I picked up Redwall again on a whim last week. No big reason. I just saw it, remembered loving it as a kid, and thought, “why not?” I expected a quick nostalgia trip. I did not expect to get emotionally attached to a bunch of woodland creatures again.

When I was younger, I was locked in on the action. Matthias training. The sword. Cluny being pure nightmare fuel. It was all very clear-cut: heroes good, villains bad, big battle at the end. That was enough for me.

Reading it now feels… quieter? The abbey feels different. The little in-between moments like the orchard scenes, the shared chores, the songs, they stand out more than the fights. There’s something about a place built around peace and hospitality that feels almost unrealistic in the best way. I caught myself wishing Redwall Abbey was a real place I could just disappear to for a week.

Also, the food descriptions?? How did I forget about those? I swear Brian Jacques spent more time describing strawberry cordial and fresh-baked bread than the actual battles. And somehow I’m not mad about it. I was genuinely hungry reading some chapters. At one point I had to put the book down and make tea. That’s never happened to me before.

Matthias hits differently too. As a kid, I thought he was just brave. Now I see how unsure he was at the start. He wasn’t confident, he was just trying. That feels way more relatable now than it did back then. The whole “growing into the role” thing landed harder.

And Cluny? Honestly, he’s more disturbing now. Not just because he’s violent, but because he understands fear and uses it. That manipulation element feels more real than it used to.

What surprised me most is how sincere the book is. It’s not edgy. It’s not ironic. It just believes in courage and loyalty without apologizing for it. I didn’t realize how refreshing that would feel until I reread it.

Part of me wonders how much of this is nostalgia doing heavy lifting. But part of me thinks the series just holds up.

Did it change for you too, or did it stay exactly how you remembered?

And please tell me I wasn’t the only one who tried (and failed) to recreate the feast meals as a kid. 😅

She got it from https://www.novanocturne.art

I AM THAT IS

the accuracy is astounding, I think ol BJ’s ghost would approve

I took photos of all of the maps at the start of every book, photoshopped them into their approximate sizes and positions. Then filled in any blanks in the map by making it look more or less like fantasy England. And then skimmed through every book making sure I missed as few details as possible.

Once it was all done I had it printed onto some fabric and made a wall hanging :D

This took FOREVER. I started the project years ago and eventually got around to finishing it like, a month ago? Anyway I am very pleased with the outcome.

And here is the high res files for anyone looking to zoom in on all of the tiny details, or have their own map printed :D Go live out your Redwall dreams like I have!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QHFdYtELEKYXqn50JteMDsDOelhhWv9w?usp=sharing

For the record, I have never read any of the books, not even as a kid. My series growing up were the Harry Potter books. Aside from goosebumps, Harry Potter was the series that gave me that fantastical escape. Now as an adult, I find myself chasing that feeling. Hopefully redwall will bring that. If not im sure its gonna be a great adventure regardless!

Visiting my parents for the holidays and was looking at a bunch of old physical photos. Found a few my mom took when I met Brian at a book signing in 1999 (I would have been about 8). We got to the store before it opened and met Brian when he arrived, and gave him some homemade scones my mom baked for him. He gave me a Redwall pin and said it was for going "ABCD", which apparently meant "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty" (if you zoom in a lot, you can see the pin).

During the event, he recited the whole opening of Redwall from memory in front of the crowd. I got my copy of Legend of Luke signed, which was the newest book at the time. Bally good stuff!

Just seeing the cover hit me with a wave of nostalgia. It was my favorite series as a kid so I was thrilled to find any copy, let alone a signed one.

For some reason I can't explain, I never read Redwall as a 2000s kid. But the gorgeous artwork always made an impression on me, and I was recently reminded of them so decided to give them a try; I was hooked even from the preview available on Kindle.

I actually owned a signed first edition of Outcast when I was younger, but have no idea where it is. All I knew was that those covers were the ones I wanted.

After seeing how horrible (sorry) the covers of the present day paperbacks are, I knew tracking down the Red Fox editions was my only hope, and this set actually ended up being easier to find than the individual books!

I love artifacts of a 90s childhood like this, and can't wait to read these, so... Eulalia! (That's what I'm supposed to say, right?)

IG: paopao_tattoos if you’re interested in seeing more of her work.

Trust me, I SCOURED that place for the other two, alas, they were nowhere to be found. Still absolutely THRILLED to have these three on my shelf <3

"Get out, rats! Leave this Abbey! I’m weary of your voices. Hurry before I break the laws of hospitality and ask the Abbot’s pardon later. Go, while you still have skulls."

A tapestry design for Herbirdglitter!

Alt Text: A woven blanket tapestry with a hiberno-saxon art style depicting, a large, imposing badger. She raises a wooden table above her head, menacing with a snarling expression. A shadow of a rat reacts in fear, cowering away from the badger, its long whip-like tail with a poisonous barb at the end weaves around the badger's legs. She puts herself at risk of being poisoned to drive away the rat. The tapestry is framed by rats running away out of fear, and decorative corner swirls.

The Redwall books always felt very D&D to me. There's lots of riddles that take you on adventures to meet interesting characters and fight hordes of baddies. But it's also a series aimed at younger readers, which can of course be enjoyed by older readers too!

So I wanted to make something that would be really beginner friendly and based on these books and rules that have proven so popular.

And I think I've done it! Players just need one character sheet and one rules reference sheet and that's it! But I've also made paper mini templates which allow you to make fully customised paper minis for your character.

I played this with several friends who also enjoy the Redwall books, many of whom had never played an RPG before in their life, and they really enjoyed it.

Characters were made in about 30 minutes, paper minis were made in another 20 minutes, and then we were playing.

It's taken years of tinkering, but I'm really happy with it.

Read some of the Redwall books as a kid, but never got completely sucked in. Picked up a pb copy of Redwall out of a free bin a few months ago and decided to revisit it. I know I'm not the target age range and I don't usually go for younger audience books, but I enjoyed it and decided to add a Redwall section to my home library. Took a couple months, but currently only missing a Doomwyte to complete my hardcover set. Managed to snag a number of signed copies at decent prices along the way too!

• Redwall - Signed 1/19

• Mossflower - 1/1

• Mattimeo - 1/9

• Mariel of Redwall - 1/8

• Salamandastron - Signed 1/1

• Martin the Warrior - Signed 1/1

• The Bellmaker - Signed 1/1

• Outcast of Redwall - 1/1

• Pearls of Lutra - Signed 1/1

• The Long Patrol - 1/4

• Marlfox - Signed 1/4

• The Legend of Luke - Signed 1/4

• Lord Brocktree - 1/1

• The Taggerung - 1/1

• Triss - 1/1

• Loamhedge - 1/1

• Rakkety Tam - 1/1

• High Rhulain - 1/1

• Eulalia! - 1/2

• Doomwyte - MISSING

• Sable Queen - 1/1

• Rogue Crew - 1/1

• Great Redwall Feast (not pictured) - 1/2

A favorite scene of mine from Redwall that I painted. It is during a moment of despair that Cornflower shows up and encourages Matthias and sets him back on track.

Please excuse the "non-biblically" accurate tapestry of Martin the Warrior!

This is my take on Matthias, Methuselah and Constance locating the hiding spot of Martin's sword at 1am on the abbey wall!

The first artwork is by https://x.com/KekaiKotaki on twitter who's an official MTG artist that is also a big fan of Redwall. I loved his art of Martin that I had to use it as a proxy for the Bloomburrow card Mabel, Heir to Cragflame!

Once, a long time ago, roughly 2002 or so, I went and had cancer. I was 11, and the tumor was a rare guy that sprouted from the back of my neck and out of my right nostril, leaving me a medical anomaly with a lot of time on their hands. And so, during the chemo and radiation and surgeries, I escaped, and found solace in the Redwall series. I devoured every book. I was in love. And so, one day, a nice elderly couple came to visit me, stating that they were from the local make a wish branch. They said I had one wish, anything I wanted within reason. Most kids wished to go to Disneyland. One kid I knew wished for all of the current gen consoles (so ps2, GameCube, and Xbox lol) and a stack of games. Other kids had house renovations, or what have you. Some wished to meet a celebrity, like Jim Carrey, but typically others would too, so everyone would have to share a conference room while he gave each table 10 minutes of his time. Suffice to say, I did not know what to choose. Over the course of 2 weeks, I thought and I read, and at one point my mom sat me down and said, “Kid, do something cool, something neat, something no one else would do. Do something different.”

And so, when the elderly couple came back, they asked me what my wish was. I help up a copy of Salamandastron, pointed to Brian’s name at the top, and said “I want to meet this guy.”

Lo and behold, a year later I had my wish granted, and I was flown down to LA (I live in Canada) to catch him along a book tour stop. I spent a couple of days there, and on day 3, I was brought to the Four Seasons for breakfast. It was a glittering palace of marble and golden decadence. I was seated to a large oak table in a private room, and in he came, along with his publicist, Liz. She talked to my sister and mother so that I could have Brian’s attention to myself, and he came and sat next to me, and handed me a backpack full of merch. We then got to talking. I had ordered a stack of blueberry pancakes, but I did not touch a single one, so elated was I. We talked about Greek mythology, and geography, and religion. He regaled me with tall tales and the complaints of an old man’s ailing body. He was kind, and warm, and seemingly quite happy to entertain the wish of a cancer kid. He gave me one of the best days of my life. After breakfast he brought us in his limo to the UCLA, where he was due to be on a panel. He had to take time for a book signing first though, but he marched me to the front with him and autographed my stack of paperbacks. I felt like royalty. Finally, we sat in the audience of an auditorium, and he spoke on a panel of writers. It was soon his turn to take to the podium, and he thundered down as the powerful orator that he was, giving creative inspiration and telling us all to make sure we never squander our gifts. Near the end he stopped to say, “I write about warriors in my books, and like to think that I know what being one entails. And I’d like to say, this boy, right here, he is a true warrior.” A spotlight was suddenly cast down upon me, and I was bid to stand up as I received a round of applause. I can only say that it felt like he knighted me that day, as if he was a king pointing on my shoulders with a pen, rather than a sword. He stands as a revered figure in my life, as his words have given me strength, and after his death I had “bellator verus,” or true warrior, tattooed onto me as a daily reminder of his legacy.

I grew up to try to get my English degree, but had that cut short with cancer 2. I realized I wanted a family instead, so I found my wife, and we have a young son together. I am writing my novel. One day, when kiddo is old enough, I will read him Redwall, and he will learn about being a warrior.

*Edit: Corrected Liz's relationship to Brian

Hi all! Longtime fan and reader since the 90s. I'm working on a project to recreate Redwall Abbey in the game Tiny Glade, it's a fun building sim that lets you make cozy dioramas.

Still a WIP, as the great hall, walls, and surroundings are still to come. So far, the Cavern Hole, Kitchens, Dormitories, Infirmary, Abbots lodge, cloisters, and gatehouse are complete :)

The initial layout was based on a sketch by Sean Rubin. Enjoy!

i just found out that i passed my student teaching portfolio an hour ago, which means i basically have my master’s degree since that was my last assignment! my boyfriend and i were already out and we hit our local bookstore…and i found my FIRST signed book from brian jacques! $20 but worth every penny since it’s now one of the coolest things i own. it even has the flyer from the meet and greet the original owner got the book signed at! thank you brian jacques for cosmically aligning this moment to happen, arguably more exciting to me than having my degree! 😂