142 reviews for:

Mariel of Redwall

Brian Jacques

3.91 AVERAGE

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced
adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced
adventurous lighthearted tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. In my head, this was in the "skip" category of the Redwall series, but it provides a completely new cast of characters and still keeps many of the old haunts from Mossflower, Redwall, and the rest. The introduction of the sea rats is also a welcome addition as it makes sense for the transportation of the Joseph Bell.

Biggest complaints: Gabool was a very weak villain. (
Spoiler Also, his insanity arc was almost identical to Tsarmina from Mossflower
) His split with Greypatch also felt rushed since we didn't ever see them interact much.
AND
Spoiler Gabool's death was pretty pathetic. I know that Jacques was probably trying to prevent Mariel and the others from carrying out their blood oaths and killing him, but it still felt unsatisfying

The kids of Redwall got to be pretty irritating. I'm all for the rambunctious kids making a difference in a battle, but they were just a bit much for me.
Spoiler The bloodlust section where the Badger Lord murders hundreds or pirates wasn't really dealt with as a theme. I wanted a bit more reflection on such violence, especially in contrast to the Redwallers who only kill as a final resort. Could have led to some interesting discussions/disagreements between the various leads.


Biggest Surprises: Mariel was a pretty entertaining lead character, especially one so separated from Martin/the Redwall lineage. I honestly want to read another story about what happens when she goes south.
The Long Patrol was so much fun.
Spoiler Their sacrifice was also a pretty dark but interesting plot move

The audiobook is very good because they actually sing all of the ditties and ballads throughout. This one felt like it had more than the other books, so the audiobook was a very immersive experience.
Simeon was probably my favorite character.

4 stars because I enjoyed this more than Mattimeo, though it's still quite flawed and doesn't have the same punch as Mossflower + Redwall.
adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced
adventurous emotional hopeful slow-paced

Just found this at a closing bookstore for cheap, and decided to re-read a childhood favorite of mine. Not quite as good as I remember it being, but entertaining and full of epic heroes!