Mossflower by Brian Jacques is a great fantasy adventure book. It is part of the amazing Redwall series, it is twenty two books long if you didn’t know. I would place it in my top 5 of the series. The book is about the revolution of Mossflower. The evil wild cat Tsarmina took over and is determined to rule over all of the land and all of the peaceful woodlanders that live in it. The woodlanders are final making a stand against the hated tyrant. Martin the Warrior, a warrior mouse from the north, came into the area just at the right time. He runs into Gnoff, the prince of mouse-thieves, and set off on a quest to bring back Boar the Fighter to save Mossflower. Unlikely friends and twists and turns make this story one of my absolute favorites.
This book is written in a very interesting style. It would be a third person omniscient. It has parts of the story when it is focusing on the main characters/ the good guys and sometimes it focusses on the bad guys. Sometimes part of the chapter is about an eagle who’s neutral in all of it. Brian Jacques has a very unique writing style, but it makes the books very enjoyable. He also describes food with so much detail. Sometimes It feels like the dish is sitting right in front of you. Only bad part about it is that it makes you hungry.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved the writing style because it gives more foreshadowing and guessing to what will happen. The diversity of the character also makes this book so great. It goes from giant mighty eagles to grumpy swamp toads. The author did an awesome job creating a world that can catch readers and keep them intrigued. He did write 22 books in this series after all. I do not think there is anything that I really disliked about the book, but there is one thing I would change. I wish the woodlanders/ good guys didn’t win every battle they are in. There have been minor setbacks but the they have always came out on top. I wished that they had a big loss that they came back from earlier in the book. But that is just my preference, that would end up changing the whole book if Brian Jacques wrote it like that.
This is overall one of my favorite books and definitely one of the best in the series. It was really easy to get entranced into the series after reading just one of the books. I would highly recommend it to anyone who asks for a book suggestion.

A really fun adventure with some pretty epic moments! I enjoyed Mossflower more than Redwall. These books are nice easy reads when I need something lighter.

The third book in the chronological reread. Mossflower is a forest community suffering under the tyrannical reign of Tsarmina. A union of rebels are doing all they can to keep the good creatures safe. From the cold winter comes a wandering warrior mouse named Martin. The origins of Redwall begin......

I first began reading Brian Jacques when I was little. Recently I decided to start over and hopefully read past where I'd stopped in the series, and I have to say I knew I would still like them, but I was surprised by how much. This book is great for young readers--the imaginative characters and setting is perfect for kids--but the wonder, nostalgia and excitement transcends to adult readers as well. Honestly a must-read. Even though this book was written second, I recommend new readers start with it (it's a prequel to Redwall). I read it both ways, starting with Redwall when I was young, and this time, starting with Mossflower, and I definitely think Mossflower should come first.

I won’t say this was quite as remarkable and outstanding as the first storyline with young Mathias, but this redwall prequel story is still just so fascinating and fun to travel along through the pages with our young rebels. I felt like Queen Tsarmina was a bit more of a strong rounded villain. A don’t even get me started on the cool scenery descriptive of Mt.Salamandastrom and the mole and bat people (just so creative). Without giving away too much of the plot, I did also thoroughly enjoy the addition of swashbuckling and sailing as well in this one.

n  Publication Order: 2nd in Series
Chronological Order: 3rd in Seriesn

Wind in the Willows… on steroids!

I was gifted this book as a young kid but I just never was able to crack open its pages. Honestly, I’m glad I wasn’t able to. Although written for children, this book has some complexities that just wouldn’t make sense. On the other hand, this is a story of friendship, of having courage in the face of trouble, and of a great adventure between three friends who only seem to open their circle ever wider to new comers. So, I probably should have read it as a kid irregardless.

n  For a moment his eyes met those of Tsarmina’s. His voice was clear and unafraid. ‘Your father made a just decision, but yours was the right one. You should have killed me when you had the chance, because I vow that I will slay you one day.’n

Mossflower wood… is under oppression. Ages ago, the Badger King left his throne behind to partake in a right all Badgers must undergo, the right to journey to the volcano Salamandastron. A throne without a king was all the cruel cats from the north needed to advance and overtake the small wooded country. Ever since, the creatures of Mossflower Woods have been enslaved to their every whim and demand.

But the creatures are gathering. Setting up a council over themselves, the Corim, Mossflower will be the new scene of skirmishes and guerrilla tactics. But as the creatures of the wood were planning a surprise attack, they witness a stranger from a faraway land named Martin the Warrior take on the whole army by himself. Taken prisoner, the encouraged Corim must liberate Martin and send him on a journey to bring the Badger King back and free Mossflower from the cat’s cruelty.

n  ‘…I have seen courage before; it comes in all shapes and sizes. Just because he is a mouse does not make him less of a warrior than me. He has a fighter’s heart—I saw it in his eyes.’n

A sprawling epic, this tale of friendship opens like Wind in the Willows. Yet we soon see that it will grow darker and more violent, filled with medieval warfare, with a much more complicated plot.

I only had one issue with this book, one thing that seemed to take away from its greatness. Throughout the book, the evil characters are constantly killed. After their deaths, new villains arise that you’ve never heard of or even been hinted at. Soon, they will die too, and new villains will emerge without hint or mention. A seemingly endless cycle, that I’ve been told is in every single one of Brian Jacques’ books. This only seems to extend the story, and give our protagonists some ‘side quests’ that have no overall effect on the plot.

Along with the complicated “mole speak”, which just reads like British rednecks, this story may seem too much for some kids.

Other than that, I did love this story. And I hope the Redwall series will gain new avid readers for decades to come.

4.5 ⭐️

Pure nostalgia bias

Took its sweet time getting started, but it sure was epic once it did! Also, Gonff is amazing.

4/5
This was a fun, thrilling adventure with a surprising amount of violence.

There we go.

Continuing the re-read, Mossflower is a fantastic step up from the minor disappointment that was Redwall. Jacques has found his super power and flexes it on every page.

It's the Odyssey for kids. It's a textbook example of prequels done right- adding context that makes Redwall stronger in hindsight while telling a fascinating story all on its own. It's stage setting for what's to come, with glimpses at Salamandastron, the North, and a whole slew of interesting sandboxes set up for Jacques to play in later. And it's all written so well. Prose that's compelling and still accessible. Delightful side characters like Gonf, Skipper, Lady Amber, and MASK (RIP).

If you want to get your younglings into fantasy, here's your starting point. If you want an easy read that scratches every sword and sorcery itch in your adult body, here's your back scratcher.

We'll do a more in depth breakdown of everything on the Books N Badgers podcast, but for now, Mossflower is the gold standard for this series.

Onwards to Mattimeo!

This is an excellent book for both boys and girls, including those who "don't like to read." They may end up changing their minds once they begin on Mossflower. I've known a few who have done so.

This is a story of good vs. evil, in which good triumphs in the end, in spite of overwhelming odds, through wisdom, love, and allied forces.

The first time I read this book, I would have been around 10 years old. My mother borrowed it from the library thinking I would enjoy it, but I wasn't too sure since it was one my mother had picked out. I began reading it anyway so as not to hurt my mom's feelings and soon couldn't put it down. After that I read as many of the Redwall books as I could get my hands on and started my own collection of the series. They remained among my favorite books throughout my grade school days.

Mossflower has always been my favorite, perhaps because it was my first exposure to the world of Redwall. The stories do run together after awhile, as most have very similar characters, themes, and events. My nieces recently began borrowing them off my shelves and have loved them, too, though their method of reading ~16 of them in a row has slightly cooled their ardor, I think.

So I saw this book in one of my favorite thrift shops, and it looked rather interesting. Finding out that it was a Redwall book and remembering one of my blogging buddies saying lots of good things about that series (I believe it was Lila Red?), I decided to pick it up.

And I'm so glad I did.

The complexity of the story was right up my alley. It was a fantasy quest story that was so squeaky clean that it made my heart sing. All the names too were really cool (except for Gingivere's. His seemed much more feminine at first, but maybe that was the point??). Yes, there was a fair amount of fairy tale and allegorical cliches, but I'm okay with that.

The only real complaint I have is that Tsarmina's character development. Her descent into madness and some of her phobias were kind of haphazardly thrown together to me. Every other character was stellar in my opinion (both as a writer and as a reader).

I will most assuredly look for more Redwall books in the future :)

RW Ratings:

Language: 5 stars
Abuse: 4 1/2. There is a fair amount of hatred on Tsarmina's part to her brother and she treats him quite horribly (you know, the usual torture, imprisonment, mental and emotional stuff, that sort of thing).
Lust: 5 stars. Small little clean romance hints, (like admitting to prettiness, etc.)