Redwall Scholarship: The Eras of Authorship

I grew up reading the Redwall series, a group of 22 books by British author Brian Jacques that feature sword-fighting, talking creatures as they embark on adventures and fight villainous armies. Though not the best-written books in the world, multiple rereads of most of the titles throughout my childhood and adolescence have left me with the impression that there is not enough appreciation or research on these books. If nothing else, 22 books in the same created world provide an excellent sample size even for intra-series research.

So, adopting the alter-ego Prenna Maplewood, in tribute to Jacques' naming schema, I hope to produce various quasi-scholastic explorations of the world of Mossflower, beginning with this initial consideration of the author's writing style.

Prenna Maplewood, Squirrel Scholar, on the Eras of Jacques' Writing

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an author who has developed a certain style of writing is prone to fall into formula. This statement unequivocally applies to Brian Jacques, the author of the Redwall series, one of the most consistently structured series of all time. However, serious readers and Redwall scholars agree that noticeable variations exist even within the same formula. These differences in writing precision and tendencies lead to a primarily-agreed-upon set of "eras" that define the Redwall series. These six eras include original, transitional, classic, experimental, neo-classic, and stale-fail.

Original: Redwall

There is only one original, and that book has no others like it: "Redwall". Published in 1986, this novel was Jacques' first, and it shows. The author was just developing his style with this initial book, and while the story elements are excellent and help create a wonderful and engaging story, there are indisputable growing pains evident in the book. Just one example can be provided by the moment when Cluny the Scourge and his vermin army initially appear riding a haycart drawn by a horse; horses do not appear in any of the following twenty-one books. Another example is how Martin the Warrior's presence in the Abbey is much stronger in this book than in any of the others, specifically in how he almost identifies as the mouse Matthias. In other novels, Martin's spirit merely guides heroic youngsters, but in this book, it is clear Martin's relationship to Matthias is much more integral than in later books.

Transitional: Mossflower, Mattimeo

These two books follow up the original, the first being an introduction to the great warrior, Martin, and the second being a sequel to the original. These books do not have the glaring inconsistencies of the first book, but it is still evident that the author has not quite locked into his style at this point.

Classic: Mariel of Redwall, Salamandastron, Martin the Warrior, The Bellmaker, Outcast of Redwall, Pearls of Lutra, The Long Patrol, Marlfox

This longest of eras includes a mix of books that are completely representative of the best of Jacques' writing and those that are partial flops. Most of these books fill up gaps in the Mossflower history, pre-Matthias, but a few further the timeline as well. Only two of these titles do not bear the level of excellence of the others, those two being "The Bellmaker" and "Outcast of Redwall", but there are possible reasons for this, including the fact that "Bellmaker", a sequel to "Mariel of Redwall", was written after Jacques had composed two completely different stories, giving him time to lose track of the defining qualities of his key characters. "Outcast", on the other hand, suffered from having a strong first act and a weaker second act, possibly because Sunflash the Mace had already completed his quest to badger lordship of Salamandastron by the time the second half of the book rolled around. Overall, though, these books can be considered "hallmark" quality of Jacques' Redwall books.

Experimental: The Legend of Luke

This book falls into a category all of its own. A fantastically touching and tragic story is sandwiched between two sections that basically serve only as plot devices to get to the most interesting part and get back to the Abbey. The strange placement of the best part of the book right in the middle of the story, using a "story within a story" scheme, marks this book as an outlier in the Redwall series.

Neo-Classic: Lord Brocktree, Taggerung, Triss, Loamhedge, Rakkety Tam, High Rhulain

After a segue into less-impressive story-telling, Jacques jumps right back into his classic style. However, some undefinable quality makes these books different from those found in the former classic period. Some scholars debate that it is the fact that the illustrations consistently match the feel of the books; some argue that there is no substantial difference between these and the classics other than the fact that there is more consistency of quality. Others, myself included, believe that Jacques has perfected the formula of his book structure and therefore can play around with elements in an exciting way, even while revisiting previous locations (Loamhedge) and asking similar questions to before (nature vs. nurture). Or, it may just be the bias of the scholar that these books were ones that the author read as they were published. These books could also be considered representative of the best of Redwall.

Stale-Fail: Eulalia!, Doomwyte, The Sable Quean, The Rogue Crew

Unfortunately, Jacques' Redwall books end on a low note. These titles are recognized as some of the worst in the Redwall series. They bear a distinct feeling of "been there, done that". Jacques combats this feeling, but his attempts to switch things up only result in a very pronounced feeling that he has tried to switch things up and has not been successful. These books are characterized both by their heavy reliance on previously-used elements that have become tropes for him (e.g., crazy old loner hedgehogs) and on failed attempts to keep the story fresh. It has been noted that these books were all written after 2006, when Jacques completed the third and final book in his "Castaways of the Flying Dutchman" series. This finding suggests that when Jacques dropped out of his neo-classics, he could not recapture their magic after the brief hiatus.

In Conclusion

The Rewall books are, in majority, and enjoyable series. There are multiple titles that do not reach their potential, but they are largely fun and comforting stories of seeking and fighting and finding and coming home again.