The bestselling Redwall series are written by Brian Jacques, a nice old man who lives in England. 14 books (each around 300-400 pages) have been written so far, with 2 more being worked on by Jacques. All the books involve nice woodlanders (mice, squirrels, hares, otters, hedgehogs, moles, badgers, etc.) battling against the evil vermin (rats, stoats, wildcats, weasels, ferrets, foxes, etc.) in a medieval setting (weapons are swords, bows, spears). The books have the basic modeling of all fantasy stories, with a hero undertaking a quest. Below are the books in “Redwall history” chronological order and a short description:
1. Lord Brocktree- The nice but fearsome Badger Lord Brocktree (he used to live in a tree called Brockhall) embarks on a quest to save a mountain called Salamandastron from the vermin leader Ungatt Trunn. Brocktree kills Trunn and everyone lives happily ever after (for some time, until more vermin come.)
2. Martin the Warrior- Martin later becomes the guardian spirit of Redwall Abbey. However, in this story, he’s an escaped slave burning to kill the evil stoat, Badrang. Martin rounds up a ragtag army but manages to defeat the vermin “horde” (all the vermin armies are referred to as hordes) of Badrang and kill him.
3. Mossflower- Martin journeys south and saves the woodland community of Mossflower Woods from the oppressive wildcat Tsarmina. Tsarmina’s father, Verdauga Greeneyes, is the younger brother of Ungatt Trunn. In single combat, Martin (who is a mouse) defeats Tsarmina (a big cat). This combat results in Martin’s being hailed as a hero, which he already was.
In the period between Mossflower and The Legend of Luke, Redwall Abbey is constructed. No novel yet has been written about the construction, and no novel probably ever will. However, it is mentioned somewhat/implied in other novels. Nothing much happens, no vermin attack.
4. The Legend of Luke- Martin journeys north again to find out about his long-lost father. There, some of his fathers old friends meet him and they tell him the story of his father’s life. The second half of this book basically is a novel within a novel. The second half would fit in the period after Lord Brocktree and somewhat during Martin the Warrior. This part describes the journeys of Luke to kill the evil Vilu Daskar. Of course, he succeeds, but in doing so, dies himself and manages to drive a ship halfway a gigantic monolith towering out of the sea. When Martin journeys there, it still is there, stuck high up on a rock. (Apparently, the waves were high.) This rock is the home of Luke’s former friends.
5. Mariel of Redwall- Mariel is a mouse who burns to kill a searat (pirate) named Gabool the Wild. She, with her friend Dandin and others, journey to Gabool’s island Terramort to kill him. Even though everyone in her party has sworn to personally kill Gabool, he ends up falling into his pet scorpion’s pit.
6. The Bellmaker- Mariel’s father Joseph the Bellmaker has a dream. This dream brings him to bring along some Redwallers to unite with Mariel somewhere south of Redwall where they together kill the Foxwolf Urgan Nagru (that name’s a palindrome.) Joseph the old mouse is heroic and so gets this book named after him.
7. Salamandastron- The mighty fortress of Salamandastron is under attack! With food gone in the fortress, the badger Lord Urthstripe is saved by his brother Urthwyte (wyte = white because he is an albino) who brings some woodlanders to destroy the Corpsmakers of Ferahgo the Assassin, a bloodthirsty weasel. Ferahgo is alternately (accidentally) misspelled Feragho sometimes.
8. The Outcast of Redwall- A ferret with six claws is taken in as an orphan and named Veil (because the Redwallers hope “evil as vile will not live in veil”). He does evil things such as poisoning abbeydwellers, and is banished. His father happens to be attacking Salamandastron, where he is defeated. The two meet up, where the son shows some good in saving a Redwaller in distress. Sunflash the Mace (grandson of Brocktree) is the Badger Lord who defeats Swartt Sixclaw (Veil’s dad.)
9. Redwall- This was the first novel written in the series. Cluny the big rat brings his horde to attack Redwall. Matthias, a young mouse, embarks upon a quest to find the lost sword of Martin the Warrior. Matthias succeeds, and uses this sword to kill Cluny in single combat. Afterwards, they have a big happy feast, but the Father Abbot of Redwall Abbey dies.
10. Mattimeo- Mattimeo is the son of Matthias the Warrior. He is kidnapped by Slagar the Cruel (a slaver) and stolen across rivers and gorges to the Kingdom of Malkariss (an old and crusty skunk.) Matthias, Orlando the Axe (a badger), and others chase down Slagar and destroy Malkariss’ evil armies of rats. They return to Redwall, triumphant.
11. Pearls of Lutra- A crew of the pine marten Ublaz’ seagoing pirates steal the Tears of All Oceans, a fine set of pearls owned by the otter holt Lutra. Lutra has only one sole survivor, Grath Longfletch. She recruits some of Redwall’s best, including Martin the Warrior (son of Mattimeo, not the old dead spirit) to go to Ublaz’ island and retrieve them. However, Ublaz has problems of his own. His vermin revolt, so when the heroes arrive, there is a war going on between Ublaz’ big monitor lizards and the sea brethren. They get the pearls and burn all the ships, leaving the vermin to be farmers.
12. The Long Patrol- The young hare Tamello De Formello Tussock yearns to be a dashing warrior, and so joins up with the Long Patrol, which have been around as the warriors of the Badger Lords of Salamandastron (they are good guys). They meet the Rapscallion Army of Damug Warfang, a “Greatrat.” Damug wins, but more hares from Salamandastron come at just the right moment to wipe out the Rapscallions. The Badger Lord Cregga Rose Eyes is blinded, but later serves Redwall as the “Badgermum” to take care of the Dibbuns (the babes).
13. Marlfox- The Redwallers encounter the “magical” Marlfoxes. The Marlfoxes are very crafty, and often backstab each other. There are two separate major battles, one at Redwall Abbey, and the other at the Marlfoxes’ island base, Castle Marl. At both battles, the Marlfoxes are defeated by the woodlanders, and the Redwallers celebrate with a big feast (which they would have had anyways.)
14. Taggerung- A group of vermin think an otterbabe of Redwall is the Taggerung, or their destined leader. They kidnap him, but he runs away to join the fun at Redwall, abandoning the vermin. Cregga still shows up as an old badger, even though she was already somewhat old in Marlfox.
Jacques has announced that the next two books, Triss and Loamhedge, will be released in 2002 and 2003, respectively. From other books, it is implied that Loamhedge is the name of an old Abbey that preceded Redwall. It was abandoned and later used by Malkariss in Mattimeo (the book) to build as his dungeon. Triss is apparently the name of some denizen of the Redwall world, but info hasn’t been released yet.