Anki

This latest installment of the Redwall series strikes a wonderful balance between classic Redwall adventures and something new, which is essential for part of a long-running series. Like most of the recent books, Doomwyte is set an unspecified number of seasons after the events in Redwall, but as near as I can tell before the books and records were moved from the Gatehouse into the library in High Rhulain.

The story itself stays pretty tightly focused on the Abbey and its surroundings, which is a change from many of the other books in the series which range from the northlands to far-flung islands and the great mountain Salamandastron on the shores of the sea. I enjoy both types of stories, and I am very happy to see that Brian Jacques can tell both equally well.

Doomwyte also draws more heavily on spooky and supernatural elements than most of the other Redwall novels, and I quite enjoyed that difference.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Unfortunately, I finished reading it, and it is the start of a series, and when one finishes the first book in a new series a mere ten days after it is published it stands to reason one must then wait (however impatiently) for the next book. So I shall wait, and keep my eyes peeled for news of the next book in the series.

I have so many feelings about this book it is hard to sort them all out in my head. It was an amazing read with so many layers and moving pieces to it. And I know I will definitely need to reread it because there are going to be things I missed in my first read through. I need to let everything settle first, though. And I am okay with that.

Positive things first: this is a reasonably fast read with a number of amusing parts to it, and plenty of snappy dialog. That said, I don't think I would have enjoyed it nearly as much if I had purchased it instead of borrowing it from the library.

Ultimately, it was too much like a sitcom in a number of ways: overly zany and/or stereotypical characters getting up to improbable hijinks and into awkward situations, but everything turns out fine at the end, wrapped up nice and neatly with an accompanying laugh track to send us off into a happily ever after. All the relationships felt rushed, shallow, or both, and there were several instances of awkward head hopping between viewpoint characters that made things hard to follow.

I think that as long as a reader goes into the story expecting a sitcom (and all the attendant improbabilities that go with that territory), then enjoyment can be had here. But if one wants something with depth and substance one should probably look elsewhere.

Quite entertaining, but there were some parts that seemed a bit slow/drawn out to me. Also, the Yorkshire accent took some definite getting used to. Happen I just don't have a real ear (or would that be eye?) for accents, but it could also be how it was presented. By the end of the book I was becoming conversant, at least.