Outcast of Redwall

Brian Jacques is an amazing storywriter. He uses basically the same ideas in every single Redwall story, and yet his books are all original! The charcters in this book are the best that can be created: A powerful leader of good in Sunflash the Mace, facing a stubborn and vengeful force of evil in Swartt Sixclaw. Veil Sixclaw, the outcast of the title, is a mystery throughout the book, a strange force of both good and evil. The secondary characters of Skarlath the Kestrel and the vixen Nightshade also play key roles in determining the fates of these two giants of good and evil (Sunflash and Swartt). Although Redwall Abbey plays a slightly smaller role in this story, it was also interesting to view a conflict where the main battle was away from the Abbey, and occasionally characters from the Abbey joined the battle elsewhere (much like The Long Patrol, another excellent Redwall book) This book is one that should be read for any who enjoy good books; it is the height of great writing by Brian Jacques.

Like most book series, Redwall can be a bit unaccessible without reading the whole series from oldest to new. Also alot of the plots repeat themselves. But in Outcast, author Brian Jacques really treats his readers with the struggle that young Veil has trying to get Redwallers off his back, but soon ends up sacrificing himself for their survival.Also, Jacques doesn't actually have any situations in Redwall occuring until halfway into the book, which lets Jacques show much more surprising and interesting characters than he does in his other books. My favorite character has to be Swartt Sixclaw, who is also the most unique, whereas characters like Veil and Sunflash are too usual in a book like this. Sixclaw is really funny all through this book, constantly insulting his horde until they fall apart.This and Martin the Warrior are probably the best Redwall books and are some of the first you should ever read.

Although I have not yet read Legend of Luke, I still think The Outcast of Redwall is his best. It was a story of true friendship entwined with one of pure hatred. Sunflash the Mace the badgerlord of Salomdastron VS Swartt Six claw warlord of a mighty horde of vermin, not to mention Swartt's lost child Veil. This book has it all friends, foes, wars, peace, joy, sadness, banquets, famine, and even some gardening. All in all this book ROCKED!

How does Brian Jacques continue to do it? He uses the same storyline in every single Redwall book (a little good can and will beat a lot of evil), and yet you just can't put the book down! My favorite character was the fox vixen Nightshade. She really did know a lot. If Swartt Sixclaw had only listened to what she had to say, he might have been victorious.I really like it when a book has strong characters...on both sides of the battlefield. And this book certainly has them, Swartt Sixclaw is a convincing hoard leader, being bull-headed and stubborn. Nightshade the seer is a competant second-in-command. Sunflash the Mace is the best over-all badger lord that I've seen in any of the Redwall books, and his friend Skarlath the kestrel is the best secondary character that I've seen in any book. Veil Sixclaw, while still a great character, is a mystery, even by the end of the book, you can't figure out if he is good or evil.I would give The Outcast of Redwall more than five stars if I could, this book is not one to be skipped over.

This book was one of the best I have ever read (and believe me, I have read an enormous amount). Yes, it relies heavily on the standard Jaques a-little-good-beats-alot-of-evil formula, but a wonderful twist is added in the character of Veil. Is he or is he not irredeemably evil...? His actions at the beginning of the book seem to answer the question, but as the plot unfolds his character becomes more and more complex and utterly real. This twist adds depth and realism to the book, as does the searat Blaggut in "The Bellmaker" and the corsair Romsca in "Pearls of Lutra". As for the people who disagree with the title... Veil may not have a huge number of lines, but he is pivotal. Take a close look at the end of the book to see why.