Just a childhood fascination? (Brian Jacques in general)

Member Name: SodaDreamer

Product:	Brian Jacques in general
Date:	19/09/01 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Simple yet captivating, Hilariously funny

Disadvantages: Waiting for the paperbacks is hell (I'm a student, I can't afford £8.99!!!)

I can still remember the day I first discovered Brian Jacques - I was eleven and it was the first visit to the library after moving to Gloucester. I borrowed a copy of Salamandastron - the fifth book in the series, and I was instantly spellbound! Thirteen books later (with a fourteenth eagerly anticipated) and a few days from my twentieth birthday, I'm still as obsessed as ever!!!!

The Redwall series concerns several main places - the red brick abbey of Redwall itself; Mossflower - the huge forest surrounding it; and Salamandastron - the mountain of the Badger Lords that stands on the coast to the west of Mossflower. The difference in this fantasy world is that all the characters we meet are animals - talking, travelling, fighting animals!

It's very much a good versus evil world: mice, squirrels, otters, badgers, moles and so on being good; foxes, weasels, stoats, wildcats and the like making up the evil contingent. The storylines are somewhat similar - the good creatures all come together to fight off the evil presence threatening their peaceful life - but Jacques' ideas are different enough to dampen this - in one book Redwall is being attacked, the next it is being attacked again (but this time from within) and then it is attacked again (but this time by having all the baby animals kidnapped)

By far the best aspect of the books is Jacques' beautiful characterisation of the races - not only does their species give them that instantly recognisable appearance, but Brian provides them with a true voice - utilising some of the most well-known British regional accents:

Moles are by far my favourite - their farmerlike habits are perfectly complimented by the 'burr-aye's of a traditional country bumpkin.
Hares are a scream - with their quadruple barrelled names, massive appetites, formidable fighting skills and the inability to end a sentence without the words 'wot wot' I'm
always in tears when they're about.

The food is another fantastic creation! Jacques plays on dishes that exist in our world, but changes their names and appearances. The synaesthetic qualities of his feasts are unbearable - when I'm reading about meadowcream, deeper'n'ever turnip'n'tater pie, hotroot soup and candied chestnuts I'm literally dribbling and often have to run to the kitchen for a snack to quell my appetite for a while (although there is invariably another feast/picnic in the next chapter so it begins all over again)

My favourite character is a difficult affair. I could go for Mariel the female heroine in 'Mariel of Redwall'; I could go for Martin, warrior mouse and founder of the abbey, but my choice is a little different. My favourite character is a squirrel dibbun (Jacques' word for baby) called Arven from 'The Pearls of Lutra', for the sole reason that he came up with what is still my favourite Redwall line of all time. When told by the badger mum that he had to eat his main meals if he wanted to grow big and strong like her, he retorts 'Arven no wanna be big, he wanna stay ickle an' eat pudden alla time'. Sounds good to me!!!!

Harry Potter is aimed at the same age group as the Redwall novels and has gained worldwide success, amongst adults and children alike, and I believe Redwall deserves the same recognition. There's a kind of stigma attached to children's literature - Brian recently came to a bookshop in Reading where I am at university to read from his new, non-Redwall book 'Castaways of the Flying Dutchman' and my boyfriend wouldn't let me go, saying I was too old (meanie!!!).Still, I maintain that I have never been so captivated by any other author in my life and every other person should read a tale of Redwall, just once. I recommend Salamandastron, purely for the reason that it was this tale that first ensnared me into B
rian's wonderful world, and it's a good starting point.

All I've got to do now is sit and wait for his new book - The Taggerung - to be released in July next year in small paperback format and I'll be happy!!!!

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