Reviews

This is how you do a prequel. I know what happens to Martin. I've read "Mossflower". I know he escapes Marshank, that he takes back his father's sword, and that he ultimately founds Redwall Abbey with the help of Abbess Germaine. For all intents and purposes, this story should already be spoiled, and thus, a little boring, if not downright predictable.

But there is so much distance between the Martin at the beginning of this book and the Martin in "Mossflower". There are so many unsettled questions--half of which come up in the first thirty pages, and in particular, there are the relationships with Rose, Felldoh, and Brome that need to be fractured in some way for continuity's sake. How does Martin ultimately walk away from these people that mean so much to him? How does Martin go from the defiant, heroic slave strapped atop the parapet to the solitary vagabond with the rusty sword? Martin has to somehow lose his defining quality by the end of this book in order to find it again in the other. And if nothing else, that's enough to keep me interested.

Of course, there are plenty of interesting supporting characters, not the least of which are Laterose and Tramun Clogg. They both feel like rodent versions of Shakespeare characters: Rose for tragedy and Clogg for comedy. And both of them have such satisfying endings--from a story standpoint, at least. I've read plenty of Literary Fiction novels that don't have the guts to give their characters such poignant conclusions.

In the end, this is an exercise in letting characters develop a story. Jacques has truly gotten ahold of Martin, Rose, and Felldoh, and he's written them to perfection. He understands them well enough to know where to start them and where to leave them. If "Martin the Warrior" is not my favorite, it certainly has my favorite ending, as bittersweet as it may be.