Mattimeo [Hardcover]

Brian Jacques (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Hutchinson; First edition (1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0091738989
• ISBN-13: 978-0091738983
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (227 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,458 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

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS IS A DEFINITE READ, October 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mattimeo (Redwall, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

"One day you will weild the sword my son but it will not make you a warrior." This is from the book Mattimeo by Brian Jacques. If you don't like adventure, if you don't like action, if you like boring charecters, ........then don't read the book because Mattimeo is loaded with Adventure, action, and great and funny charecters. Mattimeo is about a young mouse named Mattimeo whose father, Matthis, is the Redwall Warrior and mattimeo has to grow up to become one. Through his life Mattime grows up just like his father ( a little michief maker) he always gets in to fights, trouble, and other things like that. Well one day he and some of the other young Animals from redwall get captured by a Cunning fox Slagar the Cruel and are put on a slave trial destined to a place called Malkris where they will work as slaves for the rest of their lives. The Animals at Redwall send out a search party. On their way to find their children they make some new friends with other animals whose Children have beeen taken by Slagar, Plus they meet up with some with some old friends. While they are gone a Crow named General Ironby attacks the Redwall Abbey. If you thought the plot sounded good, then try reading the book. I think the strengths were everything but one thing. The weaknesses are that one thing. I don't think that in each chapter there should be a different place each time. The style of the author was funny, so funny that sometimes it makes you laugh out loud; adventurous so that you feel like you're fighting in the battle, cliffhangers that just make you want to read on, and mystery. Other books in the Readwall series are, Martin the Warrior, Mossflower, Redwall, Perls of Lutra, The long Patrol, and of course Mattimeo. Will Mattimeo ever grow up to become a warrior and weild the sword of his father? To find out you must read the book.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mattimeo, April 1, 2002

By 

S. Joshi (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mattimeo: A Tale From Redwall (Mass Market Paperback)

The third book in the wonderfully written Redwall series, this follows the life of Mattimeo, Matthias the Warrior's son, as he is kidnapped and enslaved by the mysterious Slagar--a hooded fox who is seeking a twisted revenge on Redwall Abbey and its inhabitants.

While his father and the other Redwallers frantically search for him, the rebellious Mattimeo is forced to take care of the other Redwallers captured by Slagar and his band of rats, ferrets, stoats, and weasels. The book is mostly about Mattimeo's coming of age, but a side plot unfolds in Redwall Abbey itself.

As Matthias and his friends Basil Stag Hare, Jess Squirrel, and the Guosim shrews comb the woodlands and plains for Mattimeo and his friends, the animals left behind in Redwall Abbey face a threat from General Ironbeak, a warrior bird, and his vicious army of rooks and magpies. The Redwallers must defeat Ironbeak without the help of their Abbey Warrior, Matthias, and rely on their own courage and resourcefulness to help them save their home.

This is another excellent book from the critically acclaimed Redwall series.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book in the series, March 8, 2000

By 

Jason Lewis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mattimeo (Redwall, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

People say these books are only for younger children but I'm still entertained by them at age 19. Mattimeo has always been my favorite Redwall book. I recently started re-reading it and all the memories came flooding back. This book has it all. The best Heroes (Mathias, Basil, Orlando), the best villians (Slagar and the slavers, Stonefleck, General Ironbeak), and it is filled with riddles. A masterpiece of an adventure book. Id recommend it to anyone.