Eulalia! (Redwall) [Hardcover]

Brian Jacques (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Redwall

Lord Asheye of Salamandastron has a prophecy: A new Badger Lord must take his place and reign over the legendary badger fortress. But who is this young warrior who shuns both armor and sword? And how is he to be found? Mad Maudie, a feisty haremaid of the Long Patrol, is just the one to track him down. Meanwhile, the unsuspecting future Badger Lord has been captured by a scurrilous group of Sea Raiders led by the infamous fox, Vizka Longtooth, who intends on conquering Redwall Abbey. It is up to our young hero to defend Redwall so that he may fulfill his destiny as leader of Salamandastron.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–8—Pitchforks, daggers, mace, and chain—these are the weapons of choice in a warring animal realm. Lord Asheye of the fortress mountain Salamandastron seeks a new Badger Lord, one who has been prophesized to shun armor and a sword. This young badger is possessed by the deadly Bloodwrath, a ferocious rage that turns him into an unstoppable killing force. Mad Maudie, a haremaiden of the Long Patrol, is ordered to find him and bring him back to Salamandastron. She sets out to secure her charge but realizes that destiny has carved a different path. A group of vicious Brownrats, dressed like cannibals, plot to storm Redwall Abbey. Instead, they encounter the seafaring vermin crew of the Bludgullet led by the infamous fox, Vizka Longtooth, intent on the same mission. In the midst of the turmoil, the young badger warrior emerges and changes the course of events. Dialogue written as accented speech is challenging to decipher but ultimately adds to the character development. Fans of the series will not be disappointed as the historical events of Mossflower Wood, Salamandastron, and Redwall Abbey continue to evolve. Story lines from previous books are mentioned briefly, leaving readers with a few unanswered questions, but not at the expense of their appreciation of this heroic tale.—Robyn Gioia, Bolles School, Ponte Vedra, FL
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From Booklist

Lord Asheye, the Badger Lord of Salamandastron envisions his own demise, prompting him to send a clever haremaid from the Long Patrol on a quest to find his successor. Meanwhile, Gorath, an orphaned warrior badger, has a vision of his own: a sword-wielding mouse tells him to follow a thief to Redwall. Complicating matters are Vizka Longtooth and his scurrilous Sea Raiders who want to capture Redwall for themselves. Readers won't want to miss this installment in the Redwall Chronicles, which, as usual, is filled with colorful characters and high adventure. Weisman, Kay

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Philomel; First Edition edition (October 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399242090
• ISBN-13: 978-0399242090
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #508,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book but not Jacques' best., April 23, 2008

By 

Redwall lover "the Book fanatic" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eulalia! (Redwall) (Hardcover)

I have been an avid Redwall reader ever since I found Mossflower in my school library in grade six. I was immediately taken with the series. so when I got Eulalia! I was thrilled. Do not listen to 1 star reveiwers on this or any other Redwall book. They will tell you the series has worn itself out. I say different.

Sure, there are repetitive instances such as there being a rat in Mossflower who has the same name of another rat in Lord Brocktree, but the main stories are vastly different to each other.

I had to take points off this book because of some repetitiveness like the slight overuse of the Badger's bloodwrath in every book and Vizka Longtooth trying to dig his way into Redwall. Vizka was the second vermin to try that. Cluny the Scourge tried that in the first Redwall book. He succeded but if I remember correctly he was stopped by the Redwallers pouring caoldrons of hot porridge among his troops. Vizka did not succeed but the idea was the same.

I will not reveal too much of the plot now because you might want to read it yourself. but take my word for it: great book, great author, great series. Mossflower (Redwall, Prequel to the Redwall Series)
Lord Brocktree (Redwall, Book 13)
Redwall (Redwall, Book 1)
Redwall, Mossflower, Mattimeo, Mariel of Redwall,Salamandastron, Martin the Warrior, Bellmaker, Outcast of Redwall, Pearls of Lutra, Long Patrol, Marlfox, Legend of Luke, Lord Brocktree, Taggerung, Triss, Loamhedge, Rakkety Tam, High Rhulain (Redwall, 1...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Charmer, May 12, 2010

By 

Julie W. "jujubean122" (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eulalia! (Redwall) (Hardcover)

Torn from his humble home in the Northern Isles, Gorath the badger is taken captive aboard the feared vessel Bludgullet captained by the feared Viska Longtooth, a savage and crazed fox with an unquenchable blood thirst.

Meanwhile, far away in the heart of Mossflower Woods, a young thief is exiled from the great Redwall Abbey. Excited to seek his fortunes in the wider world, Orkwill Prink, a spirited and energetic hedgehog forges ahead into the unknown to search out his fate. Orkwill is unaware however, that he is soon to cross paths with the mighty badger and a crew of vile vermin.

I have always been a lover of Brian Jacques's Redwall series, and Eulalia was no exception. I love Jacques's work because even though the reader visits the same places over and over again in all of his books, his world becomes familiar and comforting as opposed to boring and predictable. His characters are always easy to love, and wonderful to hate all at the same time.

It's hard to find too many criticisms of Eulalia, which I'm afraid, will make for a fairly boring review, but Jacques's work always speaks for itself so I suppose lengthy reviews are not needed.

If I had to find a single complaint it would be with the characters of Salixia and Tabura. The pair shows up in the last quarter of Eulalia without warning and are suddenly major characters in the story. I did not dislike the characters at all; I just found that it was unusual for Jacques's style to suddenly throw in major characters so late in the story.

So, boring this review may have been, but Eulalia certainly is not. If you're an avid Redwall reader you've probably already read it and are at this review simply to see if I liked it as much as you did. If you're new to Redwall or thinking about picking up the series for your child do so, you won't regret it!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner!!, January 8, 2008

By 

R. Yost (Blytheville, AR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eulalia! (Redwall) (Hardcover)

The adventure continues throughout the book with some old friends and new friends from the series. As usual Martin the Warrior sends visions. The young orphaned badger, troublemaking hare, and a sneakthief hedgehog all learn many life lessons. With two separate threats, the sea raiders and brown rats, each planning to conquer Redwall, several unexpected groups join to defeat the enemies. New friends become true friends in this grand adventure. The play on words and names adds to the writing we have come to enjoy from Brian Jacques.