BJ's New Yarn

I had been counting the days until Brian Jacques' (That's "Jakes" to you.) new book was released. Now that I've read Doomwyte, I would have to add it to my Top 5 list of my favorites of BJ's novels. Now it's up there with Taggerung, High Rhulain, Triss, and Mossflower. So what was so great about it? Let me explain.

HERE BE SPOILERS.
Doomwyte was not a typical Redwall tale. I believe Mr. Jacques has spun a thread of a new, maybe darker, color for Doomwyte. It provided a plot that was new and fresh, much needed after Eulalia. I had read Eulalia, and didn't enjoy it very much; mainly because I believed the plot had been too typical for a Redwall book. Now that I try and recall the story of Eulalia, it blurrs with all the other Redwall books I've read. But Doomwyte was different. The different threads and characters of the tale twist together perfectly: the mysterious wytes and their leader Korvus Skurr set on robbery of Redwall Abbey; a group of Abbeydwellers uncovering a mystery of the bygone past; a black warrior bent on revenge; and the creatures of Mossflower wood fearful of the serpent Baliss now on the loose.... I quite enjoyed the fact that the book seemed to have a set date: not too long after High Rhulain. This is because BJ made many references to Gonff the Mousethief from Mossflower and The Legend of Luke. He even revealed that a tribe of Gonff's descendants were kicked out of Redwall Abbey for stealing, and have been living in Mossflower wood for hundreds of seasons. One of my favorite new strings was the introduction of a new and unexpected "grey" character. There were also several other elements of the story that were unique and not clichés at all.

This is a very brief review (by my definition), and does not do all the aspects of this great book justice. For a longer, more detailed review (and more spoilers, if you want them), see the Redwall Wiki's review. Overall, Doomwyte's a good piece of work. I think anyone could enjoy it.

A NOTE FOR ANY REDWALL FANS: In case you haven't seen it, you should check out the new Redwall.org! It recently got an updated look, and parts of the site feature messages from BJ himself. Maybe he's finally gone digital!