Customer Reviews

Doomwyte

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Things are not quiet in the forest surrounding Redwall Abbey. Flickering lights lead travelers into unknown places where they are never heard from again. What kind of danger could be lurking in this quaint little kingdom filled with peaceful inhabitants?

Beneath the Abbey, in a cavern under the surrounding green hills, a giant raven named Korvus Skurr runs his own kingdom called Doomwyte. With an army of Wytes, made up of assorted animals, Korvus is determined to find the jewels that have been taken many years ago from the great Doomwyte statue. He is convinced that the jewels lie somewhere within the Abbey walls and will stop at nothing to get them back. His mind is further twisted by the evil serpent he wears around his crown, which feeds the raven lies that he claims come from the hideous giant fish in the cave:

"The fish was truly an impressively hideous sight. It was a wels, that fearsome giant member of the catfish family. It halted, staring up at the bird and snake, its mighty length trailing down into the icy waters. Two wide-spaced eyes, twin black beads, ever on the watch for prey, loomed close to the surface. The wide, blubber, blue-tinged lips, moving constantly, opening and closing, caused two long barbels on the upper jaw to move in concert with the four lesser ones beneath the lower lip. The monstrous fish stayed momentarily hanging there, its fins rotating slowly. Then it lept clear of the pool arching as it sped back down. A pale, plump frog, which had strayed too close, vanished into the big fish's jaws."

As these things are happening, life in Redwall Abbey becomes more frightening when some of the Dibbuns (younger children) are threatened by large carrion birds (who just happen to be part of Korvus Skurr's gang). Just in time, a warrior mountain hare known as "Laird Bosie McScutta of Bowlaynee" rescues the children and offers to provide protection in return for his meals. The dangerous thing about this is that "Bosie" has a really big appetite. Friar Skurpuls has to watch closely that the good-hearted rabbit doesn't clean out their larders. Despite his funny ways, Laird McScutta lives up to his warrior reputation by proving himself many times in the battles against the Wytes. Eventually he is even given the sword of "Martin the Warrior," which makes him a most formidable foe.

There are secret passageways, hidden doors, riddles, songs, poems, laughter, music, good times, bad times, and above all, lots of fast-paced adventure. With the added masterful drawings of David Elliot, DOOMWYTE proves to be another wonderful installment in the growing tales of Redwall.

--- Reviewed by Sally M. Tibbetts (stibbetts@maine207west.org)

I REALLY wanted to love this book. I am a big fan of Jacques and have read all his books (Except Eulalia), and have come to expect nothing shoet of brilliance from him.

Doomwyte is the book of wasted potential. It had the POTENTIAL to be one of the best Redwall books... the idea of the Redwallers having to face a sinister raven and his horde of underground cultists seemed like a GREAT idea.... but it didn't deliver.

As I was reading this book, I tried with every ounce of my will to like it. I never wanted to admit to myself that Jacques let me down. But there were a few big things I could not ignore... as much as I told myself that I was enjoying the novel, deep down I could not deny -- as painful as it was to do so-- that this was a very poorly written book.

First, the plot was all about the Redwaller's treasure hunt. You could have actually REMOVED the villain and his Doomwyte cultists from the story without changing the plot at all. Typically the villain is a threat to the good guys -- in Doomwyte, the evil raven leader's plans were foiled less than halfway through the book (only a few chapters after he first set them into motion), and he spent the rest of the novel cowering in his cave, defeated and helpless, while his death slowly closed in to claim him. He had a pathetically small amount of screentime, and made barely any impact on the Redwaller's treasure hunt. The Redwallers never met him, never dealt with him. The Doomwytes were a sub-plot; the only thing they did for the novel was reveal the authenticity of the treasure near the beginning of the novel so that the Redwallers could go on their hunt. Then the story revolved almost exclusively around the Redwallers trying to find the treasure on their own... the Doomwytes were mostly out of the way for the rest of the novel, though occasionally there would be a short scene here and there that showed the Doomwytes being trapped, killed, and eaten by a angry snake. But not much else.

I also got the feeling that Brian Jacques lost interest in this story half-way through writing it, but realized that he'd come to far to quit. The second half of the book was dull, drawn-out, and felt like it was wandering a bit. I think he realized that he'd messed up early on, but decided to hurry up and finish it anyway so that he could get started on the next one.

Redwall novels, despite all the other great themes and stories they usually feature, are typically judged on the strength of the heroes (and the villains) as characters.

In Doomwyte, the heroes were shallow, underdeveloped, and boring... not one was even remotely memorable. The villains were even more shallow, even more underdeveloped, hardly featured in the story, and had little to do with the plot at all.

IN CLOSING: Those who gave this book 4-5 stars are merely people who don't look for quality any farther than the author's name. They have simply committed themselves to loving anything Brian writes, no matter how good or bad it is. They are good fans, but to the point that they have been blinded by their affection for the author and the rest of the series.

There are many good, classic, unforgettable Redwall books out there. Aside from his work on Doomwyte, Jacques is quite ingenious. There's many other books to choose from in this series... but don't waste your time on this one.

I've read all of the Redwall novels so I've become so familiar with the characters they seem like old friends. After all this time the books have blended together to form one really LONG story and it becomes difficult to distinguish between the individual books. That being said, Doomwyte is not my favorite of the series (my favorite is The Long Patrol). The story just didn't seem fresh and it had more of a "been there, done that" feel to it. Even so, Brian Jacques is such a masterful storyteller that he manages to bring such wonderful "life" to the characters that you can't help but become engrossed in their story. So even though Doomwyte wasn't my favorite of the series, I still couldn't put it down!

Brian Jacques has produced another lovely tale of Redwall. Despite the fact that he follows the usual formula, it was still a good adventure and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

I've been a fan of Brian Jacques' books for years, and I absolutely love the Redwall series. That being said, however, this was not my favorite. Jacques usually does a good job of weaving two plotlines together into a single, exciting, interesting story. There is usually one, maybe two, strong "central" characters that you get to know very well, and several other important members that contribute to the story and keep it moving. There's often a love interest or two that may be tied up in an epilogue. And though you get attached to some characters that don't make it, Jacques almost never kills off characters without a reason.

This book was unsatisfying on several levels. First, there are three "main" characters, plus others, which makes it very difficult to get a feel for them, and I think the characterization suffers. There are several successful storylines, but they aren't as spellbinding and page-turning as usual. There seemed to be a lot of senseless violence (including the death of 4 or 5 Redwallers where one would have made the point just as well), and less of the Redwall fun and good cheer. And, not to spoil anything, the story ends with a perfect conclusion to three romances, which seems to be a bit of overkill.

So, overall, not my favorite. Though, honestly, go ahead and read it anyway. It's not horrible, and it will make you appreciate your favorites even more.

Having just finished all 19 Redwall books in the series now out, I have to write that in my opinion, this (next to Triss and one other that I forgot) is probably the worst of them all. Although not really all that bad really, it was just disappointing. Enough anyway for me to post a few of my complaints.

First off, the story line seem to be thrown together with new characters that popped out of nowhere, even though they supposedly have been in Mossflower for all the seasons covered in the series. I also really didn't like the two mean father-to-son relationships going on. Or the Guosim Log a log chieftain as a bloodthirsty, unfriendly, almost enemy, instead of friend of Abbey dwellers. Other than that, the Gonfelins starting out as neandathol theives, but managing to become honorable friends and equals by the end, and war cries seemingly changing from beginning to end were annoying. along with everyone seems to knows about the Wytes but Redwall dwellers, even though they live in Mossflower not far from the quarry where the sandstone was mined for the Abbey.

There was the normal naughty Dibbun action, and endless songs and descriptive feasts, which seem to get more numerous with each book. Also, there is the gratuitous use of the words corded sinewy and coiled steel, which my family likes to look for in the Jacques books.

I did like how they kept the mysterious sentinel a secret for more than half of the book.

Finally, I'd like to add:

How does Redwall stay above ground with all them tunnels and hidden rooms underneath it?

And with all the different puzzles to figure out, how do they stay on the same one without accidentally stumbling onto another riddle altogether? Some of the clues seem to get found out by dumb luck alone.

Brian Jacques is a genius! I started reading the Redwall books to my two sons when they were about 7 & 8 and we read through and own every book in hardcover that he published. Doomwyte is the most recent I have purchased. My sons are 23 & 21 and the youngest just graduated from college and both are reading this newest book. The descriptions, the characters, the adventures are captivating!

I have followed the Redwall series since I first discovered the first book, Redwall, in a used book store. Brian Jacques has, once again, introduced a group of characters into the setting that almost seem alive. It is easy to fall into the story and be swept along as it progresses. "Doomwyte" is escapism at its best.

Let me start this off by saying I am a HUGE fan of Brian Jacques and all of his Redwall books. I have read them all and enjoyed them a lot. Yes, they do tend to follow the same formula, but honestly, that is part of the reason I love them. I know what to expect and yet there is always something new thrown in there.

All that to say I read Doomwyte and was a bit disapointed when I finished it. First off, I found the gore factor to be rather high in this one, not in actual battle scenes...but how several characters were killed off. Death by boiling water was to me, a tad more gruesome than earlier books. Also, I found the torturing scenes to be a bit much. Especially as they kept going on and on. And finally I was a bit annoyed at how at the end of the book, anybeast who had lived had apparently been married off. It was just such a neat and tidy ending that almost didn't seem to flow with the rest of the book.

As a whole, I enjoyed this book. I was just surprised at how Mr. Jacques seems to have upped the "disturbingness" of this book. It was not needed and for me, it took away from the story.

Still, I recommend this book to anyone (with a word of caution) and continue to be a lifelong fan of the Redwall series and Brian Jacques!

Doomwyte is one of the best Redwall novels yet! It's a novel that anybody could love! It was filled with puzzles and action!