Hey, just so you know ... this post is now about 15 years and 6 months old. Please keep that in mind as it very well may contain broken links and/or outdated information.

Heaved off her ship in a pirate raid, Mousemaid Mariel is washed up on the shores of Mossflower. With no idea where she is, or indeed who she is, the young warrior mouse embarks on an unforeseen adventure that will take her to the very heart of Redwall and into the arms of the people who live there.

So I’ve finally caught up with my daughter and finished the fourth book of Brian Jacques’ Redwall series, “Mariel of Redwall.”

Just like J.K. Rowling’s first few Harry Potter books, I’m beginning to see the pattern in Jacques’ novels:

• new enemy/bad guy is introduced
• all is peaceful at Redwall
• an event occurs that requires some Redwallers to leave on a perilous quest, directed by the spirit of Martin the Warrior and mysterious Abbey writings/poems/riddles, joined by other friends along the way
• while the questing party is gone, Redwall comes under attack and must be defended by the peace-loving Abbey dwellers
• the Abbey is successfully defended, though some lives are lost
• the questing party returns successfully to the Abbey
• a final journal entry by an Abbey dweller sums up the final events and links to the other books in the series

The one difference in “Mariel” is that the main protagonist is a female mouse. Otherwise, the book falls into my outline above as follows:

• Gabool the Wild, king of the sea rats, has captured a magnificent bell intended for the badger lord of Salamandastron.
• Redwall is still being constructed, with the current project being the bell tower (hint hint) 😉
• Mariel the mousemaid arrives, discovers an old poem that describes how to get to Terramorte Isle, and then leaves on a quest to kill Gabool and avenge her father Joseph the Bellmaker. Dandin (mouse), Durry (mole), and Tarquin (hare) accompany her northwards.
• a gang of sea rats, led by Graypatch, decide to besiege the Abbey intending to be the new rules of Redwall and enslave its inhabitants.

I can’t really go into the final points without giving away major plot lines or spoilers, but suffice it to say it follows the pattern. 🙂

While these are primarily books for younger readers, I have enjoyed them. While I was reading “Mariel” I was giving my daughter daily updates on my progress. She was always excited to remember certain sequences or events and discuss them with me. She was also very good about not spoiling any upcoming surprises. She also loves the maps in the front of each book, which show a little bit more of Mossflower Woods and the surrounding lands in each story.

Next up is “Salamandastron,” which we’re going to read together like we did with the first two. It takes a little longer, but it’s our fun bedtime activity.