Martin, Despite Putting Up His Sword After His War With Tsarmina, Sees Himself In Not Only Matthias But

Martin, despite putting up his sword after his war with Tsarmina, sees himself in not only Matthias but all Abbey warriors. His method of bringing peace is "go out and take it!"

New favorite idea: Germaine and Martin arguing over Redwall from the Dark Forest like it’s their kid.

Germaine: Martin if you keep assisting them with those vermin attacks they’ll never learn and grow on their own! You’re going to give them dependency issues!

Martin: Come on, Germaine, a few riddles never hurt anybody!

Germaine: You say that now, but wait until their all grown up and you’re no longer haunting them.

Martin: That will never happen.

Germaine: Abbey’s all grow up sometime, Martin! You have to prepare them for life in the real world!

Martin: They DO live in the real world!

Germaine: NOT FOR MUCH LONGER IF YOU DON’T LET THEM MAKE SOME MISTAKES AND GROW BETTER FOR IT!

nanowrimo.org

NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo

"...I’m not standing on line at a bookstore, waiting for you to sign my copy of your book. Come on, all it takes is you, and determination, self belief, and of course, the flame, which came from that first tiny spark.

Your pal,

Brian Jacques"

So if you don’t know, there’s this thing called NaNoWriMo, or national novel writing month. It’s a program that anyone can join where people try and write 50,000 words in a month, 1667 words per day. This can get quite exhausting so the website has a bunch of motivational resources, such as pep talks writen by a bunch of famous authors.

I was scrolling through these pep talks and I found one by Brian Jacques, written in 2008. Now the whole thing was really beautiful, it was about 5 paragraphs, but the last one...

“ You know, you’ll disappoint me, if in a few years time, I’m not standing in line at a bookstore, waiting for you to sign my copy of your book. Come on, all it take is you, and determination, self belief, and of course, the flame, which came from that first tiny spark.”

And now I’m depressed because what’s the point if he’s never going to come to my non existent book signing???

I played the theme to the Redwall TV show on my cello (her name is Eleanor)! It made me excited and happy to play a song I know that's so special to me, this music is enriching... and so was filming it!

*crash* buh duh duh duh buh duh duh duh wahhhwooo

For all fellow musicians out there, here is the sheet music, transcribed by yours truly!

This is one of my current favorite drawing of Rose. She will always hold a special place in my heart, first of all because she was awesome but also because she held such a special place in her story. Also, fact that she and I share a name... I like to think that connects us <3

Ocean Shores

Rose from the redwall universe. good mouse

Redwallers would love Christmas. All the good food and community they already have, but accented with twinkling lights and gift giving.

And because it's Redwall, I imagine all the gifts would be handmade. Some creatures have natural creative skills, others don't, but that doesn't matter--because everything made would be done with love and intention for the recipient.

Imagine, if you will--

Little Matti makes a replica of Martin's sword with little sticks. No one can tell what it is, but when Matthias opens it he tears up.

And little Matti is concerned over making his father's eyes water, so he climbs into his lap and tries to comfort him. Matthias just wraps his arms around his son, his big warm habit sleeves all but hiding little Matti from sight. The fireplace is warm and crackling, the candles are in the windows, frost melting around the light of the flame while snow falls outside. The room is filled with the scent of evergreen trees. Cornflower watches her husband and son embrace and has never felt such happiness. In her hands are some dried cornflowers Matti found earlier that year with Constance, which Mr. Churchmouse helped him press in an old volume from his library.

All the warlords who tried to take the Abbey in its history and who will try in the future will not find the hoards of treasure they desire, but every single creature in the Abbey knows they live with more riches than money could ever buy, and they feel it with extra poignancy in that moment.

I found this blog today (yes, I know, I am late to the party because I'm new. You'll just have to tolerate me being excited about older things for a bit, hehe). Anyway, it's a great blog and this is a clever review, 10/10.

Read on to hear my "Thoughts on Good and Evil" (I almost typed Veil) and my Other Responses.

Thoughts on Good and Evil

I think that a lot of people agree that it would have been nice if Jacques wrote more about creatures whos morals did not match the stereotypes of their species. Upon further thought, though, I am happy to recognize that this has been explored! The deeper he got into the story, the more complex his characters got, so this is a message of hope for all beginning readers!

Jacques does hold the idea that "if you are bad you are bad, end of story." He has said that this is because Redwall is a children's series, so he wanted to make it simple for children to understand and relate to, which real human stories can't provide in the same way... "cunning fox vs. noble mouse," you see.

Of course, I don't like this, but I see no reason that we can't make a rat or a ferret a kind creature! It's our right to expand upon the idea that anyone could be good. (And it's also true that cold-blooded murderers are less redeemable than a cook who was rude to a hair or a father who wanted his daughter to stay at home.)

Brian says there are no grey areas and I simply do not believe him <3. Brian, you tell the story, but maybe you don't get everything right. At least, for my purposes, that is how I choose to view the wonderful creatures that fill these books.

Other Responses- Spoilers Ahead!

I would agree that the atmosphere is immaculate! I love it and will never stop talking about how I want to be friends with all of them.

Clowny is badass in a very bad way, "tell the devil Cluny sent you" is a line that I've always liked- he is so haughty to imply he is above the devil. Just... wow.

Skullface's death really was a shocking event; the book starts out showing you the peace and culture in the Abbey (as well as how sweet young Matthias is), and then changes perspectives immediately to show how powerful and grotesque Cluny the Scourge is. Skullface not only illustrates this- of course- but his story really tells you what you're in for in the rest of the story(ies). I just got the graphic novel version of this book, and the retelling of Skullface's death is particularly shocking in a visual format.

Thank you for your review! I have always loved lists.

Also, I have always thought that Killconey was an awesome name.

Reading every redwall book in publication order: Redwall

I finished Redwall like two nights ago and I’m only just now writing the review of it! Okay, lets dive in. (this is not a critical review, its just a bunch of my thoughts dumped into one spot)

Blurb:

Welcome to Mossflower Wood, where the gentle mice have gathered to celebrate a year of peace and abundance. All is well… until a sinister shadow falls across the ancient stone abbey of Redwall. It is rumored that Cluny is coming–Cluny, the terrible one-eyed rat and his savage horde–Cluny, who has vowed to conquer Redwall Abbey! The only hope for the besieged mice lies in the lost sword of the legendary Martin the Warrior. And so begins the epic quest of a bumbling young apprentice–a courageous mouse who would rise up, fight back… and become a legend himself.

Death count of named characters: 21

Death count of unnamed characters: literally unknowable. But definitely over a hundred.

Rating thing: Fun romp with a lot of plot in it, lots of characters to root for, and very satisfying to read.

Keep reading