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When Martin the Warrior leaves Redwall Abbey and embarks upon a journey to the place of his birth, he learns about the brave and noble deeds of his father Luke, a real Warrior Chieftain.Tags
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I know the series is formulaic, but I can definitely see why I was obsessed with this series in middle school, and it's also easy to see why I'm enjoying going back from time to time. It's like putting on a comfortable sweater. There are (as always) songs, mole dialogue, vivid descriptions of food, friends joking about how they've gotten fat, or sleep too much, or steal food and, above all, some truly violent portions that can provide a massive tonal shift. Vilu Daskar's death is so metal, it's hard to believe it comes from a children's book.
I haven't read a Redwall novel since I was younger, but I'm glad to find that the stories continue to appeal to me. Two of the reasons I have always enjoyed these novels so much is the dialogue, which varies deliciously with each species of animal (my favorite being the moles), and the tantalizing descriptions of food. Whenever Jacques describes what's being eaten in the story, I wish I could be a part of it and share in the cheese and celery flans and the deeper 'n ever pies and the shrimp 'n 'otroot soup. But more than these two things, the stories within the story are always riveting, though sometimes I feel bad for the vermin, who seem to have no choice but to be evil creatures. The otter Folgrim and the baby squirrel Chugger were show more my favorite characters in "The Legend of Luke" since Chugger always made me smile and the dark mystery of Folgrim was very interesting. All in all, I've missed reading the Redwall novels and am glad that they are still popular in a generation of Hannah Montanas and Gossip Girls. show less
The few books about Martin the Warrior or the time he lived in are good, and provide an excellent backdrop for the world of Redwall. However, the heart of this story does not happen at Redwall, and revolves around Martin's father. This book is different from other Redwall books, but the spirit remains the same, and the changes in here are refreshing. I have to say that this is easily one of the best in the series.
Fun, of course - it's a Redwall book. Much less scattered than most, this follows almost a straight-line trip by Martin and some of his friends, back to Martin's childhood home. One big flashback in the middle of the book, plus an occasional visit back to what's going on at Redwall - but even those start showing up mostly near the end of the book, as they anticipate the return of the travelers. Still don't know (maybe it's mentioned in his own book) how/why Martin left; the story here is Martin's father, Luke, and his adventures dealing with the sea rogues who attacked their home and killed Martin's mother. Martin and friends deal with various villains as they head north, but most of the conflicts are minor - in fact, most of the show more encounters they have end with making new friends, who they revisit on their way back south to Redwall. The major conflicts are all in Luke's story - battles with evil creatures and with the sea and storm. And the end is just a trifle vague - Luke presumably dies in the battle, along with the black squirrel and their enemies, but there's no actual evidence of it... Jacques leaving his options open. No frame on this one either, though it ends with the events of the summer recorded in the Abbess' book - it starts with a new character, Trimp the roving hedgehog maid, who plays a large part in the rest of the adventure as well. Enjoyable as usual. One odd thing - Luke's dialog seemed to vary, from Martin's standard English to a slightly more slurred version (yore, ol'), sometimes within a single paragraph. Jacques' style of dialog differing for each type of creature is an interesting feature of his books; I think this is the first time I've noticed him slipping. show less
As usual, Jacques has written a vivid tale, full of intriguing characters, beautiful imagery, and lots of food and storytelling. Although the "story within a story" makes things a little confusing, I love learning the backgrounds and complex connections of all of the Redwall characters.
Joined by Trimp the Hedgehog, Dinny Foremole, and Gonff--the ever-mischievous Prince of Mousethieves--it is that legend Martin hopes to discover when he embarks on a perilous journey to the northland shore, where his father abandoned him as a child. There, within the carcass of a great red ship--broken in half and wedged high up between pillars of stone--he finally uncovers what he has been searching for: the true story of the evil pirate stoat, Vilu Daskar, and the valiant warrior who pursued him relentlessly over the high seas, seeking to destroy Vilu at all costs, even if it meant deserting his only son.
I first read the Redwall books years ago and I still enjoy them when I recently re-read them. I love the world building and the creativity with which these animals were anthropomorphized. The level of description is really well done and very detailed. So adventurous and so very entertaining.
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Author Information
136+ Works 95,893 Members
Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool, England on June 15, 1939. After he finished St. John's School at the age of fifteen, he became a merchant seaman and travelled to numerous 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 show more longshoreman, a long-distance truck driver, a bus driver, a boxer, a police constable, a postmaster, and a stand-up comic. During the sixties, he was a member of the folk singing group The Liverpool Fishermen. He wrote both poetry and music, but he began his writing career in earnest as a playwright. His three stage plays Brown Bitter, Wet Nellies, and Scouse have been performed at the Everyman Theatre. He wrote Redwall for the children at the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind in Liverpool, where he delivered milk as a truck driver. His style of writing is very descriptive, because of the nature of his first audience, for whom he painted pictures with words, so that they could see them in their imaginations. After Alan Durband, his childhood English teacher, read Redwall, he showed it to a publisher without telling Jacques. This event led to a contract for the first five books in the Redwall series. He also wrote the Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series. He died on February 5, 2011. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Legend of Luke
- Original publication date
- 1999
- People/Characters
- Martin the Warrior; Luke the Warrior; Trimp; Dinny Foremole; Gonff the Mousethief; Vilu Daskar (show all 12); Chugger; Folgrim; Log-a-Log Furmo; Sayna; Tungro; Ranguvar Foeseeker
- Important places
- Redwall Abbey; Mossflower Wood; Goreleech; Sayna (ship); Twin Islands
- Epigraph
- The young must grow old,
Whilst old ones grow older,
And cowards will shrink,
As the bold grow bolder.
Courage may blossom in quiet hearts,
For who can tell where bravery starts?
Truth is a song, oft l... (show all)ying unsung,
Some mother bird, protecting her young,
Those who lay down their lives for friends,
The echo rolls onward, it seldom ends.
Who never turned and ran, but stayed?
This is a warrior born, not made!
Living in peace, aye many a season,
Calm in life and sound in reason,
'Til evil arrives, a wicked horde,
Driving a warrior to pick up his sword,
The challenger rings then, straight and fair,
Justice is with us, beware. Beware! - Dedication
- In memory of Tony Jacques
- First words
- Summer's first morn was like no other!
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)All you need to bring with you is a ready smile and an open heart.
- Original language
- English, UK
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Fantasy, Kids, Tween
- DDC/MDS
- 823.914 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction 1900- 1901-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PZ7 .J15317 .L — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 3,823
- Popularity
- 4,135
- Reviews
- 9
- Rating
- (3.82)
- Languages
- 5 — English, French, Italian, Korean, Russian
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 28
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 10