Rakkety Tam

[theradicalchild]

Rakkety Tam by Brian Jacques
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Author Brian Jacques dedicated this tale of Redwall to a colleague and a great friend, Tim Moses, and opens with a squirrel named Melanda, the youngest creature ever to serve as Recorder of Redwall Abbey, introducing the story of the titular squirrel protagonist, Rakkety Tam MacBurl, who receives several poems throughout the story. The chief antagonist is the wolverine Gulo the Savage, hunting down his brother Askor for want of the Walking Stone, whose holder allegedly is entitled to rule the land of snow and ice, with some backstory exposed for him, such as his committing patricide.

Meanwhile, it’s winter at Redwall Abbey, where Humble the hedgehog has reigned as Abbot for a long time. There’s also talk of a shipwreck near Salamandastron, after which the writer introduces readers to the territory of the Squirrelking Araltum and Idga Drayqueen, the country whence the titular protagonist and his fellow squirrel Doogy Plumm come. Another character playing part is Yoofus Lightpaw, a water vole and master thief from Mossflower, married to Didjety. Tam and Doogy partner with the Long Patrol to battle the vermin throughout the story, eventually meeting Yoofus.

Tergen, a goshawk, the author introduces as well, with the avian receiving an injury requiring one of his wings to be in a splint. Sister Armel, another squirrel, dreams of the Abbey Warrior Martin, like characters of Redwall ages ago, with Tam ultimately wielding his blade against the vermin armies. Well-described battles occasionally erupt between the good creatures and vermin, accounting for a satisfying but somewhat familiar tale of Redwall, on par with its predecessors, with much of the same positives and negatives. However, it’s still a good read for younger audiences.

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