Mariel of Redwall
Review
Mariel of Redwall is the fourth book in the Redwall series. It follows Mariel as she plots her revenge against the searat pirate Gabool, who attempted to kill her and her father, Joseph the Bellmaker.
Mariel of Redwall is the first Redwall book with a female lead. In general, the series is quite inclusive in terms of gender roles, with female characters filling various traditionally male-dominated roles from warrior to leader to villain. Other forms of diversity aren’t as well represented—there are no LGBTQ characters, for example—and there is an inherent “species-ism” in that mice are good while rats are bad. does start to subvert this with various reformed vermin later in the series, like Blaggut in The Bellmaker.
Gabool is an interesting villain as he is the most hands-off antagonist to date. He torments Mariel and Joseph at the beginning of the book, but after throwing them into the sea, he doesn’t interact directly with the woodlanders, instead directing his searats from the safety of his island fortress. Still, we develop a hatred for him due to how he mistreats all the creatures—friends and foes alike—that he encounters.
The forest of Mossflower is also different in this book. takes liberties with the setting depending on the needs of the story: the Abbey changes shape and the location of things shifts. In Mariel of Redwall, Mossflower feels dark and dangerous—the hermit Pakatugg is deceitful, herons and pike wait around every corner, and parts are dark and swampy where stepping off the path means death—whereas in Redwall the woods felt safe and bright.
Mariel of Redwall also features the first scenes of the Long Patrol hares and the Badger lord in combat, which is satisfying after their reputations as warriors were built up over the past few books.
Another great book that my kids loved; we’re starting Salamandastron next.