Book Review: The Legend of Luke

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The Legend of Luke, by Brian Jacques.  Although this was the twelfth book written in the Redwall saga, it falls chronologically early in the series.  Martin the Warrior, after the events of Mossflower, is living quietly among the good folk at Redwall Abbey.  The Abbey is still under construction but promises to be a haven of peace for the gentle woodlanders.  However, a travelling hedgehog maiden, Trimp, inadvertently triggers some long-forgotten memories of his childhood, laying upon Martin the burden to find out the story of what happened to his father, Luke.  Only a quest through many dangers will suffice to bring the knowledge he seeks; knowledge both of his father's fate, and of his own character.  True to the Redwall pattern, he is joined by many friends, old and new; Trimp, Dinny the mole, Gonff the mousethief, the young squirrel Chugger, and a rather memorable hare named (for short) Beau.  Much of the later part of the book is told in flashback, a tale-within-a-tale that gives us the noble lineage of Martin's sword, and suggests why he is willing to put it aside at the end.

Some have critiqued the Redwall books as being repetitive; there is always a quest, always at least one horde of evil vermin, always a desire for peace which only comes at a high cost.  If they are repetitive, I believe they have the best kind of repetition, the kind that bridges the gap between old and young and leaves us all wanting "more of the same, but different."  As I have read these books, I have begun to see recurring themes as well; in this book particularly, the sacrifices the older generation must make to protect the younger; the inherent nobility of an unselfish character, the qualities of bravery and leadership which emerge in necessity; the tension between the need for war and the desire for peace.  In a larger sense, Redwall Abbey and the noble woodlanders who dwell there are a metaphor for the island of Britain, constantly beseiged and in need of able defenders, but a beacon of civilization in a dark world.

If you enjoy audiobooks at all, these are well worth listening to: the late Brian Jacques himself narrated them with music and a full cast.  I believe they are the kind of children's books that all children should be exposed to.

Book Review: Mossflower

Mossflower, by Brian Jacques, was the book that introduced me to the Redwall world, and is still my favorite.  I was initially drawn to the paperback in my senior year of college by its lovely cover art, reminiscent of medieval illuminated manuscripts:

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I bought it for the cover, and because it sounded like the kind of fantasy I loved: childlike, innocent, yet fiercely fought and with timeless themes.  And I was amazed that it followed through on the promise of the cover.  Several years ago I was able to take my children to a book-signing with Brian Jacques, where he talked about his inspirations for writing these stories... chiefly The Iliad and The Odyssey.  It's hard to go wrong with that kind of inspiration!

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So there is a bit of a Redwall race/ reading challenge going on in our family.  Some of us are reading through the books in chronological order.  I've reviewed Lord Brocktree and Martin the Warrior.  Now Mossflower.  I had originally intended just to quickly review the characters, but I ended up doing a full re-read.  Martin is a returning heroic character if you've read Martin the Warrior, but he shows up in this book with no hint of the self-doubt that was explored in the prequel.  He is the heroic freedom-fighter who unites the woodlanders, oppressed by the evil Tsarmina, a wildcat who rules from the dark fortress of Kotir.  Joining Martin are Gonff the mousethief, a jolly and cheeky creature whose thievery is mostly confined to food; Lady Amber, chieftainess of the woodland squirrels; Dinny the mole; Bella of Brockhall, the wise badger lady who wishes to protect the small creatures of Mossflower wood.  Of course there are many other characters, both good and evil.  No Redwall epic tale is complete without a multitude of characters, a quest, a mysterious riddle, adorable woodland babies who must escape right under the nose of the enemy, infighting among the enemy, and at least two battles with vermin.  This story delivers all of those items and much more.  Don't forget the wonderful descriptions of the feasts!

In my opinion, this or Redwall is the best choice to introduce your children to these fantasies, preferably as a read-aloud.  Good times and good memories await.

Book Review: Martin the Warrior

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Martin the Warrior, by the late Brian Jacques, is chronologically second in the Redwall saga, following Lord Brocktree.  Of all the Redwall books I've read, I think in this one Jacques was exploring more advanced themes than in his typical work.  There are few of the wordplay puzzles and archetypal quests that draw young readers into his other books; instead, it is a tale of slavery and resistance, a serious meditation on the evils of war and vengeance, and definitely closer to a tragedy than a comedy, even with the light and humorous characters that populate it.

The story follows the hero mouse Martin, a natural leader, as he follows the painful path of a hero in his attempt to defeat the evil stoat Badrang, reclaim the stolen sword of his father Luke, and free his enslaved friends.  Along the way he meets Felldoh the squirrel, Brome and his sister Rose of Noonvale, and the faithful mole Grumm.  Badrang has troubles of his own trying to recapture the escaped slaves and hold onto the fortress of Marshank while Clogg, his old enemy, threatens to take it over.  There's also a troupe of travelling actors, a kind-hearted cartographic owl, and dangerous cannibal lizards, among many others.  The book suffers a little from a cast of thousands approach, so that it's hard to remember all the characters, but you can be sure they all have a role to play before the end.  This is an approach that will appeal to children who are proficient readers and enjoy exhaustive detail in epic form.  Jacques was inspired to become an author by reading the great epics, and he does not set the bar low for his readers.  Younger children can enjoy it as a read-aloud, as with all the Redwall books.  Especially if the reader can do the moles and other voices well!

The story of Martin is a prehistory to the events of Mossflower, before the founding of Redwall Abbey.  It also sheds light on the character of Martin, both a driven and a reluctant warrior, and why the peaceful Abbey, when it is built, is a metaphor for all that is good in a dark world.  Jacques wrote many books in this series: if you're only going to read three, this should be the third after Redwall and Mossflower.  Or you can attempt the great Redwall race and read them in chronological order along with me.  I might finish in a few more years!

Yarn-Along with Martin

I'm linking up to Ginny's Yarn-along today.  This is my September shawl in the 12-shawls-in-2012 challenge.  It's the EZ 100th Anniversary Camping Half-Circle shawl, and it's a free pattern in honor of the late Elizabeth Zimmerman.  It's not really called EZ because it's easy, or anything!  I'm using my handspun Wensleydale light fingering/ wannabe laceweight, and right now it looks like nothing great.  Maybe it will be pretty when blocked.  That's the thing with lace knitting, it's a leap of faith that you didn't make a mistake and that it will be gorgeous when blocked.  I'm in the "willow leaves" next-to-last repeat and the rows are more than 300 stitches long right now, but still haven't used up my first ball of yarn.  I have lots and lots of willow leaves to go.

I'm trying to finish up Martin the Warrior, the second book (if you count them chronologically) in the Redwall series by Brian Jacques.  I reviewed the first, Lord Brocktree, a few months ago.  Quarta and Daniel and I were doing the great Redwall race, but Quarta has finally kicked in and during the last weeks of summer vacation, she sped through several books and is now all the way up to Rakkety Tam.  Maybe I can review Martin in a few days.  I think Daniel has forfeited by going off to college, but it's mission accomplished in getting Quarta hooked!

No WIP Wednesday today because the start of school has meant no time or energy for quilting for awhile, but I did photograph the shawl on the Chinese Lanterns quilt on my bed.

Monday: Time Trials

On the design wall, nothing has changed since last week.  I've been almost exclusively focusing on spinning, with a little knitting during swim lessons.  No quilting, not even a stitch on the arrowheads blocks.  But the parts for the Grace Frame have arrived and I am trying to get them uncurled.  Once they are a little more relaxed (and I am too), and I have some heavy-lifting help from Steve or Daniel, I'll try to put them on, reassemble the Megaquilter, and get some machine quilting done.  I'll probably also need to buy thread.  I have big ambitions to get Jack's Chain, Orca Bay, and Farmer's Wife all quilted this summer.  But you know, summer is always too short!

The Tour de Fleece is speeding by, and I have spun up about half of the orange superwash for my second Rhinebeck sweater.  I'm washing the 10 skeins I have today and hanging them out on the line to dry.  After plying the yarn and measuring it off, you are supposed to "set" the twist by soaking or washing it gently, then giving the skein a few good thwacks against something hard, like the edge of the sink.  This seems to shock the wool fibers into good behavior for some reason, and any extra twist in the yarn from over-spinning or over-plying goes away.

I noticed that in the Tour de France, they present the winner of the Maillot Jaune with a bouquet of yellow roses and a stuffed lion.  It just so happens that this little stuffed lion was in the bag of things from the girls' room that were supposed to go to Goodwill.  So I appropriated him as my mascot.  Now I don't know if he'll end up at Goodwill or not!

Of the 10 skeins so far, each one a different permutation of 3 different plies (there are 5 dyelots total, so I marked the skeins "123, 124, 125, 134, 135, 145, 234, 235, 245, 345".  Now, in my attempt to make every skein different, I'm going to ply 2 strands of the same dyelot with 1 strand of a second; I won't have enough to try every possible combination, but that's probably just as well.  I really like dyelot 1 on the left of Aslan: it's a rich reddish copper that I'd be happy with if I had reproduced every time.  But I also like dyelot 3 on his right -- a very saturated orange with red mixed in.  The other dyelots have pluses and minuses; 2 can be a little too tangerine, 4 a little too brown or incompletely saturated, and 5 has a definite black/gray cast.  But combined in various ways they definitely make a yarn with continuous interest.  I'm looking forward to making the sweater during the Ravelympics!

Book review: Lord Brocktree by Brian Jacques

The Great Redwall Race of 2012 -- The short story: earlier this spring Daniel challenged Quarta to a chronological read-through of all the Redwall books that she hadn't yet read or had read to her.  He was supposed to read them all, not skipping any.  Well, he's backed out in favor of re-reading the Belgariad, but Quarta has finally caught on that these books are a great thing.  She whined a lot at first, but patience and good children's literature won the day and she's working on The Long Patrol now.  Here's the chronological list we're going from.

If you haven't yet experienced the Redwall books, what in the world are you waiting for? If there's a child in your life, that child needs a bedtime story like these.  You can start with Redwall itself or with Mossflower, but why not join us with Lord Brocktree and experience from the very beginning the panoramic sweep of the grand tale of the goodbeasts who must fight for freedom against vermin hordes?  Join Dorothea Duckfontein Dillworthy, Dotti for short, that young haremaid of Fatal Beauty, along with Lord Brocktree the badger, questing for Salamandastron, the fabled mountain ruled by an ancient line of noble badgers.  Other beasts, moles, shrews, mice, otters, and squirrels help them along their way.  There is always good food, gentle humor, positive character development, and a clear delineation between good and evil.  In this book, the evil role is taken by Ungatt Trunn, a wildcat with an unnatural liking for spiders and world domination.  He conquers Salamandastron and Our Heroes must raise an army to win it back.  Thanks to teamwork and self-sacrifice, and helped a bit by the tendency of the evil hordes to turn on each other, they will ultimately be victorious and provide a stirring tale for young creatures to hear after the feast.

If it sounds familiar, it is basically the same plot in every novel.  And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  Tune in for more book reviews in the Redwall race as the summer progresses.

Random Roundup of Spring Break

We're back from our Spring Break trip to Lake Tahoe, and skiing (and snowboarding) at the Heavenly resort there.  That was one day; our bodies and budget gave out before a second day.  I would ski again, but at the rate of one lesson a year, I'll be retirement age before I get good enough to go down a real hill.

Virginia City: great Old West town, ultra-kitschy, and of course no restaurants without a casino attached.  The one we ate lunch at was the closest to a family-friendly place, but when the inevitable trip to the bathroom occurred the sign said to go through the connecting door to the back of the casino.  So I took Tertia past blinking lights, whirling slot machines and (I think) the famous Suicide Table to the Ladies' room.  Now, Tertia has above all other things a phobia of automatic flushing toilets, so her first act in any public restroom is to check the toilets to see if they have the dreaded blinking sensor.  She saw they were "regular" toilets and said, "Whew! Regular toilets!  I'm so happy.  Mommy, this is just like church!"  "No, dear, this is most definitely NOT like church."

The pastor of the Presbyterian Church in South Lake Tahoe -- looks exactly like my mental conception of Fflewdur Fflam from the Prydain chronicles.

Speaking of Presbyterians... did you know there was a Presbyterian bucket list?  In Virginia City the 1st Presbyterian Church had a sign on it to indicate it was 301st on the list of American Presbyterian and Reformed historic sites.  I need to look up this list sometime.

We went ice skating on Wednesday and Thursday -- at least, we all went Wednesday and the girls and Steve went Thursday.  There was a problem with the skates -- the cheap blue plastic ones pinched Secundus' feet so badly he has huge blisters.  He did well skating though.  I had forgotten how hard ice is when you fall on it.  Ow, my poor knee.  Quarta is loving ice skating and wanting to go again soon, and Grandma Deb can skate backwards.

We all have disreputable-looking sunburns from our day on the slopes.  Steve's forehead is an angry red but the rest of his face is fine.  Primigenitus looks like he has a very red 5 o'clock shadow, Secundus has a red unibrow and mustache, Quarta has a falcon-like v-shaped pattern on her forehead where her goggles left off.  I have a little v between my eyes.

The girls and I went swimming in the snow Saturday night (I did one lap in the heated pool and then moved to the hot tub -- it was fun to hear the snowflakes sizzling as the melted into the water).  Going back to the room was not as bad as I thought it would be, and we went swimming/ hot tubbing for the next several nights even when the temperatures were in the 30s and 40s.

Vacation audiobooks were limited: we haven't quite finished Loamhedge, by Brian Jacques and a full cast.  But that has inspired a reading contest between Primigenitus and Quarta: read all the Redwall books in chronological order according to this list.  Primigenitus, who is nostalgic for the reading lists of his vanishing childhood, must read them all; Quarta can skip the ones she's already read.  I also read aloud several chapters of The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer, which is really good and we ordered it from Amazon because it was on hold for someone else at the library.

Various family members watched quite a few movies while hanging out at the condo -- Prince Caspian, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Enchanted (twice!), The Princess and the Frog, He Walked by Night, Harry Potter (various numbers), and Rio (the one with the blue parrots).  Tertia always dances to the closing credits.

I fell back on my vacation knitting standard: my ballband dishcloth variation.  I finished 4 dishcloths and nothing else this vacation.  And my Aunt Carol sent a big stack of fabric that I will have to add to my stash account, which will probably tip it into the red.

When the boys packed up the dirty clothes on the floor of their room they gathered in at least three baby socks, none of them matching, that must have been left there by a previous occupant.  We discovered them today while doing laundry.  It's really funny because I found another baby sock (not matching any of the other three) when I did my last check before leaving yesterday morning.  I can just picture the little toddler throwing socks all over the floor of the room.