Hey, just so you know ... this post is now about 14 years and 9 months old. Please keep that in mind as it very well may contain broken links and/or outdated information.

When ferret Swartt Sixclaw and his arch enemy Sunflash the Mace swear a pledge of death upon each other, a young creature is cruelly banished from the safety of Redwall. As he grows, he seeks revenge on the people of Redwall and finds himself embroiled in a hostile battle with far-reaching consequences.

I’ve finished the last of the Redwall novels I will be reading, “Outcast of Redwall.” As I mentioned in my last post, the repeating formula is getting tiresome for me. My daughter will probably continue to read the rest of the novels, but I’ll just have to hear what goes on from her.

This installment of the series probably should have had a different title: Veil the ferret almost seems like a secondary character. He’s not even the titular “outcast” until about 170 pages in! The main thrust of the story revolves around the badger lord Sunflash the Mace (son of Bella from “Mossflower“) and Swartt Sixclaw the ferret warlord as they try to track each other down. The usual supporting cast of creatures is present, as is the secondary storyline that eventually ties into the main plot. The extra variable in the formula is Veil: a (archtypically evil) ferret raised by the peaceful creatures of Redwall Abbey. Will he end up being good, or evil (does his name give that surprise away?).

That’s really all I have to say about this one …