mouse -- is clearly trying to do a nature/nurture bit, right?

The poor ferret babe has a terrible life. His father neglects him, he's abandoned on the field of battle. He's rescued and brought to Redwall, where he is *literally named Evil* (Bella has a whole poem about Evil Veil -- two letters reversed, wow, very subtle). We don't see any of his youth, but it's hard to imagine that anyone treated him well, considering all of Redwall's songs and tales of horrible vermin, the fact that he is even referred to as vermin occasionally, and oh yeah, his name is Evil (oops, Veil).

Long story short, in the end, Veil chooses to sacrifice his life for Bryony's by throwing himself in front of a javelin for her. It's made clear that this is a conscious decision. Clearly redeeming his character, right? He obviously cared deeply about Bryony and probably could have been a better man if not for the terrible upbringing he received.

Of course, no one accepts this. Bryony ends his story by saying that she finally accepts that there is no good in Veil and believes that "he wouldn't have jumped in front if he really believed the javelin would be thrown."

Basically the entire moral of this story is "If you are the wrong species, you are irredeemable and forever evil." Which is just depressing and honestly, pretty fucked. I don't think I'll be rereading the rest of the series tbh.

another redwall audiobook down! outcast of redwall remains one of my favorites from the series - it's an especially epic storyline with sunflash and swart's decades long rivalry, veil's exile from redwall, and bryony's quest to find him all meshing with NON. STOP. ACTION! some of my favorite lines were:

"you've lived the life of a coward, but you'll learn to die like a soldier!"
"he dealt a blow that sounded like a log hitting rotten fruit"
"oooh, ferret smashed to bits, head in one place paws in another, blood everywhere, hehehehehe!"
"no, please lord, mercy - [the sounds of a realistic death gurgle as a fox has her head crushed by a giant spiked mace]"

why are these marketed as children's books again????

I thought "The Bellmaker" was the best Redwall novel so far, but "Outcast Of Redwall" was even better. Great focus with great character development. Also, so nice to have an origin story of Sunflash! You read about him in passing in "Mossflower" through Bella, and it is refreshing to finally have some backstory. His friendship with Skarlath is beautiful, and he ends up being one of the strongest, figuratively and literally, characters in the series. Regarding the title character (are they considered spoilers if they're written on the back of the book?), Veil is absolutely terrible and absolutely hateable. So far, Brian Jacques has done a great job creating these awful "big bad" antagonists like Ferahgo The Assassin and Slagar The Cruel, but Veil The Outcast is the worst, and he isn't even the main bad guy! This book may not have had the height of adventure as in "The Bellmaker", but it has all the emotion to make up for it and then some. My favorite theme of the book, as I see it, is the exploration of different types of love e.g. families, friends, adoptive families. The characters act as perfect foils for each other, creating this space between them all wherein lies some really good drama and makes for an excellent read and a wonderful addition to the Redwall series.

Three stars because I have a lot of nostalgia for this book and it was actually the first Redwall book I read in 4th.

In hindsight it's a very strange first book in the series to read as it's a more sprawling narrative than a lot of them, and explores moral gray areas we're not accustomed to seeing in these stories, but it was less successful than I remember.

The titular Outcast of Redwall is a ferret named Veil who was raised inside Redwall Abbey, the only "vermin" species surrounded by do-gooder mice and hedgehogs and moles. But Veil cannot overcome his nature, perhaps because everyone he interacts with suspects him at all times except for the mouse Bryony who sees the good in him unconditionally. This premise had a chance to be a transcendent story, had the Redwallers been forced to confront their own prejudices, or if the entrapment within their judicial system had been scrutinized at all, and even when Veil redeems himself and saves Bryony, it runs into the Anakin Skywalker/Ben Solo problem where redemption only ever immediately followed up with the character's demise.

This kind of "wicked race" problem isn't unique to this novel in genre fiction. Tolkien has Saruman, a wizard created to be a force for good, fall to the temptation of Sauron, but there are no stories (to my knowledge) of an Orc in Middle Earth defecting from Mordor to join the Rohirrim or defend Gondor. But in the quarter century between my first reading and this week listening to the audiobook, I realized in my head canon I had made Veil a more sympathetic character and the Redwallers' collective treatment of him more empathetic than what was actually there in the text, and that was disappointing.

The Badger stuff with Sunflash the Mace was great, though. I love a good lore download for the Badger Lords of Salamandastron. That aspect of the book is far more successful.

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Outcast of Redwall

During a battle gone wrong on his quest for revenge, the evil warlord Swartt Sixclaw leaves behind his son Veil. Found and brought to Redwall Abbey, Veil is taken in by a young mousemaid named Bryony. And despite the Redwaller’s peaceful nature, some believe once a vermin always a vermin. When items go missing, or things go awry, Veil is always the first to blame. Each time Bryony stands by his side, defending the young ferret as if he were her own. Until one day he goes too far and is banished from Redwall Abbey. With nowhere else to go, Veil seeks out his father, but life with vermin is never easy.

While Outcast of Redwall may seem as though it focuses on Veil’s time at the Abbey and his journey after, there is a much bigger story to be told. In order to understand how Veil ends up abandoned, readers are introduced to the long time feud between Sunflash the Mace and Swartt Sixclaw. As the badger lord and ferret cross paths time and again, the badger lord sets his eyes on thwarting Swartt’s villainous ways. And true to vermin style, Swartt Sixclaw swears revenge on the badger.

Knowing Veil’s family history only adds to the doubt readers and Redwallers may feel toward the young ferret. It brings into question if Veil comes from a wicked father, does it inherently mean Veil will behave the same way? Bryony is set on the path she can turn Veil’s behavior around if she gives him enough love and support. But some in the abbey cast doubt on Veil, and he grows up in an environment where blame is constantly placed on him for every misdeed. When he eventually takes things too far he is cast out. On his own, Veil’s behavior only further escalates. Whether it is to protect himself from the guilt he feels, or because he embraces his vermin nature is up to the reader to decide.

Despite both Sunflash and Veil’s storylines dealing with heavier themes, Brian Jacques does a wonderful job balancing them with acts of kindness and good natured creatures. One of my favorite moments was when Sunflash spoke of all the recipes he learned from friends on his journey. He spoke of the emotions he felt when eating these delicacies and his desire to share them with friends. Food and feasting is a common occurrence in the Redwall books, and each time a dish is described the reader’s mouth will water. Never read a Redwall book on an empty stomach!

Outcast of Redwall breaks the mold from previous Redwall novels and explores the world beyond the abbey in greater detail. It also shows how even those in Redwall who are seen as kind and caring creatures, can still hold grudges and doubts. Not everyone is perfect, and certain behaviors can change the path of those influenced by them. Altogether this was another riveting adventure filled with quests, friendships, and battles.

Another stirring adventure for the creatures of the idyllic Mossflower wood. As previous reviewers have pointed out, the storylines do get a little repetitive; however I don't expect the youthful audience the books are aimed at, would be too troubled with that - just as long as there are heroes and heroines, warriors and pirates, goodies and baddies, and lots of scrumptious feasts to fill the long, sun-drenched, bucolic days!

this is the second redwall story i've read and, while it is a fantastic tale and Brian Jacques does a great job of making you care about the characters and makes you want them to succeed or fail, in the case of Swart. the chapters where Sunflash stays with the family of hedgehogs and voles were a slog to get through because their accents were near impossible to read. this is one of the only sections of the book i would recommend listening to on audio book and then the reading the rest, as it will make it much easier to get through.

(ಥ﹏ಥ)