Commentary on the Book Marlfox

[clunylooney]

I absoflippinlutely adore Marlfox. It is my fourth favorite book and it was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo great! The Marlfoxes are awesome villains, the good characters were actually really great and some of the best in the series and the journeys and the seige on redwall were awesome! Almost every chapter was great and the ones that weren't were still really fun! And when Jacques made characters that you were supposed to hate you really did hate like Fenno and stupid stupid scummy awful I hated his tiny guts Dwopple. I really really really really hated Dwopple so much. He was supposed to be cute and a dibbun that we love but I ended up wanting him not to escape the Marlfoxes. I'm sorry that I just made a rant about stupid stupid scummy awful I hated his tiny guts Dwopple.

I need to calm down.

[Cornflower MM]

Welcome to the thirteenth book in our series readalong event: Marlfox!

For those who have not already seen, here are a couple things to note before you start discussing:

• Please keep your posts here and in the entirety of the General Discussion board on-topic and constructive. When discussing topics like favorites, it always helps to give reasoning as to why you chose your favorite character, scene, etc. When in doubt, add more! It is always fun to see what other people think and respectfully debate with them.
• If you would like to participate but don't own the book, there are a few resources that may be of use to you. Libby, Audible, and (of course) your local library, are all good ways to rent books/audiobooks for free (Audible is free only for the first 30-day trial). There is no harm in permanently expanding your Redwall collection, though, if you can afford it!
• If you want even more Redwall discussion, please check out the Recorder on the Wall podcast episodes for the book! Every three weeks we will be posting the relevant episodes, so please check them out. Here are the episodes for Parts 1, 2, and 3 of Marlfox!
• If you have created any writing, art, voice acting, or any other form of media based on this book and/or its characters, send a link (or image if it is art) to me through PMs and I will share it in this post! Seeing how other people portray the story through their own work is a wonderful way to be drawn deeper into the story and wider Redwall community.

Finally, here are a few guiding questions for discussion if you are unsure what to talk about:

• Who is your favorite character, and why do you regard them as your favorite?
• Who was your least favorite character, and why did they bother you?
• What was your favorite scene? What stuck out to you about it?
• What are your thoughts on the book as a whole? Where does it rank against other Redwall books and why?
• Do you have any theories or small details others may not have picked up on when reading?
• And anything else you want to mention!

Have fun, and happy discussing!

[WorshipTiria]

I at first didn't like Marlfox and stopped reading. I don't exactly know why. Then, I gave it a try and really liked it.

[foxpen]

Marlfox is my favourite book in the Redwall series. It all started sinppy because, well, I like foxes, haha! However, there's more to it then that. There's so much fun poetry and so many riddles to solve in Marlfox. So typically Redwall!

I love the dynamic between the Marlfxloxes themselves. They're siblings but truly awful to each other. They're all spoiled brats that think they're better than the others and, while certain foxes get more character and personality than others (perhapsnthere were too many, really, so they're not all unique), they're still cool. A new (sub)species! Very cool.

The Marlfox Queen Sliph and her daughter, that whole sideplot was great. It was sinister, cunning, and cruel; everything you'd expect from a Redwall villain. And for the princess to have her victory ripped away from her by Mokkan right after tasting the fruits of her plot, HA, classic villain end. So wonderfully eeeevil of Mokkan, and so in character.

The four heroes, I adore. Songbreeze was a strong girl who didnt take any sass but was gentle and kind. I always loved her winding up as Abbess while Dannflor became a worthy warrior. His relationship with his father was a great example of family-tension. Old man Reguba drilling into Dannflor's head how he should be was a great contrast to how Song's father Jangular Swifteye treated his daughter. Dippler was such a *shrew*, haha! I loved his Good Manners song, it was too funny. Burble, he was a wildcard. He made watervoles seem like such chaotic good forces compared to his selfish tribe, came back after thieving their green stick, and became their leader. I miss Burble.

THAT was a treat, too, how the two squirrel dads knew each other from the past, respected each other, and both raised their  children in different ways for different reasons. One chill pops and one uptight one gave us a view of two unique woodland parenting styles.

Yiss Yiss will never leave my vernacular. Never. Ever. Ever. XD

[WorshipTiria]

Marlfoxes:

You may have outsmarted me, But I have outsmarted your outsmarting!

[JazzOfRedwall98]

Doing another one of these because I finished Marlfox just last week. I enjoyed it a lot, and I really wanna get a hold of Long Patrol so I can finish the Cregga trilogy:

1. Who is your favorite character, and why do you regard them as your favorite?

Definitely Janglur. He was really cool, and I often dreaded that something would happen to him just to give the bad guys an edge, but, fortunately, that wasn't the case. He's a great dad, a great fighter (so glad he managed to take out Predak during that first fight), and he was really smart as well. I also just really like saying his name

Florian is a close second. Something about hares with no real war experience stepping up when the situation calls for it is endearing to me, and it helps that he's Ballaw's descendant. The concept of an Abbey Thespian who adapts their stories into plays is also cool to me.

Then there's Mokkan, who I really enjoyed up until the end. His meltdown was cool, but I enjoyed his more manipulative side and how smart he was. I wish there had been an actual Marlfox on Marlfox fight with him and maybe Lantur or Gelltor, though.

2. Who was your least favorite character, and why did they bother you?

Either the Grey One or Fenno. I'd say that the Grey One is worse because at least Fenno got what he deserved. The Grey One was just a greedy liar who got no real punishment as far as I remember. Dwopple is an easy choice as well, but I don't think he was AS bad after he got rescued. If anything, Deesum is the problem for treating him like a golden child when he clearly isn't.

3. What was your favorite scene? What stuck out to you about it?

The scene of Silth's death was pretty good because it gave me Princess Bride vibes, lol. Any scene where Mokkan was involved was pretty good, too. I just really enjoy him as a villain.

4. What are your thoughts on the book as a whole? Where does it rank against other Redwall books and why?

I'd consider this one slightly better than Taggerung mainly because the Marlfoxes were much better villains than Gruven. I don't really like ranking the books that much if I'm honest. I tend to like things for their own reasons.

5. Do you have any theories or small details others may not have picked up on when reading?

Since Florian is Ballaw's descendant, then I headcanon the otter brothers as descendants of Kayla (or Tullgrew),  Runktipp as Pallum's descendant, and Roop and Muggle as descendants of Grumm. I'd consider Deesum and Dwopple to be descendants of Brome but I'd rather not insult Brome's name like that.

[Brother Saul]

I'd consider Deesum and Dwopple to be descendants of Brome but I'd rather not insult Brome's name like that.

I only just started reading it, but I already have some idea what you're talking about.

[JazzOfRedwall98]

I'd consider Deesum and Dwopple to be descendants of Brome but I'd rather not insult Brome's name like that.

I only just started reading it, but I already have some idea what you're talking about.

Lol, I just don't care for them as much as I care for Brome. But you'll see more of what I mean.