Eulalia!

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Title: Eulalia!
Author: Brian Jacques
Set: Redwall
My take: Dark for a Redwall book, slightly more subtle characterization than expected, growing to one of my favorites from the series

Spoiler-free synopsis: Maudie is a quick-tempered hare working the mess hall at Salamandastron. Orkwil Prink is a hedgehog with a habit of "borrowing" (read - stealing) items from the creatures of Redwall Abbey. Gorath is a badger taken forcibly from his farm and the life he had with his grandparents. As their paths cross, fate sets them and the rest of the woodland creatures against not one but two groups of vermin.



As storylines go in Redwall, it's fairly typical. However, this one sets itself apart a little by having protagonists who aren't immediately likeable. Orkwil starts out as a thief, and when called on his antics, he gets defensive instead of acknowledging what he did and trying to grow. Maudie is likewise getting in fights with her fellow hares over nothing, and that tendency gets her into trouble.

Also, on the vermin's side, it was interesting to see the contrast in the two hordes - one whose leader kept power through fear and intimidation and the other who supplemented those with a natural charisma. There's also a nice bit of subtleness between the pirate captain and one of his followers, which might not usually be noteworthy, but with the black-and-white of many Redwall books, it's worth mentioning in this case.

The plot moves fairly quickly from place to place, but unlike many Redwall books, it isn't the story of a journey. It's a story about how folks interact with one another and by those interactions, change one another. It's simplistic as expected of a children's book, but with enough meat to keep me hooked. there was also more than the usual darkness, as characters not only die, but at least two die in horrible ways, none of our heroes are really saints and there are relatively few light moments.

Spoilery synopsis: Can I just start out by saying I like how Jacques does death in his books? He's not afraid of killing off named characters, or of hurting them, irrevocably. He also doesn't dwell on them - often later on in the book there will be rememberances, memorials, but he avoids a lot of the tiresome focus on the death that many books try to use, and as a result, I think his deaths have more power. Consider the following, happening after a snake grabbed a baby shrew. Two characters think it's an adder, but while they try to plan an attack, their owl friend (who thinks the snake a grass snake) leaps into the fight and kills the snake before it can kill the shrew. And so we get:

"Got the brute, just as it was goin' to strike ye!"

Asio flung the snake's limp carcass over the ledge with a scornful flick of his hooked beak. "Goin' to strike me? Thou must be jestin', lad, yon great string o' scales must've bitten me about four times in all. Aye, he put up a gradely scrap though, ah'll say that for 'im."

Maudie was wrapping the shrewbabe back in his little shawl. Concern registered in her eyes as she stared at Asio. "Are you quite sure, old lad, that filthy rotter got his fangs in you four blinkin' times, wot?"

The owl blinked. "It were either four or five times, ah weren't countin'. Still, yon worm's slain now, an' the babbie's safe. That's all wot counts, lass!" Asio's legs seemed to buckle, he wobbled a pace or two, then squatted down, his head nodding forward as he watched Luglug cleaning off his blade. "Whoo, ah feel right tired out, 'appen ah'll need a liddle nap afore we carry on back 'ome." He winked lazily at Luglug, then chuckled. "Yeh great pudden' 'ead, yon worm weren't no adder, it were nowt but a grass snake. Ah were right, weren't ah?"

Putting his rapier aside, the shrew knelt alongside Asio, patting his wing gently. "Aye, mate, you were right. No doubt about it."

The owl's eyes were blinking rapidly as he turned to Maudie. "Ah may forget one or two things, but when ah recall 'em ah'm always right, eh, lass?"

Still holding the shrewbabe, Maudie hurried to Asio's side. However, the great yellow eyes had fallen shut for the last time. the haremaid knelt, pressing her face against his downy cheek feathers. "My poor , old, brave, muddle-headed friend, you've earned a perilous warrior's rest. Sleep well, Asio Bardwing."

Death came quickly, and without agonizing angst. I find the more I read, the more I appreciate an author who realizes that simple can be more powerful.

This book didn't skimp on the death either. In addition to Asio, we're treated to hearing about (though nto seeing, thankfully) how the pirates locked the badger Gorath's grandparents in their home, still alive, and burned the place down around them. Gorath doesn't angst about this, though he does remind the pirates of their act when he comes to exact his revenge on them. there are a number of mean or at least no all-good characters on the good side as well - in addition to Maudie and Orkwil, there's also a rather surly water vole who doesn't have much in the way of goodness about him - a refreshing break from the rigid types of woodlanders being kindly and vermin all being evil, and those are rare enough.

Maudie's growth was particularly interesting, because you could sort of see how the series of events changed her. First, after she takes a particularly violent solution to an attack on a friendly creature, she finds herself captured and nearly killed. After Asio joins her, he then throws himself into a fight and *does* die. Shortly after, they flee, and she, the shrew chief and a baby are seperated from the rest of the shrews. As they make their mad dash to the abbey and safety, the shrew chief is shot and killed, while carrying the baby (a move Maudie finds stupid since she would have had an easier time running with the child) and then, when the shrew's son is about to go out and avenge him, she knocks him out rather than let him run into certain death at the hands of the vermin - and he doesn't thank her for it. He also elts her know his father carried the child because it was his duty to make sure every shrew is safe. While Maudie doesn't seem to fully agree with either of these points of view, she comes to the understanding that they are important views to her friends, and need to be respected as such. By the end, she's a great deal more thoughtful about not only when to fly into a fight, but how to see another's point of view and reach an understanding.

Orkwil's groth has fewer steps, but it's clear to see how helping the injured Gorath to freedom and help matured him. with Orkwil, they also deal with the grim reality of killing for the first time, something that comes up wvery few Redwall books, but which I think it always a good bit of inclusion.

I also enjoyed that they did something a little different with the bloodwrath. It's mostly been portrayed as something uncontrolable, but with the help of a badgermaid, Salixa, he can not only usually keep himself from going into the bloodwrath even in the heat of desperate battle. It's left to the reader to decide if this is a strength in him, a supernatural ability or some effect of their relationship. It's nice in that it removes the absolute of bloodwrath.

As usual, it all wrapped up in a happy ending, but I don't mind that so much here. Redwall's a set for children first and foremost. I don't read it for depth, I read it because it's always an easy read and largely inoffensive as far as getting me overthinking or disturbing my sleep. If you don't like Redwall stories, this in unlikely to change your mind, but if you do like Redwall, it's definitely a worthy entry to the series. I wouldn't suggest this one as a starting point for the series though - it's good, but it assumes some prior knowledge and while that won't ruin the book for most people, I think it can lessen some of the understanding.