Redwall readthrough - Redwall

Being super great at finishing what I start, I've started to do another series readthrough. Pay no attention to the half-finished Asterix and Deverry readthroughs. Instead, come enjoy this romp through the Redwall series!

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. On board? No? Good. Lets roll those credits!

Mini-Review: In Redwall Abbey, home of things lovely and peaceful, young Matthias the novice in his oversized habit is hurrying through life and dreaming of one less peaceful and lovely. Travelling towards Redwall Abbey is Cluny the Scourge, champion carrier of bags for little old ladies and all round nice guy legendarily evil and brutal warlord. And he likes your abbey. He wants your abbey. And nobody's going to stand in his way, not even his own henchrats. But Redwall's walls are thick, its inhabitants determined, and the spirit of Martin the Warrior, even more legendary warrior of good, still haunts the stones of the abbey he helped found. And in Matthias, his warrior spirit lives on - but where is his sword?

What do I recall thinking at the time: I did not start the series with Redwall, I started it with Mossflower, and that set some expectations that the series' first book didn't really meet. I wanted far ranging quests, a touch of wildness, hares fighting with searats and otters and squirrels battling vermin hordes. Redwall concentrates far more on the abbey, and the clash of peaceful mice vs the enemy, and doesn't really offer the multiple plotlines that later books would that allow the showing of various different parts of the world. I read it, but it was never one of my favourites. I was too bloodthirsty a kid for that.

What do I think now: I think it's not unknown for first books to struggle in such readthroughs because they don't contain all the elements people came to love about the series. Or at least it's not unknown for me, and it's happening here. I miss the otters. I miss the quest. But I do like it better now. The abbey community is more interesting, there's a few elements that did not live on that I enjoy (sparra killee worm!) and there's definitely a good nostalgia feeling to going back to where it all starts.

Best Thing: Matthias and Methusaleh have such a great relationship, with the wise old scholar being a mentor who helps his charge but who doesn't make his decisions. Basil Stag Hare is immense fun with his constant derision of Cluny's horde. But the best, most dramatic moment, is when Matthias is fighting the great adder Asmodeus. It put the wind up as me as a kid and it's still tense and awesome now. 

That said, in general, the best thing is the way the forces of good are so much more competent than the despicable soldiers of Cluny. I've got a real soft spot for stories where the protagonists are simply better than the antagonists, and their victory is no desperate last ditch attempt or million to one shot, but the simple and natural way of things. Redwall falls into this category, with Cluny and his vermin stumbling from disaster to disaster, every time coming back with a cunning plan that the abbey dwellers shut down like it's barely an inconvenience. As a way of having fun, I am very much down with this. Of course, there's still a desperate last ditch victory following the one time Cluny gets lucky but hey, nothing wrong with having it both ways, right?

Worst Thing: I think the second time Matthias just ups and offs without a word in his quest for Martin's sword my eye twitched a little. It's just one sword that does sword things, mate. It really shouldn't be the answer. And even if it is, just tell them! Don't be that hero Matthias.

Other Notes:

These are really notes about the whole series rather than the book itself, but there are some things that jumped out at me as being of some importance that I obviously didn't think of as a kid.

1) Let's start with the big one - the very neat alignment between species and outlook. Mice are good. Rats are evil. Stoats, weasels and ferrets are little better. Foxes are sly and wicked. Hares are the British upper class at war. Moles are homely types from the west country. Shrews are quarreling unionized Merseyside dockers. Now, look, I'm a 90s kid who grew up on a steady diet of good races vs bad races. Just how it was and what I'm used to. And I'm firmly of the opinion most of us are capable of distinguishing between fictional conceits and how the real world works, particularly when it comes to talking mice with swords, so whatevs. For me, this is like putting mushy peas on a plate. I didn't ask for the plate for the mushy peas, and I'm not going to pay attention to the mushy peas, and I'll enjoy the rest of the meal and leave the mushy peas there.

Even so, it's a lot of mushy peas and I know not everyone is wired like me on this one. For some this is a dealbreaker. And I know Jacques takes a bit more (only bit more) nuanced view on this later, and I found myself longing for it because after a bit, the characters feel a bit samey. Also, this is a book aimed at kids. Would I rec this for adults who fancy reading some YA-ish stuff for some fast fun? Sure, if this isn't a big one. For their kids? I guess caveat emptor, but there's some potential lessons here a bunch of people mightn't want near their kids. I'd like to believe a sensible kid will be able to work out the difference between the fictional conceit and how the real world works too, and that if a kid uses this as an excuse to think real life ethnicities are just born different, the book isn't the main problem, but the best laid plans of mice and men alike gang aft agley.

Put it this way. Would I put it in front of my own kid? Probably yeah, but only when I feel happy they can distinguish between reality and fiction, and isn't on the path to being a bit of a dick.

2) I know - I think we all know - that men read for pleasure less than women, and that it starts young. I believe I've read that the gap is increasing. It's not the most pressing issue in literature, particularly not in a genre that generally appeals strongly to men, but it's there. It's a potential avenue to more revenue for the industry, it's a potential avenue to better academic performance and life outcomes for men. Now, I don't know the YA market and how much books like this are part of the offering. I don't know whether, even if a shortage of books like was a problem, whether a book about talking mice from 30+ years ago would be the answer. But I do remember actual books for kids having really limited cut-through when I was younger and this was one of the few exceptions. Are there lessons for the industry in Redwall? I've no clue, but I'd love to hear more from people who know kids' books better.

3) Finally - something I'd have never thought of as a kid, or even until I saw so many people talking about their identities - but this book is as English as possible. And I actually think that's not so common. People complain about there being so much medieval fantasy, or so much stuff riffing off of the British Isles, but really most of that is accent notes in hybrid dreamland worlds, places that owe more to the idea of Fantasy that anywhere in the real world, orphans born of a dozen parents. I love that type of fantasy - frankly I wonder if we're in danger of losing it - but there's a long tether between it and England's green and pleasant land. Redwall and Mossflower, however, are as English as The Shire and Lancre. They are born out of an author's obvious love for what they walked amongst. I'm not sure I appreciate it any more or less for that, but it is a thing worthy of note.