The edge of violence and tragedy in these stories adds a hint of danger to the proceedings, sometimes sad and sometimes horrible, even while we know that all must turn out well in the end. The world of Redwall still confuses me (what is the relative size of these animals? why all the confusing poetry puzzles instead of explaining things clearly? and how/why do these animals eat SO MUCH?) but its heart is always in the right place. The characters are what sells this series, and it was fun to invent different reading voices for them. I also liked learning the new villain's identity, and how that expands on the story. I liked that this book broke new ground, moving away from the 'castle under siege' story of the first two books. A new villain (or is he?) kidnaps him, and off we go. It is a few years after the defeat of Cluny's army, and Matthias' son Mattimeo is old enough to be having his own adventures as a precocious child. This third one (in publication order) I had the pleasure of reading with my young son, after he enjoyed the first two. I read the first two Redwall books many years ago as a younger (not young) adult, from curiosity.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |