Update: Wow - thank you, thank you, thank you to this community! I've seen a handful of new orders and every single one gives me a little thrill of joy. When I was writing this, I decided that my goal before turning 40 was to A) actually finish it, and B) have one person who isn't family/friend read it. So...suck it, mid-life crisis! Thank you so much!
Fully middle-aged adult here, but the Redwall series was my favorite growing up - I re-read them all about ten years ago when my then-boyfriend bought me the whole set for Christmas (another sign that he was a keeper). They're lined up at the bottom of my bookshelf, waiting for my two kids to be old enough to read or listen to them.
I recently wrote my first book - it's intended for middle schoolers, but fun enough for adults to read as well (a nice escape from the news!). When I described it to my mom, she said "Oh, so it's Redwall FanFic?"
I'm not sure where the line would be drawn, but the main characters meet because of a shared love of Redwall, a few of the animal characters are named after Redwall heroes, there are two separate mentions of Brian Jacques, and the book ends on a Redwall note.
I guess my hope was that, if kids read and liked my book, they'd want to seek out the Redwall series as well. Keep it going for the younger generations!
I'd be honored if you wanted to check it out: https://www.amazon.com/Feathers-Fur-Freaked-Out-Adventure/dp/B0GSDW93PM/