The Heir of Mistmantle

If the Green Ember is "rabbits with swords," then this is "squirrels with swords." And otters, and hedgehogs, and moles. The books end with enough loose ends to lead right into the next sequel, but each has its own satisfying conclusion. It doesn't leave you on an unresolved cliff hanger. Very young or sensitive readers might want to wait or skip this one due to the truly evil characters and the fighting scenes. The audience is probably middle grade, though teens might enjoy it too.

If you like the Redwall series, then you'll probably like this one. (I did not really care for the first book of Redwall and didn't read more, but I was able to tolerate this one enough to read three of them.) There are a total of 5 books in the series, but show more the last two are not in my local library, and I don't like them enough to spend $17 each to buy copies.

Some content considerations:
1) The animals pray to "the Heart" and say "Heart bless you" and "Heart help me"; "Heart" seems to be a substitute for God. I was not quite sure how I felt about that.
2) There are some really evil characters who enjoy killing/sacrificing other animals. This could be scary and disturbing to some.
3) There are lots and lots of characters and it gets hard to keep them straight and remember which ones are moles or hedgehogs or squirrels or otters. I think even the author got mixed up sometimes.

Overall, it's not my favorite series, but I suppose it's ok. I might have liked it better if I had read it before the Ascendance Series Jennifer Nielsen (see below) instead of after. That one is so rich, that everything else feels flat in comparison. show less

A baby girl has just been born to King Crispin and Queen Cedar. She is Catkin, the heir to the throne of Mistmantle. Everyone on the island gathers for the joyful celebration of the Naming Ceremony. But that night, the princess suddenly disappears. Urchin and all the brave captains are dispatched to bring her back. All clues point to her caretaker Linty, a mother squirrel who had gone mad with grief because of a tragedy that occurred during Husk's evil reign. The islanders fall further into crisis as a mysterious illness takes hold and begins to spread. Tensions peak as strange sightings are reported - could it be that Husk is still alive?