1. They must be longer than 40 pages.
2. Audio books do not count. Reading is reading. And, listening isn't reading!
Book 6: Triss: A tale from Redwall by Brian Jacques (A-)
Another amazing book from Redwall! Unfortunately, they will never be any new ones. Quite recently, Brian Jacques passed away and part of my childhood died with them. The Redwall books literally got me through my horrible middle school years. Jacques was the first person I ever wrote fan mail to (he didn't reply but I got a lovely packet from the Redwall people with a cool bookmark). I started with either Redwall or the sequel of Mattimeo and continued reading endlessly from there. I thought I hadn't previously read Triss... maybe I just hadn't finished it. But it was a familiar and comforting story to return to.
Triss is the tale of a female squirrel who is a slave at the kingdom of Riftgard, ruled by evil ferrets. When she and her two friends escape, Triss swears she'll return to free the slaves. Simultaneously, a badger lord's son and two friends set off on their own adventure and of course both parties meet up at Redwall Abbey whose occupants are currently battling a three-headed adder snake that is terrorizing the local Mossflower woods. When the ferrets of Riftgard follow the escaped slaves, all the story lines of the badger, the slaves, the ferrets, the Abbey, and the snakes tangles up into one plot and the excitement is unbelievable!
Two problems with this story involving characters:1. The Abbeybabes of Redwall: These tiny terrors are a headache to read. They're running here, they're running there, and they're getting into everything. And, you can't understand a word they are saying:
"Burr, straight in ee barff oi apposes" (82).
"It not fair! Roobil be a molebabe an' 'im gotta likkle tail, but I bee's a mousebabe wiv a long tail. Not fair, Farver Habbit" (110).
And so it continues, but even these tykes cannot compare to the horridness of the character Scarum the hare.
2. Scarum is a gluttonous, lying, proud hare who goes with the badger and an otter to have adventures far from home. He is constantly eating everything and gets into the most horrible trouble. The Abbeybabes couldn't have a chance in competing with him. He's smug and lazy, and I cannot stand him!!! Oh, and he won't shut up!"You, sah, are a flippin' grubswiper, a pirate! Huh, deprivin' a poor young 'un like me vittles. You'll stunt my growth. I'm warning you, if I die, it'll be your rotten fault" (46).
"Might have for you rotten lot, but it took quite a bit out of me, wastin' my artistic an' poetic talents on a pack o' soup-guzzlin' buffoons, wot. I say there, Furrel, you charmin' molemaid, keep pourin'. This blinkin' beaker's only half full - keep goin', me pretty one" (333).
"I, er, spotted it in the kitchen an' just took a small nibble, nothin' too drastic, wot... Yes, sah, barely a smidgen. Don't know what happened to the rest of the confounded trifle. I expect those moles guzzled it. Small types, but incredibly greedy, those molechaps..." (345).
That hare drives me bonkers. I practically skimmed through his parts because I didn't want to read whatever lies he was currently saying. I found him neither funny nor cute and his floundering about ruined the book a bit for me. Overall, it's not the best Redwall book in my opinion. However, it is a good read and gives you some nice Redwall history that I and some other folks enjoy learning. The ending was very majestic and one of the good creatures dies in an honorable, moving scene. It was nearly tear-inducing!
Works cited: Jacques, Brian. Triss: A Tale from Redwall.
New York: Penguin Group, Inc, 2002. Print.
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