A couple of questions from a longtime fan

[Kutai]

Hi all,

Didn't see a Q&A folder, so I thought I'd put this here (mods feel free to move it if necessary).

I used to be a huge fan of the Redwall series. My sister bought me Salamandastron for my 9th Birthday, way back in 1992, which over the next few years led to me reading all of the books available - I think I stopped at Marlfox, at around the age of 15.

It's interesting to see Redwall has such an online presence today. It might be hard for kids coming to the series today to believe it, but unlike modern kids book series like Harry Potter or dozens of others, Redwall wasn't a "transmedia" project; that is to say, it didn't include comics, movies, video games, online resources etc. It was just a series of books (I see there was a low-profile TV series eventually, looking at Wikipedia now). It's funny really; the time I spent adventuring with the mice of Redwall was before the internet was really a thing! That'll probably make me seem really old; certainly older, I imagine, than the target userbase for this website.

I was also sad to discover that Brian Jacques had passed away. I suppose however that I can take solace in that he enriched the lives of so many young people. I have a signed copy of the Redwall hardback collector's edition, which I treasure greatly. Certainly, today, I work in the entertainment industry, working as a content creator, and I would state that his work was a massive influence on me. I remember writing pages and pages of Redwall fiction, and without online communities, I never shared it with anyone - which pushed me to work toward a future in which people would get to see and read my creative work.

Anyway, for Christmas 2013, I was looking for presents for my two nephews, and whilst in Waterstones, I saw some of the newer Redwall books. They're still a bit young for them (give it four or five years) but I fully anticipate that I'll be buying them each one in turn. Still, it led me to consider a few questions that I imagine only true Redwall superfans are going to be able to answer, so I thought I'd try here first.

1) Following Brian Jacques passing away, I see one of the books was published posthumously. Are there plans to continue the Redwall series, in a similar manner to the supporting work of Lord Of The Rings that was steered by Christopher Tolkien?

2) In one of the books, I remember a section where the characters had to dive into a beachside rocky pool to get an artifact that had been dropped into the water. The pool, however, was the dwelling place of a giant lobster, or crab, or similar animal. Can anyone tell me which book this was? As a child, I remember the double-jeopardy of both the crab and the threat of drowning seemed terrifying, and I'm curious to find out if it was as scary as I remember.

[MeadowR]

Wow, mentioning 1992 takes me back! Not about Redwall, mind, as I didn't know about that until about 2003. What a long time ago, now... I forget that a few Redwall novels were already written by that time.

Anyway, welcome to the forum, Kutai!

To the first question, as far as I'm aware, nothing has been said about any family members continuing the series. I couldn't answer for sure, though. As to the second, I'm afraid I don't know, but I'm sure someone else will!

[WildDoogyPlumm]

I don't know about #1, but #2 - was it Mariel of Redwall? I remember a scene in that where Mariel and Dandin had to grab something from a lobster's underwater lair.  I think that's probably the book you're looking for.
And welcome to the forum!

[Kutai]

I don't know about #1, but #2 - was it Mariel of Redwall? I remember a scene in that where Mariel and Dandin had to grab something from a lobster's underwater lair.  I think that's probably the book you're looking for.
And welcome to the forum!

Thanks, that's almost certainly it.

[Osu]

Hullo Kutai, welcome to the forum! If you just have quick, specific questions about something in the books, this thread is the place to go.

For your first question, no, nobody from Jacques's family has said anything about continuing the series. I think it's very unlikely.

Your second question is from Mariel of Redwall. Mariel was diving to the bottom of a rock pool to retrieve a compass shaped like a swallow from the bottom. It was a pretty exciting scene and she almost didn't make it out alive .

[Vilu Daskar]

For #2 the object is a blue shallow that leads them to Gabool's island

[Skyblade]

Welcome to the forums! I like your name 

[Captain Tammo]

You said something about writing Fanfictions when you were younger. I personally love reading fanfics! Do you still have those copies to post?