tkk96

This is a book in the best traditions of Redwall and Brian Jacques, and I enjoyed it on so many levels. I love the characters, the every single one of them: courageous Buckler Kordyne, his gluttonous and funny friend Diggs, all Witherspyk company. Special mention goes to Flandor, Midda, Tura and Whitherspyk twins. They are no more than babes, if only slightly older than the rest of the captives. And yet they are heroes on par with adult warriors. They don't wait to be rescued - they rescue themselves. And let's not forget Axtel Sturnclaw, the first Warrior mole, who manages to be funny and kind with his friends and warlike and scary with his enemies. And Clarinna - she is not a fighter herself, but that doesn't mean she is weak and helpless, even if she prefers a life of farming to military life of Salamandastron. To put it short, all the characters were fun to read about, and the only one who took some time to grow on me was Flib, but that's because it took a while for her aggressiveness and rudeness to grow into intrepidity. I love the plot as well: Vilaya the Sable Quean is not the first villain who kidnaps babes, but she is the first one who does it on such a big scale and has such a grand plan in mind relying on these kidnappings. She and another villain, Zwilt the Shade, balance each other well: Vilaya is sly and cunning and acts through deception while Zwilt is cruel and sadistic and prefers to rely on brute strength. They could have been a good team... if they didn't try to kill each other. Their confrontation is one of the things I enjoyed about the book, as well as the character of Zwilt the Shade. He is quite an intelligent villain: he knows warfare well and thinks of the moves to counter his enemies possible action. And the most important, after defeating an enemy, he doesn't leave them for dead, but beheads them. However, he isn't smart enough to realize that your sadistic side and a habit of taunting your enemies is something that gets you killed.

2022-11-14 14:01