Doomwyte (Redwall) [Mass Market Paperback]

Brian Jacques (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 26, 2010 | Series: Redwall

The 20th novel of Redwall-now in paperback.

The young mouse Bisky persuades his friends at Redwall Abbey to seek a fabled treasure-the jeweled eyes of the Great Doomwyte Idol-only to lead them into the realm of the fearsome Korvus Skurr, the black- feathered raven.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The latest installment in the phenomenally popular Redwall series will captivate fans. Jacques adds to his cast of memorable characters with two new deliciously nasty villains: Korvus Skurr the raven and Sicariss the snake, who are seeking the four jeweled eyes of the Great Doomwyte Idol, as is the current batch of adorable Redwall heroes. Jacques’ trademark anagrams and clever riddles finally lead the heroes to the glittering treasure. There are some particularly delightful new characters, including an always-hungry Scottish rabbit, Laird Bosie McScutta of Bowlaynee, and the charming tawny owl Aluco. Although this newest title won’t stand alone, series followers will be tickled by references to Redwall history and the chance to adventure (and dine) with the squirrels, moles, mice, and porcupines of Jacques’ unique world. Grades 5-8. --Debbie Carton --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"The latest installment in the phenomenally popular Redwall series will captivate fans." -Booklist

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ace; Reprint edition (January 26, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441017789
• ISBN-13: 978-0441017782
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Series > Fantasy & Adventure > Redwall

More About the Author

A well-known radio personality in his native Liverpool--as well as an actor, stand-up comic, and playwright--Brian Jacques (1939-2011) was the host of "Jakestown" on BBC Radio Merseyside. Ever the performer, Jacques was well-known for applying his acting and entertainment background to his lively presentations to legions of young fans at schools across the United States and England. Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool, England on June 15th, 1939. Along with forty percent of the population of Liverpool, his ancestral roots are in Ireland, County Cork to be exact. He grew up in the area around the Liverpool docks. His interest in adventure stories began at an early age with reading the books of: Daniel Defoe, Sir Henry Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Thomas Malory, Robert Michael Ballantyne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Kenneth Grahame. He attended St. John's School, an inner city school that had its playground on the roof. On his first day at St. John's, at the age of ten, he had an experience that marked his potential as a writer. When given an assignment of writing a story about animals, he wrote about the bird that cleaned a crocodile's teeth. The teacher could not, and would not, believe that a ten year old could write that well. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as "a liar". He had always loved to write, but it was only then, that he realized that he had a talent for writing. "My favourite teacher was Mr. Austin Thomas. He looked like Lee Marvin. Big Man. A Captain in World War II. He came to school on a big bush bike with the haversack on back. He was a man's man. Always fair. I was fourteen at the time when Mr. Thomas introduced the class to poetry and Greek literature. (Because of him, I saved seven shillings and sixpence to buy The Iliad and The Odyssey at this dusty used book shop.)" This interest in poetry extended to Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Goldsmith. It was also at St. John's that Brian met a teacher, Alan Durband (who also taught two Beatles, Paul McCartney and George Harrison), who, more than thirty years later would bring about a major change in his life. After Brian finished school at fifteen, he set out to find adventure as a merchant seaman. He travelled to many far away ports, including New York, Valparaiso, San Francisco, and Yokohama. Tiring of the lonely life of a sailor, he returned to Liverpool where he worked as a railway fireman, a longshoreman, a long-distance truck driver, a bus driver, a boxer, a bobby (Police Constable 216D), a postmaster, and a stand-up comic. Jacques passed away in February of 2011 at the age of 71.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another wonderful installment in the growing tales of Redwall., December 17, 2008

By 

KidsReads (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doomwyte: A Novel of Redwall (Redwall) (Hardcover)

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 ([e-mail])

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst in the series., August 18, 2009

By 

Raining Glass - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doomwyte: A Novel of Redwall (Redwall) (Hardcover)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The story continues....., January 15, 2009

By 

Kay Hayes "knitting ninja" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Doomwyte: A Novel of Redwall (Redwall) (Hardcover)

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!