Customer Reviews

Mossflower (Redwall)

5 star:		(281)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mossflower is one of the most dynamic books I've read. I'm 19 years old and I remember my 5th grade teacher reading me this book when I was 10! From that point on I have collected all the books in the series. I remember being able to identify with Martin and his followers from day one. Everyone in my class (even the class clown, David!) loved the time when our teacher would whip out her paperback and pick up where she had left off the previous day. Everyone groaned when the rats and ferrets chased after the otters, everyone held their breath when the Gloomer was sent in the water. Everyone laughed when Gonff danced with the crab. Everyone was spellbound with delight when Martin and Gonff met the hares, and everyone cheered when . . well I'm not going to say! The tone and style of the story weaves itself around you until you are spellbound by its magic. Even though the reality of animals talking isn't possible, in Mossflower you accepted that they did and moved on to the adventure. The characters were all well developed and there was just enough flat characters to contrast with the dynamic ones. The result is that you get a sense of realistic stability not often found in a talking animal book. The obvious character foils made you sense the good and evil and you take a side; the side you stick with until the end. All in all, this book is a classic. The poetry, the words, the characters, and best of all the magic, make it come alive into your heart, imagination and soul. This is a wonderful book that I highly recommend to anyone.

One series to rule them all...

A dark army that has overrun the land. An unlikely hero on sent on an epic quest. A sword that is broken and forged anew. A search for the lost king. I could easily be describing Lord of the Rings! I have read several books in this amazing series (and shall not stop till I have read them all), but so far this one is undoubtedly my favorite. When you read Redwall and Mattimeo (and some of the other books in the series), you feel as if it's set in the present. But when you read the books about Martin the Warrior, the legendary hero of Redwall Abbey...

The time of great heroes

What can I say, reading Mossflower is like reading a book about the legend of King Arthur or Robin Hood. You're stepping back in time to an era when villains were more wicked, heroes were more brave, and the country was more wild. The story begins with Martin entering the country of Mossflower and then swiftly being imprisoned because he is carrying a sword. The ultimate climax of the book is set up swiftly when Martin swears vengeance upon the evil Queen of the land (who in an awesome scene breaks Martin's sword and tells the guards to have him wear it around his neck). But even for the Hero Martin, vengeance doesn't come easy.

Have you ever been on a quest?

Like Redwall, there is a major sidequest for our hero to embark upon (you can't kill the main villain with a broken sword now can you?), involving a search for the old Badger Lord king of Mossflower. Also like Redwall, there will be clues to unravel, friends to make, and alliances to forge. And like the great Lord of the Rings, there will also be beautiful songs to sing and poems to read.

Hungry yet?

And let's not forget about the fantastic way the author has of drawing up beautiful descriptions without overloading the reader. The Redwall foods in particular are famous, and for good reason. When reading this book you'll not only feel every mile of the journey, you'll also mouth-water every time the food is described. Good stuff.

A battle between good and evil

Ultimately, what holds this book together is wonderful characters and the way that they interact together. Even the villain is not simply an evil tyrant bent on evil purposes. There is a depth of character here that few books can touch in my opinion. And the icing on the cake is the irony and action that's to be found. The battle sequences in this book will enthrall you, and way things work out is really pulls at you emotionally. There is strong narrative here. And I cannot and will not ever forget the ending of this book. It stands as one of the greatest endings I've ever read in any book. Every story of a legendary hero needs a showdown, and the one in this book is incredible.

In the End...

Mossflower is more than just a good book. It is a GREAT book. It is the story of the origins of a legendary Abbey, a Legendary Country, and a Legendary Hero. To readers of the Redwall books it is an essential buy. To all others it is without a doubt an essential read. If you only read one book in the series, let it be this one.

I think that Mossflower is simply the most fantastic book in the whole Redwall series, and close to perfection. This is the story of how Martin the Warrior, a legendary hero, came to Mossflower country. It is a time of desparation, when no one is safe from the evil Tsarmina and her army. Unlike the other Redwall books, this story has an uncanny sense of adventure, soul, suspense, and humor. The characters are larger than life. Mossflower chronciles how all the great legends of Redwall came to be, and you see how the characters became part of ancient legend. It is a wonderful book, and unparalled in its grand storytelling.

I have read every Redwall book from Redwall to The Legend of Luke. i am going to get Lord Brocktree once it comes out. This is the second-best book in the series, the only one better is Pearls of Lutra. Mossflower has villains you will hate with all of your heart and heroes you just can't resist, such as Gonff who teaches a crab to "dance" on his route to Salamandastron, home of the badger Lord Boar the Fighter. The evil wildcat queen, Tsarmina's, tyrannical reign needs a quick finish, and Martin the mouse is the one to do it. Oh and by the way, "Tsarmina" is a play on "tsarina" with "mean" added in.

"Mossflower" is about Martin the Warrior, the legendary character mentioned in "Redwall," the book that came before this one in the Redwall series.

In the beginning of the book, the mouse Martin is traveling through Mossflower woods, the future site of Redwall Abbey. The forest and its inhabitants are under oppression by a fearsome wildcat known as Verdauga Greeneyes, Lord of the Thousand Eyes. He has two children--a gentle son named Gingivere, and a merciless, cruel daughter called Tsarmina. The wildcat family is served by hundreds of soldiers. The family and their horde live in a fortress called Kotir.

Martin has a sword hanging around his neck; it had once belonged to his father, Luke the Warrior. When Verdauga's soldiers see him walking through the forest with the sword, they arrest him on the charge of bearing arms and drag him to Kotir. He fights them fiercely all the while. After struggling with him for a while, the soldiers manage to drag him to Verdauga's chamber, where the wildcat is laying in his bed, ill. Although Verdauga admires the mouse's courage and spirit. Tsarmina, however, expresses feelings of disgust, snaps the sword in two, leaving only the hilt hanging around Martin's neck, and throws him into one of Kotir's dungeons.

Meanwhile, the carefree mouse Gonff, a thief who calls himself the Prince of Mousethieves, is making his way back from Kotir, where he has stolen food. Gonff is a member of CORIM, the Council of Resistance in Mossflower, which is an organization set up by the forest dwellers to fight Verdauga's tyranny. Gonff lets his guard down and manages to get himself captured by two of Kotir's soldiers. He is taken to the fortress and put in the same dungeon cell as Martin, where the two become friends. Gonff knows just how to escape the cell, and does so, taking Martin with him. They go straight to the headquarters of CORIM, the mansion home of a female badger called Bella of Brockhall.

Martin is welcomed by the CORIM leaders, and he decides to help them with their mission. He befriends Lady Amber, the leader of the squirrel population, and Skipper of Otters, the chieftain of an otter tribe who dwells in nearby River Moss, along with many others. Gonff remains his best friend, along with a mole called Young Dinny.

At Kotir, the ruthless wildcat Tsarmina poisons her father and accuses her kindly brother Gingivere of the murder. Gingivere is imprisoned, and Tsarmina is proclaimed the new Queen. She promptly embarks on a reign of terror. The woodland dwellers become more desparate than ever to overthrow the wildcats.

Bella of Brockhall has convinced Martin that the only way to get rid of Tsarmina and her minions for good is to fetch her father, Boar of Brockhall, who is a formidable warrior. He dwells in an extinct volcano known as Salamandastron, a long journey from Mossflower. Martin agrees to make the journey, along with Gonff and Dinny. They set out immediately, but are followed for a good part of the journey by three of Tsarmina's bumbling soldiers. Along the way, they befriend a shrew called Log-a-Log, who assists them by letting them use his boat to travel on the river. They get lost inside a pitch-black mountain, where they are helped by some bats. At last they reach Salamandastron.

If you want to find out what happens to the three friends, read "Mossflower," by Brian Jacques, one of the best books I've read to date.

This book follows "Redwall" in the book series of the same name. The central character is Martin the Warrior, the legendary mouse warrior to whom a reference appears in every Redwall book. It tells readers how he obtained his famous sword and defeated the wildcat queen, Tsarmina. Before the arrival of Tsarmina's warlord father, Lord Verdauga Greeneyes, the inhabitants of Mossflower (a heavily wooded area) lived independently and peacefully. However, Verdauga and his large army storm through the woodlands and conquer them, setting up residence in a huge abandoned fort called Kotir. At the time that the story takes place, Verdauga is on his deathbed. Tsarmina poisons him and frames her gentle, just brother Gingivere as a murderer, ordering that he be locked up immediately. Just before this happens, Martin is also locked up for traveling through the territory while armed (although he was unaware of the law against armed travelers). His weapon is a rusty old sword that once belonged to his father. Cruel Tsarmina breaks the heirloom and hangs the hilt around Martin's neck so that he will never forget to obey the laws of Kotir. Instead, Martin vows to Tsarmina that one day he will kill her. She has him locked up in the dank dungeons of Kotir. After weeks of imprisonment, Martin gets a cellmate--the cheeky, personable Gonff, a kindhearted mouse who thieves food from Kotir to help the woodlanders, who are planning a revolt against Verdauga's and Tsarmina's rule. Gonff promptly escapes, taking Martin with him, and informs the woodlanders of Verdauga's death and Tsarmina's usurping of the crown. Martin becomes part of the resistance. He meets the stately badger Bella of Brockhall, whose family used to rule Mossflower before Verdauga conquered the area. Bella asks Martin, Gonff, and a young mole called Dinny to journey to an extinct volcano known as Salamandastron. Every male badger in Bella's lineage had gone to Salamandastron as soon as he came of age. Bella's father, Boar of Brockhall, had been at Salamandastron when Verdauga invaded Mossflower, and he had never returned in the years since. Bella believes that if her father returns, he can help the woodlanders overthrow Tsarmina... This book is every bit as good as "Redwall," and one of the best books in the entire series.

This is my second excursion into the world of Redwall (my first was "Redwall") and I can only say that I was entirely entranced and captivated by this wonderful story. I could hardly wait to come home from work and dive back into it. Brian Jacques is very rapidly becoming my favorite author. The Redwall series are supposedly "children's" books, but really they are for anyone who enjoys a well-told, exciting story. The characters in "Mossflower" as they were in "Redwall" are exceptional. Dinny the mole with his comical molespeak, the heroic and noble badger Boar the Fighter, the truly wicked Tsarmina, Martin the Warrior, Chibb the robin, all are wonderful and complex, well-thought out characters. Their actions and doings are as compelling as the story itself. Mr. Jacques does a good job of not making the battle scenes too gory while still providing the necessary imagery, with Martin wiping the blood and sweat from his face as he engages in battle with the sea rats at Salamandastron. The final battle between Tsarmina and Martin was quite epic. I love the idea of "going questing" as Martin did in his search for Salamandastron and hope to go "questing" myself in the future. I guess that seems a silly notion, but a fun idea nontheless. "Mossflower" will fire your imagination and transport you to another world, one of courage, humor, bravery, nobilty, "questing", good vs evil, and mostly, a world of high adventure. I can only hope the rest of the "Redwall" series are as good as this story.

Life in Mossflower Woods is a battle for survival. An evil wildcat name Tsarmina rules the land with an iron fist. The local residents do what they can to keep the evil cat at bay, but they are losing. One day, a young mouse named Martin is captured and locked up simply for walking through the castle grounds. With the help of an enthusiastic mouse thief named Gonff, he escapes. With the help of squirrel archers, otters, and a mix of other wildlife warriors, they start a siege on Kotir, the evil cat's castle. Meanwhile, Martin and his friends are going to Salamandastron, the Fire Mountain, to get his sword fixed and find Boar the Fighter, because with him on their side they will be able to finally overthrow Tsarmina. Along the way, they are trapped and sidetracked many times by various dangers. Will they make it to Salamandastron? Can the woodlanders overthrow Tsarmina? Read the book for the answers. I thought this book was exciting and interesting all the way through. It is fantasy, (my favorite genre), and very intriguing. Brian Jacques is a great medieval writer, and if you like Lord of the Rings, you'll like this book.

The dominating (in my personal opinion) Redwall series has to be the best fantasy ever written! Jacques has a pure talent for giving animals human characteristics. This was the first book in the series that I read, and I absolutely loved it! Jacques' creativity was spectacular and the characters were witty and great. If you like to read fantasy books, DO NOT pass this book up!

Brian Jacques has done it again with Mossflower. I love how brave Martin is throughout the book. He shows such great courage and determination. Courage that we should show in our lives. I strongly recomend this book to anyone who likes animals and adventure. The books were really well written. I also think that they can be enjoyed by an older audience. I just want to say if you enjoyed these books, I think you'll really enjoy the Lord of the Rings trilogy along with the Hobbit.