Brian Jacques

Redwall — (1986-2011) Publisher: When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy.

Redwall

If you like creatures, critters, and cuteness, Redwall is the series for you! At the same time, if you like action, adventure, heroism, and bad guys who you can love to hate, Redwall is also the series for you!

Brian Jacques puts a little taste of everything into his books. All of the Redwall series focus around animals who walk, talk, wear clothes, and wield swords. While that sounds exceptionally kid-like, surprisingly the characters are well-developed, likeable, and (with the exception that they are mice wearing clothes) very believable. The best part I feel, is that they are characters the reader can really relate to. The heroes have faults and resemble what real people feel and to some extent go through, on the flip-side the villains are creatures you want to just reach into the story and strangle! They are definitely bad guys you love to hate!

Another thumbs up for Redwall is that the action is always moving. I have stayed up late into the night with several of these books and cursed the Mr. Jacques in the morning for keeping me up until 4 AM. They are also not short little story books, but full on epic novels that can last at least a long plane ride for any adult reader. Of the entire series there are only two books that go back-to-back with the characters, so you can read the books "out of order" and not have to worry what went on in the previous book because there are different characters in each book, most of them only tying two central locations together: Redwall Abbey, and Salamandastron Fortress.

Only a few small gripes. Brian Jacques likes to incorporate accents into his dialogue, different creatures having different accents. Some are hard to read and make out, let alone try to hear the characters speaking in your mind. The moles especially. Jacques tries to give them a thick (what I can only imagine) is Scottish accent and I often have to read what they say over and over again.

After reading two or three of the books, the endings become fairly predictable. Though each book has different plots and twists that come along with them, the endings are always the same: Good triumphs over evil, bad guy dies, hero lives, and one of our favorite minor characters dies heroically. I must admit, despite the predictability, I have yet to tire of Jacques's books.

Brian Jacques also likes to dabble in poetry. He puts in a lot of "songs" and poems that I must admit I sometimes find myself skipping or skimming over to get back to the action of the story.

Warnings: Jacques likes to describe lavish meals: do not read these books on an empty stomach! Some scenes are rather gory, if you're going to let your kids read these books, I would suggest 6th graders and up only.

All and all, Redwall is a great series for young and old alike. Not much romance, as I would hate to imagine mice kissing, but it is chock full of adventure, excitement, and page-turning action that will turn you into a true Brian Jacques fan for life! —Julie Waineo

Eulalia

Torn from his humble home in the Northern Isles, Gorath the badger is taken captive aboard the feared vessel Bludgullet captained by the feared Viska Longtooth, a savage and crazed fox with an unquenchable blood thirst.

Meanwhile, far away in the heart of Mossflower Woods, a young thief is exiled from the great Redwall Abbey. Orkwill Prink, a spirited and energetic hedgehog, forges ahead into the unknown to seek his fortunes in the wider world. Orkwill is unaware, however, that he is soon to cross paths with the mighty badger and a crew of vile vermin.

I have always been a lover of Brian Jacques’s Redwall series, and Eulalia was no exception. I love Jacques’s work because, even though the reader visits the same places over and over again in all of his books, his world becomes familiar and comforting but never boring and predictable. His characters are always easy to love and wonderful to hate.

It’s hard to find too many criticisms of Eulalia. If I had to find a single complaint it would be that the characters Salixia and Tabura show up in the last quarter of Eulalia without warning and suddenly become major characters in the story. I did not dislike the pair at all; I just found that it was unusual for Jacques to suddenly throw in new major characters so late in the story.

Eulalia was another great addition to Brian Jacques' high-quality Redwall epic. If you’re thinking about picking up the series for your child, do so! You won’t regret it! —Julie Waineo