Now, for those of you who read this book and liked it, I have absolutely no problem with that. I actually thought it was an okay book myself. A heroic mouse by the name of Matthias lives peacefully in Redwall, an enclosed city within a fortress. The residents include mice, squirrels, badgers, otters, and all sorts of other small animals. However, an army of rats attack in envy of stealing the fortress. Matthias must become a warrior and obtain a sword to fight back at the army. Now, at this point, you might be wondering what kind of problem I could ever have with such a great concept and plot. You want to know don't you? Well here it is: foxes are villains in this series. Now, with the hero being a mouse, you could really expect that, wouldn't you? Well, guess what? There are NO good foxes in the ENTIRE series, even though there is such a thing as a good cat. Is that because foxes are cunning and sly characters? That's not always considered a BAD thing! I can name a few stories that have foxes as the protagonist or an innocent side character, such as The Chronicles of Narnia, Fantastic Mr. Fox, or Fox Woman. There was NO excuse, and I can't stand to read about a bunch of foxes being slain or murdered for treachery. If you've read my profile, you know that foxes are my favorite animals of all time (okay, maybe not that much, but I still like them a lot), and reading these books were pure torture to me! I may hate these books, but that still doesn't mean that you have to. If you don't like foxes as much as I do, or in this case, ferrets, rats, weasels, cats, and stoats, I would highly suggest this book to you, because you'll probably like it, unlike me. Final verdict: decent book, but I just can't stand to read them (if that makes any sense).

n  n

2.0 stars. Now I admit upfront that YA fantasy is somewhat starting to lose its appeal to me, making me a harsher critic of what I think are weak efforts. At the same time, I still really enjoy the compelling, higher end stuff. Unfortunately, THIS A'INT IT!! YA is one thing, but I found this to be the “Y” est of YA fantasy books that I have read in quite a while. It was just too young.

Despite the fact that the book is fairly well written and decently paced, I found the plot itself to just be completely and unbelievably BORING:
n  n

Nothing new or fresh happened at all. This is your VERY standard, cookie-cutter “coming of age” heroic quest fantasy tale BUT with the amazingly original and novel twist of....are you ready for this....rather than human characters, the story is populated by MICE and other cute, mostly furry animals that just think and act human. WOW, what do you possibly say when confronted by such a mind-blowingly pedestrian concept? All I could think of was.....
n  n

It just lacked any sense of originality beyond trying to be a sweeter, kid-friendly adventure verson of "Animal Farm."

Now on the positive side, it is a fairly short book and I think that young children (or heavily medicated adults) may still enjoy it. Unfortunately, I am no longer able to be the former and did not have the foresight to be the latter as I read this book. Thus, I am left having to say that I do not think this is a story that will have you dancing in the streets.

I would put this as the best pure story I've ever read to the kids. This was outstanding. Beautifully written, and entertainment at its finest. When we chose the book, my 12 year old daughter was a bit iffy. But, by the time we were a third of the way in I could tell she was hooked. By the end of the book my 7 year old's mouth was hanging wide open. Lots of good laughter, and dad got choked up at the end. This was GOOD. I bet C.S. Lewis would've loved this tale. Thing with Lewis though, his stuff had symbolism to it. This, well, it was just a story. But, one of the most entertaining I've ever read. Could be a bit graphic in places though for young ears. I've already ordered and received the prequel to this book, entitled Mossflower. Very likely we'll get to that next. Supposed to be just as good. Now this is what reading great books is all about! :-) Booyah!

I did not read this book (or its many following books) when I was younger, so thought it was time to give this book a go. Simple, straightforward story, with simply-drawn characters. The good guys (mice, squirrels, etc.) are really good people, while the bad guy is a whisker-twirling nasty fellow. The two main protagonists are as far apart in their actions and views as they could possibly be: Martin, the young, somewhat clumsy but respectful, hardworking and kind mouse. Cluny, the evil, lying, murdering, conquering rat. The other characterizations are equally simple -- it's not hard to figure out who to cheer for in this story, which plays out as a medieval siege story, combined with a quest for a practically magical weapon for the good guys to use against the bad guy and his army of rats, weasels, stoats.

I enjoyed the story -- sometimes it's nice to read something where motives and actions are easy to understand, and it's obvious who to cheer for.

In an abbey called Redwall there lived a mouse among mice. His name was Matthias and he was a novice monk whose dream was to become as great a hero as Martin the warrior of legend who, along with Abbess Germaine, co-founded the titular abbey. Then one day a one-eyed rat who went by the name of Cluny the Scourge showed up in the neighborhood with his army of miscreants intent on pillaging Redwall and killing anyone who would oppose him. Problem was, at least for our monocular antagonist, those abbey mice were no chickens and did not lack for pluck and resourcefulness when it came to defending their beloved abbey. And so ensued a war of attrition of sorts between rats and mice, along with each side’s allies.

It quickly became apparent that the only thing that would tip the scales in the mice’s favor and put an end once and for all to the scourge that was Cluny would be a hero the likes of which Redwall hadn’t seen since Martin the Warrior. But Martin was dead and buried. And his sword was now the property of a creature far more dangerous and deadly than Cluny the Scourge. Who in their right mind would be so brave as to take up the mantle (along with the shield and sword) of the late hero? Who would be so bold and fearless, and perhaps a little reckless too? Matthias, that’s who!

Sometimes you’re afraid to do nostalgia rereads because they sometimes don’t hit like they used to. Like a house you once knew, that’s since grown unfriendly.

I’m overjoyed to say that this old childhood favorite welcomed me in, sat me down with a blanket, and whispered, “You’ve been fighting too long. Let me remind you of why you began in the first place.”

And off I went. Back into the place that’s all action, valor, and sacrifice—balanced by light, hope, coziness, and enough food to feed an army. Back to where sunlight shines golden through forest leaves, red sandstone walls guard against evil of all kinds, and battle cries echo in the defense of all things good and kind.

It did my heart good, this homecoming.

If Beatrix Potter wrote Arthurian-inspired medieval stories...



I missed the Redwall train growing up. The cover is familiar to me, and probably what turned me off--I didn't care for war novels then. Redwall is extraordinarily violent, so I know I'd have hated this particular book as a kid, but it was quite good fun now that my stomach is a bit stronger.

The world of Redwall Abbey is simply charming. Woodland creatures feasting medieval-style? Yes, please. I loved Jacques's attention to animal life, and how well he imagined their interactions and roles. My one burning question is about how the buildings account for vast size differences in animals (from dormice to badgers). His use of medieval-esque conceits and evocative language in the novel was excellent, too. Jacques expects a lot of his middle-grade readers, which I appreciate!

I'm eager to read more in the series (hopefully some of the upcoming books are less violent), given my weakness for anthropomorphic woodland creatures and medieval settings. The combination is just too much to resist. Cornflower x Matthias 5ever.

Content warnings: lots of death and violence; beware, young/sensitive readers! Character death, senseless death, accidental death--it's all here. Execution, kidnapping, imprisonment, poisoning/hypnosis, boiling oil. At least none of it is acted upon/enacted by children, like The Hunger Games. As I was reading, I kept thinking, "This is the type of book most enjoyed by nine-year-olds who passionately explain the superiority of the trebuchet to the catapult."

This book was actually *better* than I remember it being. It's got content that I would say is more targeted at mid-teens than preteens, which was how I'd remembered it. The writing is great, the story is entertaining, some of the action is ruthless, and the audio was terrific. It's going to be difficult to go back to reading adult things when I want to continue this series on an adult-reread.

It’s the rare book that my sons have recommended to me...the rare book whose author I have actually met and heard speak and adored...the rare book that is on hundreds of Must-Read lists...the rare book that has all these things going for it and yet remains on my TBR heap.

I was finally motivated to pull it out of the pile and give it a thorough read when my 1001 Children’s Books list chose it for a group read in February.

Why, why, why, I thought as I finished the last page, why didn’t I read this one with my sons? And is it too late to propose a readaloud with them at ages 27 and 30?

Don’t make the same mistake I did. It’s a story that will be fabulous as a readaloud with your children, even if they are too old to actually sit in your lap. Do it now. I urge you. You will not regret it.

I’d have put money on me having read this. Turned out I’d read Welkin Weasels instead!

This was sweet; heroic heroes, brave helpers and evil baddies. You know who he evil ones are by the names.

I didn't love this like I wanted to. It's a cute setting, inspired by monastery life in medieval Britain. Quite a varied cast, with mice, shrews, rats, rabbits, foxes, squirrels, hedgehogs, sparrows, otters, ferrets, moles, badgers, an owl, a snake, and a cat. Little creatures running around doing miniaturized deeds of valor, courage, integrity, grit, and so on. I can see why this is a beloved series. But it never captured me on a deeper emotional level. There's so much action, and the plot moves so fast, one can't quite stop to catch a breath. The characters are adorable. But there's not much depth to them and their actions—no introspection, no heart, no magic.

For similar cute animal tales, see:
--Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
--The Wind in the Willows
--Stuart Little
--Tales from Beatrix Potter
--The Cricket in Times Square

I am going to try this one again. Audio book this time. Wish me luck! 1/23/24

My thanks to Libro.fm and Penguin Random House for an ALC of those book to listen to in audio format.

I tried, I really, really, REALLY tried. I got to 48% in the audio, which was a lot further then I got when I tried to read this and no. Just no. I think as a child, I would have LOVED this book. Anthropomorphic, talking animals. A teeny tiny cute mouse hero who started out as a zero and then HE SHOWED THEM. A BIG BAD named CLUNY THE SCOURGE!!! (I swear the narrator said this name in ALL CAPS each time, lol.) And a Magical Sword that the OG Hero was an IDIOT for hiding the way he did, that served as the necessary McGuffin AND red herring, because from reading the reviews of others, the sword didn't play much of a part in the story after it was retrieved.

As a child, I wouldn't have thought TOO hard about the sizing of the animals and the abbey/everything else in the world, but as an adult, it made NO SENSE. Also, the Sword/McGuffin also made NO SENSE in how the OG Hero Martin hid it. It also makes NO SENSE that the animals had NO way to get onto the roof. Are you telling me the roof NEVER needed work done on it, even after CENTURIES?!? It was a magical, non-leaking roof?? And why have the squirrel start all the way at the BOTTOM, why not get her to the highest possible window and have her climb up from THERE?? A lot less strenuous of a climb for her, both up AND down.

And if it was so IMPOSSIBLE to get up to, how did our puzzle-loving OG Hero, who wouldn't know a safe place to put an invaluable item if it bit him, get up on the roof to hide it there?!? And HOW did he make the special shield indentation on JUST that part of the wall, where it ONLY shone during the ONE phase of the moon (which OUR current heroes just HAPPENED to be experiencing at JUST the right moment) DIRECTLY onto the really poorly conceived hiding spot. After OGH Martin saved all of small mammal-kind, did he have the time to figure out this HUGE puzzle that needed a LOT of help to make, MAKE it and then have EVERYone who knew about it keep it a secret?!?

Yeah, with how I am ranting, this went from two to one star. And don't get me STARTED on how the ONLY Bag Guy to survive that INSANELY HIGH fall, was the Big Bad and that he was able to be healed in like two to three weeks. And the fox healer was built up to be so sly and smart, but she was outsmarted by CLUNY?!?! smh

The narrator had a very good, British voice that I enjoyed listening to, though the volume control wasn't perfect, it wasn't too bad. I did like the rabbit character, he read him very well.

1, my second and final attempt with this book, star. DNF 2/2/24.

Original review from 2012 below this point.

I just can't finish this book right now. It's not keeping my interest and I really don't care about what happens to the mice in Redwall. It is written rather juvenilely in my opinion. I think I would have liked it when I was younger. I may try this one again later, but right now I have to put it down. I got up to page 90 before calling it quits. It was kind of interesting around page 70 or so, but not enough to continue.