Redwall Readthrough - Mariel of Redwall

The Redwall readthrough continues here with Mariel of Redwall, a jump in chronology back to shortly after Mossflower. 

For those who don't know, Redwall is a series of children's fantasy books by Brian Jacques famous for its use of anthropomorphic animals, good vs evil, and regional British dialects. It was hugely popular when I was a young 'un (the first book was published in 1986, the year of my birth); I do not know how popular they are now, nearly ten years after Jacques' death and the posthumous publication of the last book in the series. I probably discovered them when I was around 10; I was still joyfully enjoying being able to take the latest release from my uncles' bookshop for free in my late teens.

Obviously I am no longer in my teens, but now I am going to read them all again and share my thoughts. So far I've found my opinions haven't changed that much since I was young - if anything I enjoy more elements - and it'll be interesting to see if that continues with Mariel of Redwall, a book I remember being fond of.

Mini-Review: On a dark stormy night, a rat pushes a mouse into the raging sea. The rat is Gabool the Wild, King of Searats, a ruthless and violent corsair. The mouse wakes up on a shore, robbed of her memory but ready to fight anyone to survive. Friendly hares from the Long Patrol direct her to Redwall - where Storm Gullwhacker remembers she was born Mariel, and she has a score to settle with the rat who stole her father's bell and took her slave. The journey from Redwall might be long and treacherous, but she has good friends and a burning hatred with which to guide her steps.

But she is not the only one thinking to settle scores with Gabool. Rawnblade, Lord of Salamandstron, can feel his destiny approaching. Gabool's slaves dream of freedom. But perhaps most dangerous of all are Gabool's own captains as his madness descend - and those captains will spread that danger all over the west coast, including to Redwall.

What do I recall thinking at the time: As a kid, I thought this was a very solid book, but not quite top tier. Not entirely sure but, despite some great moments, it didn't fully connect.

What do I think now: I would like to update younger me's opinions by saying a third of this is truly excellent, a third is very good, and there's just a few bits that don't hit that bring the whole thing down. I think part of that is due to a more grown up, darker tone that doesn't always jibe with the dafter shenanigans.

Best Thing: Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about the Long Patrol. 

The Long Patrol is the force of hares stationed at Salamandastron, using that as their base as they patrol around the countryside making sure no good creature comes to harm. We've seen fighting hares before but this is the first view of them as a true organisation, and the first time a group of them gets the lead role. And they're really rather magnificent in it, both in word and in deed. I'll freely admit I'm a sucker for their idealised British upper class at war ways and humour, but they walk the walk with their unswerving willingness to protect those less able when a crew of sea rats fleeing Gabool find Redwall. The book's best scenes and most emotional moments belong to them.

Other great moments include the race to Terramort (funnier than it sounds), Gabool chewing through the scenery (and his henchmen), Mariel as a character, the fight with the lobster, Treerose struggling to flirt with Rufus, a non-snobby vole, and Oak Tom. Dunno why a funny fat squirrel amuses me, but it does.

Worst Thing: It's not bad per se, but I've only put a couple of things from Mariel's quest in Best Thing and when the main plot of a book isn't one of the best things about it, that's kind of an issue. There's no sense of character arc to help the scenes stand out, and the scenes do need that help. I repeat that they're not bad, they're okay to more than okay, but they're not great. And if it ain't great, I get irate. It doesn't help that the main quest is saddled with Tarquin L. Woodsorrel, a hare of particularly questionable musicianship. Well done to Jacques for selling his indifferent skills with rhyme and verse, but in terms of readability, that means unless you're giggling along with Jacques at how bad Woodsorrel is, it's basically a very accurate shot to the foot.

Another thing is the way Saxtus' opinion and understanding of the hares slid around depending on what Jacques wanted us to feel, rather than building on what the character had said. Very convenient and inconsistent. 

The ending suffers from everyone and their pet lizard turning up to dogpile Gabool. I've talked about my enjoyment at watching team evil getting its head kicked in again and again, and not making everything about the desperate last stand, but if it's too easy for the heroes, then where's the fun? We get Rawnblade is coming, but having a ready made resistance movement pop up in the last quarter of the book is Deus Ex Machina. Throw in a vital last minute vision from Martin and this is one of the worst endings despite being a well written battle. 

Hero Watch: Mariel achieves two interesting firsts here. She's the first female protagonist of a Redwall book, and she's also the first one who's mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. I wish we knew more about pre-book Mariel, so we knew how much was her and how much was a reaction to her experiences, but it kind of doesn't matter. Her force of personality is entertaining - her anger very understandable. Something I'd kinda missed (only kinda) until reading this is just how a little overjolly war and adventure is in Redwall. Well, not here. Mariel lives being a slave and it does her no good. Her rage will not be brooked. Between that and the Long Patrol, the series hits a level of darkness needed for it to function best.

Villain Watch: Gabool's a magnificent nutcase, bloodily efficient at his work one moment, mad and cowering the next. I can imagine a giant searat with teeth replace by emerald studded gold falsies would look totally intimidating and metal too. His descent into paranoia and madness is one of my favourite things about this book, as is his subjects' understandable reaction to realising their king sees enemies everywhere and deals with them accordingly. Outstanding death too.

Other Notes: 

1) I forgot to mention how it's a bit annoying that Treerose is criticised for being efficient. She's snippy with people, and criticising that is fair game, but criticising someone for being good at their job?

2) Speaking of squirrels, the portrayal of this species at least has moved a bit away from being very "you are what you are". Treerose is a superior little miss, used to being the best and getting what she wants. Rufe Brush is strong and silent. Oak Tom is missing a few acorns. Pakatugg is a bit of a mercenary bellend and even a bit of a villain early on. It's nice, and all of them are memorable personalities.

3) One of the issues with writing draft blogs in one go and redrafting them is sometimes you reach the end and wonder if what you wrote at the start is true. There's a lot of things in this book that didn't hit for me, including two of the most important parts in the main arc and ending. I think I'll stand by my original statement. I have probably overly talked up how much the bad matters and if I haven't talked as much about the good, it's me trying to tiptoe around spoilers. That said - this is a curate's egg, and just because I value the good more than the less good doesn't make it otherwise. This is a book saved from okay to meh by a side arc and three valiant hares of the Long Patrol in Colonel Clary, the Hon. Rose, and Brigadier Thyme.

Oh. And the Colonel is in charge, not the Brigadier. Not sure why you need two officers of that rank in a three hare patrol anyway. Yes, that did bug me as well.