Mossflower

Tsarmina is a savage wildcat, ruling the castle of Kotir through cruelty and fear. And she seeks to enslave the creatures of Mossflower Woods. However, while the creatures of Mossflower may be kind and gentle, when threatened they will rise to defend what is theirs. But Tsarmina’s forces will overwhelm them unless help arrives. Martin the Warrior, Gonff the Mouse Thief, and Kinny the Mole embark on a quest to Salamandastron, where the badger Boar the Fighter resides. With his help, they hope to defeat Tsarmina and bring peace to Mossflower Woods.

Brian Jacques has created such an in-depth world, without over-explaining or over detailing anything. The way the world-building is woven into the main storyline is so well articulated. Each animal has their own culture brought into the story, down to even their favorite food and the habits they have as creatures of the woodlands. And there’s nothing quite like listening to a full cast narration of Mossflower. The voice actors did a fantastic job bringing the various accents and dialects to life. Each animal has their own way of speaking. Being able to hear it all increases the awareness of their different cultures. I highly recommend the full cast BBC audiobook.

The descent of madness portrayed in Mossflower was masterfully done. Brian Jacques carefully wove it into the plot, dropping subtle hints here and there, slowly building up the character’s downfall. As a reader, you won’t notice it at first. The habits the character begins with seem to be normal for them, even when they begin to show some questionable traits. Brian Jacques used the preconceived archetypes of the animal to make these reactions seem normal to the reader. And of course, the audiobook accented this descent into madness by allowing readers to hear the increase in volume, the cracking voice, and even the tics in dialogue the character began to develop.

Gonff was one of my favorite characters. The audiobook made his character shine as he broke out into song throughout his adventures with Martin and Kinny. His songs balanced the tone of the story and brought humor into the fold to break the tension. He was also such a jolly character. Even in the toughest of situations, he kept his head up and urged his friends to keep moving forward.

Brian Jacques shows the embodiment of friendship with the characters of Mossflower. It is such a humbling experience reading about their commitment to each other and the success of Mossflower Woods. It’s also written in a way that readers young and old will enjoy the story. This series is such a treasure, I encourage anyone who reads fantasy to pick it up.

such a fun time with this one, I don't usually enjoy prequels but I couldn't help myself but constantly smile throughout reading this book, it's filled with references to Redwall, much more in-depth worldbuilding, and a cast of wildly colorful characters. this was an absolute joy to read and I cannot wait to get into the third book

This was a book that I once had when I was a child. Yet, despite my propensity of reading books like Harry Potter well past my bedtime, I just couldn't get into this novel. Despite my best intentions, I often found myself looking at the pictures that began each chapter more than I did the actual text. Then, a few years ago, I read the first book, Redwall, and I love the tale of Clooney the Scourge, and young Mithais in Redwall Abbey. It seemed like it had the perfect amount of whimsy and seriousness to be a great read with any kid. So, I decided to read the next book published in the series. Did I still enjoy it as an adult? Somewhat, but it has it's problems.

Firstly, a summary: This book is set before the events if Redwall, and tells the story of Martin the Warrior. In this story, the cat Queen Tsarmina rules over the people of Mossflower wood with an iron paw. She takes as she pleases with little to stand in her way. Then one day, the great warrior mouse Martian arrives and is captured and thrown into one of the Queen's cells along with the mouse thief Gonff. Together they hatch a plan to not only break out of prison, but also take back Mossflower wood and save its inhabitants from the tyrannical rule of a cat to the life of peace and happiness.

Firstly, let's start off with the good. This book has us return to Mossflower wood, which is always a treat to go back to. There is also a number of times where characters die and it is thrilling to watch the major battle scenes and struggles they engage in. The violence is such that it works to show the reader that life is fleeting, which is a good concept to raise the stakes for kids early on in the book.


Sadly, the rest of the book just feels so sub-par. One of the biggest weakness is the characters, or, rather, the lack of any one character to latch on to. The POV begins with a family of hedgehogs who are being harassed by the main villain's soldiers. Then it moves to the main villain, then to the mouse thief Goniff, then to the main villain herself. While it is good that we get an expansive view of the world, this comes at the cost of a lack of a central character to focus on. The fact that the POV change increases from every chapter to eventually several times a chapter, incleases the feeling of a disjointed narrative. This means that I felt like the author was pulling us all over the place, POV wise with little to focus on, hurting the novel overall.

Then there is the novel's villain. In Redwall we faced Clooney the Scourge, a rat who was cunning, battle proven, and controlled his battle hardened forces with an iron fist. Here we have Tsarmina...who is none of those things. Firstly there is the name, with Clooney, you instantly understood that he was a villain and the name would give any kid a tingly feeling of anticipation at what trouble he was going to bring for the main characters. Sure it was a bit campy, but still, he was a fun villian. This other villain...look, I couldn't even pronounce her name, let alone be feared by it. Then there are the forces: Clooney had many people he could use who were battle hardened troops, and those who he could use for stealthier operations. He knew when and where to put them for maximum effect. Tsarmina has forces that serve as little better than clone troopers from Star Wars, complete with archers missing easy targets and friendly patrols fighting each other to pieces before realizing their mistake. This makes them seem like little of a threat to the characters, and so there is little in terms of stakes in the game.

The writing style reminds me of Tolkien, just watered down for a younger audience. At best, his constand POV changes can remind me that he has built a world as expansive as Lord of the Rings without the constant deviations suffered under Tolkien's writing style. At worst, I wonder when the plot will begin moving because characters spend so much time sitting around talking that it gets annoying.

In the end, I can understand why I did not enjoy this as a kid, and even more so as an adult. It is a good story for nostalgia state, but not for much else. I think I'll give this a two out of five. I'll continue with the rest of the series, but this one was definitely a misstep.