Snowfur's Rakkety Tam Review
I finished Rakkety Tam yesterday. I liked it a lot! Wolverines are awesome.
I absolutely adored Rockbottom! I'd give him a virtual hug but it might hurt. ;)
Is anyone else really surprised that BJ had a Sister or Brother of Redwall leave the order? I saw it coming from early on, but I was surprised nonetheless. That's a first! I was thinking to myself, "Tam, control yourself, she's a Sister!" o_0 LOL! I wonder why he chose to write it that way? Armel could just as easily have been an infirmary worker without being a member of the order. Very interesting development.
Yoofus was exasperating, but he was supposed to be. He wasn't completely likable or unlikable, just interesting. I loved his Irish-sounding accent, though.
Both Tam and Doogy were cool. Squirrels in kilts! What's not to like? :D I think it was very wise to have Doogy's accent so much thicker than Tam's instead of the other way around, or having them both with thick accents. It added a unique flavor to the book to have the Highland accents, but it would have been a bit much to take if the main character had that thick accent. Making Tam a "Borderer" worked really well.
I echo the wish that Tam had been addressed as Rakkety or Rakk, though. Tam reminded me too much of Tammo from The Long Patrol. *shrug*
Shard and Freeta were cool. White foxes in general are cool.
Wonwill was cool. Lots of cool hares, actually. Poor Brigadier Wot Wot. ;)
I also really, really liked the insight into the minds of the rank and file vermin, especially that older white fox. He knew how to survive, how to stay inconspicuous and not get killed by his own commander. He tried to show the younger vermin those skills but it didn't really sink in. Pity. I wish I could remember his name. :P
I definitely liked Gulo. He got more character development than several of the recent Redwall villains, although I still would have liked even more of it. Maybe I'm just spoiled by Cluny, Slagar and Tsarmina. We know Gulo's father's name, and a sliver about his background and family, but we didn't get into his head much as we did Cluny's, et al. Still, more than Raga Bol, Damug Warfang and other newer characters.
I especially liked the scene near the end where Gulo found a pretty glen and decided to rest there, and it was such a surprise that he noticed the spot's scenic beauty. An interesting little quirk.
Gulo's archaic speech suited his character. I had almost expected him to have a Viking accent or like the Pure Ferrets from Triss. Some kind of weird accent, coming from so far across the sea. The archaic speech pattern worked, though.
I would so love to see a wolverine take on a badger in battle.
Too bad Askor was killed off so quickly. I would have liked to learn more about him, and how he compared to Gulo.
I wish we'd found out more about the land of ice and snow. This is presumably the same land that Urgan Nagru and Silvamord came from, and I had hoped at least some of the opening scenes would be set there so we could see what it was like.
I know he was sort of lying, but I really liked the part near the end when Gulo is parleying with the Redwallers and tells them that he has no quarrel with them and doesn't necessarily want to destroy them. I know he would have, if he could have, but it was an interesting, refreshing change from the standard, "I want your Abbey and its treasures and you'll all die/be my slaves, mwahahahahaha!" routine. ;)
Gulo's demise was clever. I knew there would have to be some twist of trickery, since a squirrel can't kill a wolverine outright, no matter how special his sword is. The shield thing was unique, if a bit icky. o_0 LOL!
Martin had a more direct role in this one, which was spiffy.
The identity of the Walking Stone was absolutely terrific. What a cool twist! I loved it! :D
Rockbottom with the Dibbuns was so dang CUTE I couldn't stand it! XD
I did think the book dragged a little in the middle (there were a few times when I was like, "How is he going to drag this out another 200 pages?") but the beginning was interesting and the last 100 pages or so were really good. It shan't replace Redwall, Mossflower or Mattimeo on my favorites list, but I think it was better than Loamhedge, The Long Patrol and Mariel of Redwall.
And there's Snowfur's $00.02. ;)
I absolutely adored Rockbottom! I'd give him a virtual hug but it might hurt. ;)
Is anyone else really surprised that BJ had a Sister or Brother of Redwall leave the order? I saw it coming from early on, but I was surprised nonetheless. That's a first! I was thinking to myself, "Tam, control yourself, she's a Sister!" o_0 LOL! I wonder why he chose to write it that way? Armel could just as easily have been an infirmary worker without being a member of the order. Very interesting development.
Yoofus was exasperating, but he was supposed to be. He wasn't completely likable or unlikable, just interesting. I loved his Irish-sounding accent, though.
Both Tam and Doogy were cool. Squirrels in kilts! What's not to like? :D I think it was very wise to have Doogy's accent so much thicker than Tam's instead of the other way around, or having them both with thick accents. It added a unique flavor to the book to have the Highland accents, but it would have been a bit much to take if the main character had that thick accent. Making Tam a "Borderer" worked really well.
I echo the wish that Tam had been addressed as Rakkety or Rakk, though. Tam reminded me too much of Tammo from The Long Patrol. *shrug*
Shard and Freeta were cool. White foxes in general are cool.
Wonwill was cool. Lots of cool hares, actually. Poor Brigadier Wot Wot. ;)
I also really, really liked the insight into the minds of the rank and file vermin, especially that older white fox. He knew how to survive, how to stay inconspicuous and not get killed by his own commander. He tried to show the younger vermin those skills but it didn't really sink in. Pity. I wish I could remember his name. :P
I definitely liked Gulo. He got more character development than several of the recent Redwall villains, although I still would have liked even more of it. Maybe I'm just spoiled by Cluny, Slagar and Tsarmina. We know Gulo's father's name, and a sliver about his background and family, but we didn't get into his head much as we did Cluny's, et al. Still, more than Raga Bol, Damug Warfang and other newer characters.
I especially liked the scene near the end where Gulo found a pretty glen and decided to rest there, and it was such a surprise that he noticed the spot's scenic beauty. An interesting little quirk.
Gulo's archaic speech suited his character. I had almost expected him to have a Viking accent or like the Pure Ferrets from Triss. Some kind of weird accent, coming from so far across the sea. The archaic speech pattern worked, though.
I would so love to see a wolverine take on a badger in battle.
Too bad Askor was killed off so quickly. I would have liked to learn more about him, and how he compared to Gulo.
I wish we'd found out more about the land of ice and snow. This is presumably the same land that Urgan Nagru and Silvamord came from, and I had hoped at least some of the opening scenes would be set there so we could see what it was like.
I know he was sort of lying, but I really liked the part near the end when Gulo is parleying with the Redwallers and tells them that he has no quarrel with them and doesn't necessarily want to destroy them. I know he would have, if he could have, but it was an interesting, refreshing change from the standard, "I want your Abbey and its treasures and you'll all die/be my slaves, mwahahahahaha!" routine. ;)
Gulo's demise was clever. I knew there would have to be some twist of trickery, since a squirrel can't kill a wolverine outright, no matter how special his sword is. The shield thing was unique, if a bit icky. o_0 LOL!
Martin had a more direct role in this one, which was spiffy.
The identity of the Walking Stone was absolutely terrific. What a cool twist! I loved it! :D
Rockbottom with the Dibbuns was so dang CUTE I couldn't stand it! XD
I did think the book dragged a little in the middle (there were a few times when I was like, "How is he going to drag this out another 200 pages?") but the beginning was interesting and the last 100 pages or so were really good. It shan't replace Redwall, Mossflower or Mattimeo on my favorites list, but I think it was better than Loamhedge, The Long Patrol and Mariel of Redwall.
And there's Snowfur's $00.02. ;)