Loamhedge (2003)

I enjoyed the journey, but had a tendancy to want to skim over descriptions in this story for some reason.
( )

Although this was on my toread list for a while, I bumped it up when I found out about Brian Jacques' passing. His books have always been favorites of mine, and I recommend them to students who like fantasy-adventure books (or animal-related books) frequently. One could say there is a pat formula to these books - there are almost always fights against vermin, a long journey, more than one storyline that come together at the end... but to me it is comforting in a way. The ability to always revisit the hungry hares, guerilla unions of shrews, fabulous feasts, singing otters, down-to-earth molespeak - I love it. I appreciate that there are 21 books in the series - there always seems to be another I can read when I want to enter that world... but I am saddened that after the 21st, there won't be any new ventures into Redwall. Of course, one could just start the series over again... ( )

Brian Jacques' Redwall books were a staple of my childhood reading and I remember hauling home three or four at a time from the library. It little mattered that the stories all shared the same basic plot and character types; they were adventurous and fun—and thick, to boot. While these stories were never quite favorites, I spent many hours with the entertaining inhabitants of Redwall Abbey. So I was looking forward to revisiting them through the full-cast audiobook recording, narrated by the author.

Unfortunately, the experience was not a success. I only made it through two discs (of twelve) before setting this aside. First off, the story takes forever to get going. We are introduced at great length to the latest set of Redwall dwellers and the vermin horde headed their way. The vermin horde undergoes no fewer than three changes in leadership (due to assassination) in the space of those two discs, and it gets a bit monotonous after awhile. And the Redwallers were more cutesy and juvenile than I remembered.

Plus, there are technical issues with the recording and the way Jacques narrates. Ordinarily I love the idea of an author narrating his own book, but Jacques sounds like he has a cold and his accent comes across as sloppy and indistinct, sometimes to the point where I had trouble understanding him. This is especially noticeable in the way he pronounces the ends of words; he half-swallows them. And I'm not sure where this was recorded, but there is an awful tinny sound on many of the voices, like they were recorded in a can. In addition, occasionally the audio spikes into distortion when the characters raise their voices. It was annoying to listen to. I probably wouldn't have cared if I listened to these as a kid, but I've picked up some niceties with my years and apparently a clean, clear recording is one of them.

I wonder if I would enjoy Redwall more if I revisited in print rather than audio. The plodding pace of nothing happening would be alleviated, the technical issues of the recording would be non-existent, and the repetitious characters and plots may be less noticeable. I'm reluctant to give up on my childhood reading pleasures so easily, and anyways I've been collecting quite a number of Redwall books over the years. No particular book of the series stands out in my memory; perhaps a fan can advise me as to one of the stronger titles. Ah well. ( )

I enjoyed the journey, but had a tendancy to want to skim over descriptions in this story for some reason. ( )

While Martha of Redwall has never been able to walk she finally finds a way to obtain the power she has never known. This will not come easily. Unfortunately she can't undertake the journey. Martin tells several others to set out for her on a life changing experience through brutal deserts and fatal traps of nature on the same path traveled in Mattimeo. ( )