Who wants redwall books by another author

[Log-a-Log]

Yeah, it said at the end of the Bellmaker that they all sailed over the sea to see what was there. That would have made a good book

[Osu]

Now, one expansion to the Redwall 'franchise' that I might approve of is more comic books, or "graphic novels", if you prefer -- but it has to be well-done, and it shouldn't make any notable alterations to the plot.
That said, though, I haven't read the official Redwall graphic novel, and I'm not entirely sure I would enjoy it...

This I agree with. Comic books, movies, TV series, whatever, as long as they stay true to the heart of the books they're representing, I'd love to see it.

The graphic novel, James, is really cute, in my opinion! Just think of the art the same way you'd consider the character voices in the audiobooks, I bet you'd enjoy it. Er, if you like comic books, that is.

[Taggerung_of_Redwall]

And Methuselah looks like Yoda

[Osu]

And Methuselah looks like Yoda

....Yes, that, too. XD Everybody should have a looksee just for that.

[Folgrimeo]

I'd welcome a change, and not just because I resent the idea that the author's death should end the series. Don't get me wrong, Brian's writing was a huge part of what made it work, with the charming characters and the peaceful, majestic air of the Abbey. When it's good, his writing's the most entertaining I've read. ...but most of his books follow the same formula.

That's the only reason I want a different writer, to shake up the storylines a bit, and possibly to make the series a little darker. Incidentally "The Rogue Crew" seemed to do just that, and it was wonderful, so I know that approach can work. I keep hoping one of Jacques' children could become a writer so there'd be some assurance.

[HashRouge]

This gets even more lopsided later on in the series. I read "High Rhulain", and to be honest, I wasn't really that impressed... the villains are interesting enough, and I actually liked the otter clans. If it had been left at that, I would've said it was a good story, but Tiria is basically a Mary Sue. She's inexplicably great at everything, and Skipper himself said that the only reason why she can't lead is because she's a girl -- she's perfect at everything else. But, hey, she can still be a queen, so he sends her off to go rule an island.

Leatho Shellhound really is an interesting hero, and I liked seeing him and the cats fight, but I ended up skipping through all the parts of the book that featured primarily Tiria & co... and when they finally got to the island, the story was downhill from there. She effortlessly kills Riggu Felis... for a moment it looked like there might be an interesting showdown with Pitru, but that was ruined when Frunk went berserk and killed every single one of the villains. Not even Boar the Fighter could single-handedly kill a horde, in Mossflower, but in this book, a hare does it easily.

The only time we get to see how good the villains *really* are is when they're fighting each other, because the heroes, no matter how inexperienced, will always effortlessly defeat them, and that's a real shame. I'd like to see the heroes have to work for their victory -- like they did in the earliest books.

In summary, get rid of the magic sword skills, and the character shields that let an inexperienced abbeymaid carrying Martin's sword slaughter hordes of experienced, ruthless killers, and even things up -- the heroes should have to be smart and skillful to win; they shouldn't win *just* because they're the heroes.

Interestingly, this is exactly what I thought about High Rhulain. Like you, I really liked the otter tribes and the outlaw Leatho Shellhound, but I wasn't hugely impressed with the "Tiria saves the day" story line. It's my least favourite Redwall book by far, sadly.

As to whether anyone else ought to write the Redwall books - I don't think I'd read them if they did. Jacques had a brilliant style of writing and I just don't think another author would be able to recreate, for instance, the speech patterns of the otters, moles, hares etc.

[Taggerung_of_Redwall]

It's not their right, nor privelege.

[Birch]

I don't. I just don't think it would be right. For one thing, Redwall was Mr. Jacques' creation, and the books are rather like his children. Nobody else really has a right to make more. (Not counting fanfiction; I mean, make more and get money off of them.) For another, I don't think anyone else would be able to do it like he did. They might be able to make something similar, but it would never be like what he wrote. Am I making any sense?

People say that a lot of the books are repetitive, but it doesn't bother me. I think it's part of Redwall's charm.

[Taggerung_of_Redwall]

People say that a lot of the books are repetitive, but it doesn't bother me. I think it's part of Redwall's charm.

Agreed.


And I wouldn't use repetitive just quite, more recurring.
For one, Brian Jacques said he doesn't reuse material.
And beyond that, I consider them as adventures in themselves, and they all have separate plotwork and the like.

[daskar666]

For one, Brian Jacques said he doesn't reuse material.

Mariel of Redwall plot summary: An evil pirate king of a northwestern island supposedly kills a family, of which we later learn a young female member is alive.
Said pirate king kills a pirate captain, and the captain's brother comes to avenge him. The brother is also killed early and a third pirate takes over as the secondary villain and a main enemy of the antagonist for the rest of the story. Meanwhile the young maid goes to island in her quest to avenge her family by killing antagonist. The antagonist never manages to defeat the secondary villain but the secondary villain is defeated before the main villain. The main villain ends up getting killed by his own pet.
Pearls of Lutra plot summary: An evil pirate king of a northwestern island supposedly kills a family, of which we later learn a young female member is alive.
Said pirate king kills a pirate captain, and the captain's brother comes to avenge him. The brother is also killed early and a third pirate takes over as the secondary villain and a main enemy of the antagonist for the rest of the story. Meanwhile the young maid goes to island in her quest to avenge her family by killing antagonist. The antagonist never manages to defeat the secondary villain but the secondary villain is defeated before the main villain. The main villain ends up getting killed by his own pet.

[Taggerung_of_Redwall]

Yes, very true.

Similarities do exist, I didn't speak against that at all.
I said he doesn't reuse material. ie he sought out different patterns of characters, plot, foreshadowing ect.
To quote him, roughly, from an interview. "It gets more difficult everytime. I try to find good Redwall themed material, and 'oh, I already did this, I need to find something else to use in the tale.'"

To me, Redwall appeared to be built in stages, different events and actions shaping the various chapters and challenges in the tale.

[daskar666]

It seems to be a similar base, sometimes with more similarities, sometimes with less but sometimes different. He also seems to have combined earlier material from different book into a book before.
Ie combining giant adders, Brockhall and a multilayered sea quest into Triss.

[Taggerung_of_Redwall]

Ie combining giant adders, Brockhall and a multilayered sea quest into Triss.

Sorry, but I couldn't understand what you said before this.

And that's called imagination and creativity. Using an earlier location and redefining its identity and purpose (not by any means what I consider reusing material, which would be more like using the same theme.) Redwall Abbey was not reused, that's just part of the scope and sphere of the series/universe. Using Brockhall again was a move for the purpose of excitement, and I liked the way it was brought into Triss, a very good move for the tale.

As a rambling note: why recreate a new lair when you can bring in an already great source of mystery, add a liar of mystery to it, and then enter it into a book as a mystery.

[martins#1fan]

They would need permission from Brian's family to make a movie.

[daskar666]

I agree that reusing locations is a good idea, but sometimes (esp in the Mariel of Redwall vs Pearls of Lutra case) a bit more differences should be present.
Anyways, I just hope there's some unpublished Redwall books (altho that seems unlikely)