#redwall book

[coldmouseart]

Can you show "The Pearls of Lutra"?

The title of this book is a simple translation from English into Russian. We can say that it is called the same as the original.

[sanguinifex]

You gotta read and watch some old books and films that aren’t 100% modern politically correct. I’m not saying you should agree with everything in them but you need to learn where genres came from to understand what those genres are doing today and where media deconstructing old tropes is coming from.

Also, more often than you might think, they’re not actually promoting bigotry so much as “didn’t consider all the implications of something” or just used words that were polite then but considered offensive now.

Kill the censor in your head.

[ethanmaldridge]

I AM THAT IS

[larissa-the-scribe]

guys I had this realization the other day that Redwall works really well for reading aloud, and kinda half-remembered something about the author reading to kids? So I looked it up to see if I had made a connection.

And it turns out, yes, actually, because he read aloud to kids at a school for the blind. But all the books they gave him to read were depressing. So he wrote Redwall, a story about heroism and courage and making it through struggles, and filled it with so many sensory, visual details so he could give them something better and I just-- that's so wholesome-- help

[sjbattleangel]

From The Great Redwall Feast and A Redwall Winter's Tale written by Brian Jacques, illustrated by Christopher Denise.

[funkytoesart]

Redwall meets... Jane Austen?? Yes hehe. Finally decided to indulge a lil' in my ye old Jane Austen but make them woodland creatures au :>

Mr. Darcy is a badger, naturally, while the Bennets are all mice. But fret not!! This little mouse lady is not meek in the least ;)

[cakeyouareoh]

The eternal question: why people think Brian Jacques’ writing of his evil and good characters had anything to do with race or racism when it was very clearly predator vs prey animals as found in Britain (also stated by Jacques himself). And if we go inside that conflict, nature vs nurture, with nature frequently winning out. (do I agree with this? not really, at least not in the context of people, but this is very specifically about animals.)

Yes I’ve heard all the arguments about the Outcast of Redwall, and I get it. There are certain plot points that could read that way if we were talking about humans, but we aren’t. No matter how much Brian Jacques dressed up these characters and made things cozy and civilized, he never forgot that under those trappings the characters he was writing were, at their core, still animals. And thus follow a basic framework of how animals behave in the wild.

Even so, despite the core of nature vs nurture with nature winning out in a couple books especially, he doesn’t write black and white characters. Frequently at least a few “good guy prey animal types” in each book turn out to be morally gray, and there’s more than several that are straight up evil (mice, hedgehogs, squirrels, water voles, and that’s just off the top of my head). While less of the predator animal characters are good, there are several notable ones that are, and even more that are just neutral. Also, nuance. Just because they live at Redwall doesn’t make a character never do something or say something wrong and misguided, and this is something (frequently) important to and mentioned in the narrative. 

Something else that is an underlying theme in almost everything Brian Jacques ever wrote (including outside of Redwall, such as the Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series), is the evils of slavery, and slaves being set free. It pops up literally everywhere. I would wager a guess that it was rather important to him. Can someone be against slavery and still write things that come off as racist? oh yeah for sure. but let me reiterate here, the core conflict in Redwall has zero to do with human (or animal) racism.

[book--brackets]

Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce (1983-1988)

From now on I'm Alan of Trebond, the younger twin. I'll be a knight.

And so young Alanna of Trebond begins the journey to knighthood. Though a girl, Alanna has always craved the adventure and daring allowed only for boys; her twin brother, Thom, yearns to learn the art of magic. So one day they decide to switch places: Thom heads for the convent to learn magic; Alanna, pretending to be a boy, is on her way to the castle of King Roald to begin her training as a page. 

But the road to knighthood is not an easy one. As Alanna masters the skills necessary for battle, she must also learn to control her heart and to discern her enemies from her allies.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch (2011-present)

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (2018)

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father's inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty--until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold. When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk--grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh--Miryem's fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. She will face an impossible challenge and, along with two unlikely allies, uncover a secret that threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike.

Bartimaeus by Jonathan Stroud (2003-2005)

Nathaniel is a boy magician-in-training, sold to the government by his birth parents at the age of five and sent to live as an apprentice to a master. Powerful magicians rule Britain, and its empire, and Nathaniel is told his is the "ultimate sacrifice" for a "noble destiny."

If leaving his parents and erasing his past life isn't tough enough, Nathaniel's master, Arthur Underwood, is a cold, condescending, and cruel middle-ranking magician in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The boy's only saving grace is the master's wife, Martha Underwood, who shows him genuine affection that he rewards with fierce devotion. Nathaniel gets along tolerably well over the years in the Underwood household until the summer before his eleventh birthday. Everything changes when he is publicly humiliated by the ruthless magician Simon Lovelace and betrayed by his cowardly master who does not defend him.

Nathaniel vows revenge. In a Faustian fever, he devours magical texts and hones his magic skills, all the while trying to appear subservient to his master. When he musters the strength to summon the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus to avenge Lovelace by stealing the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, the boy magician plunges into a situation more dangerous and deadly than anything he could ever imagine.

The Hollows by Kim Harrison (2004-present)

All the creatures of the night gather in "the Hollows" of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party . . . and to feed.

Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining—and it's Rachel Morgan's job to keep that world civilized.

A bounty hunter and a witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she'll bring 'em back alive, dead . . . or undead.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (2017-2018)

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around--and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was just five years old, he's been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the form of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever. 

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? And who is the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo's dreams?

Septimus Heap by Angie Sage (2005-2013)

Septimus Heap, the seventh son of the seventh son, disappears the night he is born, pronounced dead by the midwife. That same night, the baby's father, Silas Heap, comes across an abandoned child in the snow--a newborn girl with violet eyes. Who is this mysterious baby girl, and what really happened to the Heaps' beloved son Septimus?

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (1968)

The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone…

…so she ventured out from the safety of the enchanted forest on a quest for others of her kind. Joined along the way by the bumbling magician Schmendrick and the indomitable Molly Grue, the unicorn learns all about the joys and sorrows of life and love before meeting her destiny in the castle of a despondent monarch—and confronting the creature that would drive her kind to extinction….

Redwall by Brian Jacques (1986-2011)

Redwall Abbey, tranquil home to a community of peace-loving mice, is threatened by Cluny the Scourge savage bilge rat warlord and his battle-hardened horde. But the Redwall mice and their loyal woodland friends combine their courage and strength.

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani (2013-2020)

With her glass slippers and devotion to good deeds, Sophie knows she'll earn top marks at the School for Good and join the ranks of past students like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks and wicked black cat, seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil.

The two girls soon find their fortunes reversed--Sophie's dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School for Good, thrust among handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.

But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are?

[fickleiris96]

Кілька ілюстрацій до «Мохоцвітної країни», другої новели із саги про Редволл Браяна Жака, для українського артвидавництва «Небо» (nebo.booklab.publishing).

A few illustrations for "Mossflower" (the second novel of the Redwall saga written by Brian Jacques) that I made for the Ukrainian publishing house “Nebo” (nebo.booklab.publishing).

[coldmouseart]

What about Outcast of Redwall?

Here it is. However, we simply call this book "Outcast".

[incorrectredwallquotes]

Matthias, looking at the new bruise that he has no clue how he got: I shall name you Jeremy Cornflower: I am literally begging you to go to therapy

[francesderwent]

haha wouldn’t it be cute if we just brought all our duplicate books to the wedding and dumped them on a table and called them favors? wouldn’t that be funny? haha we could make a sign with a stupid joke like “two houses alike in dignity—and literary taste” wouldn’t that be sooo silly. ���UNLESS

[hyenafu]

I've got a sort of love/hate relationship with Redwall. There are some elements I loathe, but I keep coming back because the other bits are fun fantasy comfort food. I'm sure the day will come when I'll have read 'em all.

Do you have a favorite Redwall book?

[king-hsssy]

Redwall fandom how are we doing 13 years after the death of the author

[michael-caranqui]

“A burning brand shows the way, and each day your flame grows brighter. There is none like you, Matthias. You have the sign of greatness upon you. One day Redwall and all the land will be indebted to you. Matthias, you are a true Warrior.”

-Brian Jacques