Triss (Redwall, Book 15) [Hardcover]

Brian Jacques (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 18, 2002 | Series: Tale of Redwall

A thrilling story of Triss, a young squirrelmaid. She escapes a life of misery as a servant to the tyrannical ruling ferret family in Riftgard and sets off to find her way to the Abbey of Redwall. Parallel runs the tale of two young scamps, the hare Bescarum and the badger Sagaxus, who leave the Fortress of Salamandastron and set off on board ship in search of adventure. The third storyline is about the inhabitants of the Abbey and a threat to their safety. This leads to a frightening and ultimately very satisfying climax as the three threads of the story come together.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Wot, Wot?! Could it be another epic Redwall tale (tail?) thick with high adventure, heavy accents, and leek-and-turnip pasty from the beloved beast master himself, Brian Jacques? It is indeed, happy readers. Triss, the 15th book in the distinguished and wildly popular animal fantasy series, chronicles the exploits of a brave squirrel maid who travels from the bonds of slavery to the meeting of her destiny as a warrior at Redwall Abbey. Triss the squirrel, Shogg the otter, and Welfo the hedgehog, all slaves to the bloodthirsty royal ferret family of Riftgard, filch a ferret boat and sail away from the murderous clutches of Princess Kurda and her malevolent father, King Agarnu. Swearing revenge, Kurda sets out to recapture her slaves, her evil Ratguard troops reinforced by the pirate fox Plugg Firetail and his band of criminal Freebooters. At the same time, the badger Sagaxus and his bosom friend Bescarum the hare also set sail from Salamanstrom, to seek adventure on the high seas. Meanwhile, back at the abbey, the Redwall inhabitants are being plagued by a mystery that involves a hidden door, a secret code, and three stinking, sinister snake siblings that are picking off the gentle forest folk one by one. Any ardent fan of Redwall knows that what comes next will include sword fights, feasting, raucous good humor, and a thrilling climax. Jacques's fervent followers are rewarded with the author's usual swashbuckling good storytelling, while the newly initiated will read with wide eyes, and quickly go back to hungrily devour the rest of the series. (Ages 10 and older) --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Brian Jacques weighs in with Triss, the 15th title in his Redwall series. Here, the enslaved squirrelmaid escapes by sea and a Dibbun duo discovers Brockhall's secret entrance. David Elliot's b&w illustrations introduce each chapter. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Childrens Hardbacks; 1St Edition edition (November 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670910678
• ISBN-13: 978-0670910670
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,793,300 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

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Triss: A Novel for Everyone, November 12, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Triss (Redwall, Book 15) (Hardcover)

Triss was written by Brian Jacques, and is the latest book in the Redwall Series. It contains adventure, puzzles, and battles. Triss is the fifteenth novel in the series, and, in my opinion, is a great success. The characters are very colorful, and each one is important, whether good or bad. I thought the plot, dialects, and conflicts of the book Triss were very interesting.
The evil ferret King Agarnu is the king of a fortress that overlooks the sea. He owns many slaves; among these are Triss, Shogg, and Welfo. These three are planning to escape, by the means of a boat that they are building. Also, in a mountain fortress called Salamandastron, Scarum, Sagax, and Kroova sail away from their home, in seek of an adventure. At the same time, in Redwall Abbey, two young Dibbuns, Ruggum and Bikkle, run away from their home, to escape from "baffs". When Triss and her companions finally escape, King Agarnu is angered. He tries to recapture them, but they elude him by stealing his prize ship from the ferrets. It is then that Princess Kurda, the King's malicious daughter, comes up with a "brilliant" plan. They will send up a signal for pirates to notice, and then "hire" the pirates to catch the slaves. Also, the ferrets are trying the retrieve a crown and arm-ring that was lost in Mossflower, the home of Redwall.
Dibbun-talk is one of the many different dialects in this book. Another example is mole-speech. Instead of saying "I was doing fine" the moles might say "Oi wurr doin' gurtly well". A well as mole-speech, other dialects are included such as ferret-talk and hare-talk. The colorful dialects in this book give it a good flavor.
In spite of all this, and the potential threat to Redwall, the abbey holds the annual feast. The two Dibbuns are finally found, a little ways away from Redwall. They claim to have found a place called Brockhall, the long-lost hall of Badger Lords. Even though most of the Redwallers believe the two Dibbuns, some are doubtful. Nevertheless, a search party is sent out to find the entrance to Brockhall.
During all of that, the company from Salamandastron casts off from the shored of their home, in a boat called the "Stopdog". They, unfortunately, find out first hand how much food Scarum can eat. Consequently, almost all of their food is gone with the glutinous hare to blame. Fortunately, they find land, with plenty of food to spare. For safety measures, however, they keep a careful eye on Scarum, to make sure he doesn't eat too much. The conflict with Scarum eating too much goes on throughout the book, and is only one of many conflicts in the book. Some of the other conflicts include a fight between the pirates and the slaves. As well as many external conflicts, there are quite a few internal ones too. The conflicts in this book are very exciting, and are filled with many surprises.
This book, Triss, contains an excellent plot, colorful dialects, and interesting conflicts. Brian Jacques has created a masterpiece, in my opinion. He successfully wove together good characters, a wonderful plot, and many twists and turns to create this book. He adds his usual puzzle element in, as well. Also, this book refers to other events in the series, so I wouldn't read it if you haven't read some, if not all, of the other books. I enjoyed reading Triss, and I think you will too!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is something I know you'll enjoy!, March 21, 2003

By 

Maria "Maria Kanai" (Yokohama, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Triss (Redwall, Book 15) (Hardcover)

I always loved Redwall books and have read pretty much of them, so I've got to admit that they are getting a tiny bit boring for me. I was thinking of putting this book for four stars since this book was a little bit like "Martin the Warrior" (which is about slaves who escape an island ruled by vermin and promises to return to free the others), but the action, excitment, humor, and poems made me think, "Oh well, I loved this book anyway!"

Here's the Story:

Triss is a young brave squirrel who is enslaved with many other slaves on the island of Riftgard, which is ruled by the evil King Agarnu and his son and daughter Prince Bladd and the sadistic Princess Kurda. Triss and her otter and hedgehog friend Shogg and Welfo are determined to leave the terrible island and to return to free the other wretched slaves...and to slay the Pure Ferrets to end the evil for once and for all!

Meanwhile, two Dibbuns from Redwall Abbey have wandered off and gone missing in the Mossflower Woods. As they are found about a day later during a storm by Skipper of Otters and Log-a-Log the Chieftain of Shrews, the Dibbuns tell the elders that they had found an oak tree which provided them shelter. The oak tree had a cunningly hidden door, they said and the older Abbey creatures realize that the babies had found the mysterious Brockhall! They decide to find the place. (here's where most of the poems, songs, and RIDDLES comes out!) But some evil beast (or beasts?) are living there and they are determined to defend their home...

At the great moutain of Salamandastron, the stronghold of badgers and hares, the young badger Sagax and his gluttonous hare friend Scarum have runaway from endless chores and from the stern paw of their parents. Meeting their otter friend Kroova, they both sail out into the sea, planning to go to Redwall where food and safety was. (Scarum is pretty happy about the food!)

All paths and purposes of the three main runaways are different, but of course, they all cross at the famous Redwall Abbey!

I thought that this book had all that a book needed: Excitement, suspense, humor, and lots of action! All 402 pages of it would keep you intrigued, although around the middle part it gets a bit slow. I thought that bantering with the Freebooters and Princess Kurda was in a way kind of funny! Scarum is, like all hares, totally exasperating and has that usual 'British accent, wot wot?' I'm sure anyone would enjoy reading "Triss"! My other favorite Redwall books I recommend are:

"Lord Brocktree"
"Taggerung"
"Martin the Warrior"

Of course, other Redwall books are cool too, but these are my favorites!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jacques' Triss will be a Hit with Redwall Fans, October 1, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Triss (Redwall, Book 15) (Hardcover)

Once again, the world of Redwall comes alive in this fifteenth masterpiece of the series. Triss, Shogg and Welfo escape from Riftguard, the palace of the evil pure ferrets, where they were enslaved. At the same time, Sagax, a badger, and his friend, Scarum the hare, run away from Salamandastron, the renowned mountain of the badger lords. They travel with their sea otter friend Kroova. Triss and her friends are pursued by the ferret, Princess Kurda, her ratguards and a pack of Freebooters. Meanwhile, back at Redwall Abbey, the residents are trying to locate Brockhall, another ancient home of the badgers, in Mossflower Woods. The classical Redwall fight of good versus evil accounts for a fair amount of the saga. Of course, Liverpudlians are an extremely comical group of people, and Brian Jacques is no exception. Scarum, who loves to constantly scoff food, and the other hares in the story, provide much of the wit in the book. Fans who loved Taggerung, the fourteenth Redwall book, and are expecting a tale as fabulous as it will have most of their expectations met. Triss will delight fans and newcomers, young and old alike!