Great! Except, at the very end? The sword isn’t even used to kill the bad guy. For example, there is a major quest to retrieve a sword.

As an adult, the shortcomings are a lot more apparent, especially given that subsequent YA books have shown that younger readers can handle more sophisticated storytelling. Some or all of the elements found in Redwall were things I would discover in most of the fantasy books I’ve read since.įor readers between, say, 8-14 years old, these books are great. It’s basically an introduction to the other giants of the genre, from Lord of the Rings to Game of Thrones to Harry Potter and beyond. bad guys, feasts, riddles, warrior’s quests, a huge array of characters, some humor, and plenty of action. This particular book is pretty emblematic of the rest of the books in the series, and has a lot of the fantasy tropes I’ve come to know: Good guys vs. I read probably 10-15 of the 20+ Redwall books growing up as a young teen they were my gateway drug into fantasy. Now that we’ve gotten the procreating habit of fictional mice out of the way, let’s talk about the rest of the book and series at large, shall we? (One mild spoiler ahead for this book, and for another book in the series, “Outcast of Redwall.”) In the sequel, they have a child, so it is clear that they have carried out their mandate (or is it mousedate?) and have done, as the kids say, the nasty. Multiple characters tease them about their blossoming relationship and quite openly egg them on into marrying each other.Įrgo, these characters are mice who are encouraged to engage in sexual intercourse. He is smitten with Cornflower, a girl mouse. Matthias, the main character, is a boy mouse. I’m not saying that to be snarky or rude or anything, but it’s true. Not in this book, nor in any of the other books in the series (I have read a good chunk of these as a teen, but not all of them still, I feel comfortable in saying that there are exactly zero queer characters in the entirety of the Redwall Saga).īrief summary / book review: Let’s get one thing out of the way: These mice fuck.

Redwall book series