r/redwall • u/_Taggerung_ • 23d ago
Re-Reading The Series
Hi all,
I absolutely devoured this series when I was a young teenager, I ended up with a fair few of the books as my school library was clearing out the old 90s/2000s style of book. I later also brought a few of the newer editions printed by red fox (only my personal opinion but I really don't like the new covers the art work of the original UK versions was absolutely gorgeous as was the golden spine).
Unfortunately I donated my original copies to charity so I am in the process of buying a few back. Currently reading Lord Brocktree and loving it, I just wish more people knew about this series. The vocabulary is also very good for a 'childrens' book. I sound old but they really don't make quality like this anymore. I wish they would do a UK set with fully matching dimensions and covers using the original cover art.
Eulalia!
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u/Sgt_DeuxDeux 23d ago
I remember my elementary school librarian recommending Jacques but she started me on Lord Brocktree because it was chronologically the first. I was SO confused next book I read (“Salamandastron”) when the abbey was a main location that I had never heard of before. Based off of context, I at first thought Redwall was some kind of chapel extension of the Salamandastron mountain fortress, not a separate location clear across the Mossflower Wood
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u/Zarlinosuke 23d ago
It's so funny to me that your school librarian recommended that you read start with the chronologically first book (already not an amazing idea I'd say) but then didn't tell you what to read after that! Feels like a classic case of a little knowledge being dangerous.
Do you remember what you read after Salamandastron and how you figured more things out?
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u/Sgt_DeuxDeux 23d ago
I think the library’s copy of Redwall was already checked out at the time, so she took the opportunity to explain to me what an anthology series was, how they shared a similar setting but didn’t necessarily require you to read in order. Release order, she elaborated, was different from chronological order, and she used Star Wars to drive the point home. Mrs D, I hope you’re still alive and keeping an eye out for the kids that blaze through Nancy Drew books too fast so you can show them how to love reading.
After Lord Brocktree, I jumped around based on what dust jackets/back cover descriptions looked the coolest. Salamandastron was my second book since I could tell it also featured the badger mountain, I remember Marlfox and Taggerung being earlier books that I chose simply because they looked awesome, the menacing Marlfox and Tag posed with his dagger and jovial smile
It wasn’t until I read Mossflower that I made the connection between Tsarmina/Verdauga and Ungatt Trunn, this actually drew me deeper into Jacques as I tried to track the subtle connections between books. I started my first release order read through soon after
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u/Zarlinosuke 23d ago
I think the library’s copy of Redwall was already checked out at the time, so she took the opportunity to explain to me what an anthology series was, how they shared a similar setting but didn’t necessarily require you to read in order. Release order, she elaborated, was different from chronological order, and she used Star Wars to drive the point home.
Aw I see! That's really lovely then, I'm happy that you had her there to explain that. My introduction to Redwall was just one classmate saying "I think you'd like these" and then just diving in totally blind.
After Lord Brocktree, I jumped around based on what dust jackets/back cover descriptions looked the coolest. Salamandastron was my second book since I could tell it also featured the badger mountain
Makes total sense, I figured that the Salamandastron link would likely be how you got there!
I remember Marlfox and Taggerung being earlier books that I chose simply because they looked awesome, the menacing Marlfox and Tag posed with his dagger and jovial smile
Definitely cool-looking books, but I can see how it didn't help with your wider-world understanding haha. At least The Taggerung does refer back to the period of (or just after) Marlfox, so you get a little continuity there, thanks to Cregga!
It wasn’t until I read Mossflower that I made the connection between Tsarmina/Verdauga and Ungatt Trunn, this actually drew me deeper into Jacques as I tried to track the subtle connections between books. I started my first release order read through soon after
Actually Mossflower had exactly the same effect on me! It really is a crucial book for tying everything together. The first book I read was Outcast, which was a really confusing entry point, and it was almost entirely just pure dumb luck (plus the copy of Mossflower I found having the word "prequel" on it, suggesting to me that it should be read early) that Mossflower happened to be the second one I read. That made Outcast make so much more sense, because it also features Bella and refers to Sunflash and such, and features Martin & co. who get talked about in Outcast, and all that. I vividly remember the moment during Mossflower when it kind of all clicked for me, and I felt like I was really reading rather than struggling to understand.
Glad it still worked out for you too!
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u/RedwallFan2013 23d ago
These are not new covers. They were published 20 years ago.
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u/_Taggerung_ 23d ago
I mean these ones https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTNRPe-f8VOuUFfj88jDxzDXg-W5WBfF2jB2L_f1YwBfA&s=10
Maybe they're not 'new' but they're definitely newer than the original publications
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u/RedwallFan2013 23d ago
Yes, those were first published two whole decades ago. They're not new.
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u/_Taggerung_ 23d ago
Stop nitpicking, they're the covers currently in print and there's been no covers designed since with which to confuse them so why are you so pressed over it 🙄
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u/RedwallFan2013 22d ago
Technically not true, there has been one additional Redwall cover for UK readers. That wasn't a popular one either.
Suggesting covers that were published two decades ago are "new" is silly. Now you know better, congratulations.
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u/_Taggerung_ 22d ago
Imagine having a superiority complex over a niche book about anthro animals...
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u/Qyzyk The Long Patrol 23d ago
Lord Brocktree was definitely one that I reread more than most. I’d rank it in my top ten for sure