DNF Review – Redwall (Redwall, Book 1) by Brian Jacques (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: All ages
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: September 1, 1997
ISBN-13: 978-0441005482
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Redwall series
Source: Borrowed from Mother
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Welcome to Mossflower Wood, where the gentle mice have gathered to celebrate a year of peace and abundance. All is well…until a sinister shadow falls across the ancient stone abbey of Redwall. It is rumored that Cluny is coming—Cluny, the terrible one-eyed rat and his savage horde—Cluny, who has vowed to conquer Redwall Abbey! The only hope for the besieged mice lies in the lost sword of the legendary Martin the Warrior. And so begins the epic quest of a bumbling young apprentice—a courageous mouse who would rise up, fight back…and become a legend himself.”

This is the first book in the Redwall series. Although it was a DNF for me, it was beautifully written and I can understand how it is a beloved classic for many people…which is why I gave it 4 stars despite not finishing it. I read the first 100 pages of the book and just could not get into the story.

I’ll state right off the bat that I am not a huge fan of animals as humans (anthropomorphism) types of fantasy novels. While this book is beautifully written, I just didn’t enjoy the fact that all the characters are animals of different types.

This book also moves very slowly; it is written in an old school fantasy style and creeps along. The story itself is also a very typical fantasy story: peaceful society gets attacked by an evil person and one unlikely person/animal stands up to help the situation. Given the pace and the typical plot I had trouble staying engaged and kept finding a million other things to do rather than read this book…which is how I knew it just wasn’t for me.

As I said this story does have its good points. The world is beautifully created and the writing is very lyrical. Many of the characters are incredibly lovable and cute.

Overall this just wasn’t for me. I think younger readers might enjoy it more. The plot was just too predictable, the pace too slow, and I struggled to stay engaged in the story and kept finding other things to do rather than read this story. I am not a big fan of anthropomorphism types of stories so that was part of the issue as well.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge