Redwall - Literary Significance and Reception

Literary Significance and Reception

From the beginning, Brian Jacques was praised for his Redwall series, being described as one of “the best children's authors in the world.” The books of the Redwall series have drawn comparisons to everything from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings to Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows to Erin Hunter's Warriors and Richard Adams’s Watership Down. Jacques combines “action, poetry, songs, courage, and vivid descriptions” to create a unique style that spans the seemingly endless series.

The Redwall series has also received praise for its “equal-opportunity adventuring, in which female creatures can be just as courageous (or as diabolical) as their male counterparts.” Novels such as Mariel of Redwall, The Pearls of Lutra, High Rhulain and Triss all feature strong female leading characters. Jacques has also received acclaim for his development of unique language intrinsic to certain species, giving the novels an "endearing dialectal dialogue."

Some reviews have been critical of the Redwall novels for providing too simplistic a view of good and evil. The characteristics of the animals in the novels are fixed by their species, making them quite “predictable," though there have been a few books, such as in The Outcast of Redwall and Pearls of Lutra, in which vermin have acted selflessly, in one taking a spear through the chest and back meant for his old nursemaid, and in the other saving the Abbot of Redwall from lizards. Another exception is in The Bellmaker, where a searat strove to start being good instead of evil, abandoning his life of pirating to live by himself. In some cases, different members of the same species possess different moral compasses. For example, the wildcats in the book Mossflower each exhibit different characteristics: although Lady Tsarmina is cruel and vicious, her father Lord Verdauga is seen as hard but fair, and her brother Gingivere is kind and eventually joins the side of the woodlanders. As a general rule though, characters tend to "epitomize their class origins," rarely rising above them.

Many reviewers have also criticized the Redwall series for repetition and predictability, citing "recycled" plot lines and Jacques’ tendency to follow a “pattern to the dot.” Other reviewers note that such predictable “ingredients” may be what “makes the Redwall recipe so consistently popular.” Although the series does not continue to break new ground, it does provide satisfying adventures with “comforting, predictable conclusions for its fans.”