OnlineBookClub.org

The Redwall series by Brian Jacques (pronounced Jakes) are books that focus on anthropomorphic animals in medieval times. You have to understand Brittish english to read them though because the words and sentences are better known in England than in the United States. I read Mossfower and got hooked on the series immediatley, I love the personalities of the animals and the European setting.

Some examples of the Brittish english terms:
Characters say aye in place of yes
The word cuz (because) is spelled cos
Slang words like "cool or what's up" aren't in the dialogue because those words weren't invented in the specific time setting

So there are 23 books in the series, published from 1984 to 2011. If Brian were still alive he probably would have written another book after the final book: The Rogue Crew.

If you like my recommendation you'll have to read up on British English. Otherwise you'll be thinking: "What are they trying to say?"

Hi there rachel5. Thanks for the post. I have never heard of this series of books but they sound very interesting. As soon as I get a chance I am going to have a look at them.

Yes, I've read quite a lot of Brian Jacques' Redwall series. My favourite is Marlfox and I have a picture of the bookcover on my wall. You mention the ye olde English dialogue but I also love the names of the food (greensap milk, snowcream pudding, fizzy dandelion cup) and creatures (Badrang, Grumm Trencher, Rowanoak). There's hero Martin and brave mousemaid Rose in "Martin The Warrior" plus songs and Ballaw De Quincewold a poetry-spouting male hare, co-founder of The Rambling Rosehip Players who features in a real wiki. It's a rollicking tale to rival any pirate legend.

Maud Fitch wrote:Yes, I've read quite a lot of Brian Jacques' Redwall series. My favourite is Marlfox and I have a picture of the bookcover on my wall. You mention the ye olde English dialogue but I also love the names of the food (greensap milk, snowcream pudding, fizzy dandelion cup) and creatures (Badrang, Grumm Trencher, Rowanoak). There's hero Martin and brave mousemaid Rose in "Martin The Warrior" plus songs and Ballaw De Quincewold a poetry-spouting male hare, co-founder of The Rambling Rosehip Players who features in a real wiki. It's a rollicking tale to rival any pirate legend.

I want to try out some of the food recipes. They sound really good. Who's your favorite good creature? I like the otters.

The more I hear about these books the more I want to read them.

Gannon wrote:The more I hear about these books the more I want to read them.

I'm glad you're getting interested in them They're worth the read.

Thanks for bringing them to my attention rachel5. As soon as I get a chance to read the first one, I will let you know what I think.

I read about half the series when I was younger, maybe 12ish I think? I'm 100% American and I never remember getting tripped up by the British verbiage you speak of, though I'm sure it helped add to the flavor of the world and assisted in keeping me pulled in.

It's pretty hard not to be a fan of Martin, but I also liked the scenes with the badgers. Their potential for unbridled rage always added a level of tension that was never mentioned but surely felt. They were those "I'm sure glad they're on our side" type of characters.

I really liked these books. It took me a while to figure out how to pronounce the highlanders' speak, but other than that I didn't have any trouble with the British lingo. I have read the whole series and I think my favorites were The Bellmaker and Rakkety Tam. I thought that the ones that told the history of Mossflower wood were the best (Lord Brocktree, Mossflower, Legend of Luke, etc.).

I actually remember that series from a long time ago in elementary or middle school. Wow that was a long time. I don't remember reading the whole series, but I do have a fond memory of the characters.

I loved these books when I was younger. I still have the whole series and at some point I was thinking of revisiting them. The only problem with that is I have such fond memories of them and don't want to spoil them. I always felt bad for the animal groups that are portrayed as the baddies.

I loved these books! I loved the way they did the language, and it was my first introduction to the type of stories that gave you a map at the beginning etc.. I then discovered Lord of the Rings later on in life and was all like.. ah he wasn't the first to do this but very fond memories of these books as a kid.

I had forgotten that I had purchased Mossflower to read a long time ago but never got around to it. I had heard from a lot of places that these books were a good read. I'm glad I saw this post so I remembered these books.