Salamandastron (Redwall, #5) by Brian Jacques


Salamandastron (Redwall, #5)
Title : Salamandastron (Redwall, #5)
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0142501522
ISBN-10 : 9780142501528
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 400
Publication : First published January 1, 1992
Awards : West Australian Young Readers' Book Award (WAYRBA) Older Readers (1997)

The Redwall series is soon to be a Netflix original movie!

The beloved Redwall saga continues in Salamandastron .

The inhabitants of Redwall relax in the haze of summer-but as they do, the neighboring stronghold of Salamandastron lies besieged by the evil weasel army of Ferhago the Assassin. Worse still, Mara, beloved daughter of Urthstripe, Badger Lord of the Fire Mountain, is in terrible danger. Then a lightning bolt uncovers the sword of Martin the Warrior, and young Samkin embarks on an adventure that leads him to Mara. Can the good creatures triumph over the villainous Assassin?

Perfect for fans of T. A. Barron’s Merlin saga, John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice series, and J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series.


Salamandastron (Redwall, #5) Reviews


  • Joseph Leskey

    If this was not enjoyable, then neither is a concoction of cocoa. And that is all I have to say on the matter.

  • Jane Jago

    All I can say is five stars.

    I can't properly review Redwall titles because when I read one I'm seven years old again. And I don't think anyone wants to read the inane burblings of my seven-year-old self. I'm bad enough at sixty-mumble.

    Just read 'em...

  • Cheyenne Langevelde

    This was in many ways different from the other Redwall books I've read so far, but in a good way. This centered more around the badgers' mountain and other peoples and places than just Redwall Abbey, but I enjoyed it all the same. My favorite parts were definitely the falcons and the eagles because they had such lovely Scottish highland accents. Those were so much fun to read!

  • TS Chan

    Another enjoyable woodlands romp that was filled with the most delicious descriptions of pies, puddings, creams, nuts, fruits, and it goes on and on.

    I was surprised with the amount of deaths in this instalment, though, and on the side of the good guys, too. Possibly one of the sadder endings so far, but it was still a satisfying one.

  • Celeste

    This fifth installment in the Redwall series takes things up a notch, in my opinion. We have half a dozen different plot lines, which are all interesting and all fairly fast-paced. I found myself easily invested in all of the different stories, as well as all of the many main characters. And when these stories began to finally all tie together, I found it immensely satisfying. There’s a lot of action here, and some major character death, so young readers should be prepared going in. I still love this series. It makes me think of classic fantasy like Wheel of Time or similar series, but for children and featuring anthropomorphic animals. While not perfect, it’s a wonderful series that is holding up well to rereading as an adult. And, as always, the food descriptions were absolutely incredible. Don’t read these books while hungry!

  • Katja Labonté

    5 stars. I might start sounding like a broken record by now—but yes, this was awesome and yes, it adds delightfully to the series. (Like, it’s awesome how in one or the other of the books they mention why the hares are so off-hand and still great warriors…)

    Anyways, with a title like Salamandastron, you’d expect this to be about the badgers and hares, right? Well, it is—but not the usual way, aka not like
    Lord Brocktree
    or
    Mossflower
    or the other books. Instead, we open up with our badger friends in Mossflower murdered by a blue-eyed, soft-spoken ferret captain that I absolutely loathed because of how sweetly murderous he was. Skipping to Salamandastron, we get Urthstripe the Strong struggling with the care of his adopted daughter Mara and her friend Pickle. And then we wander all over the face of the Redwall world by foot and by ship and by wing… oh, and yes, Redwall Abbey is the second main setting, of course.

    Urthstripe! I couldn’t help loving the poor old chap in spite of how annoyed I got with him for letting Mara drag him around by the nose. I also started out by hating Mara. But she straightened out in the end (reminded me of Mariel) and so did Pickle (delightful sidekick, he was). Ferahgo the Assassin, as aforementioned, was terrible and so was his son. (I enjoyed the unusual dynamics of that relationship though). Loambudd and particularly Urthwyte were unexpected but super cool additions. Dingeye and Thura, on the other hand, were horrid additions to Redwall. Tubgutt & Logalog reminded me of the
    Mattimeo
    angle on the Guossim but it ended up quite different and I liked it. The hares were all fun and varied and I loved Oxeye and Sapwood was so fun. Farran was worse than Shadow from
    Redwall,
    by the way. Everyone at Redwall was really nice, of course, and I loved meeting all the new folk and the hermit. Also Thrugg was amazingggg. And Samkin was a delightful hero and so was Arula. And I was so, so excited with the addition of the northland (aka Highland) birds!!!! I wish they were present in other books because they were THE BOMB.

    *coughs* oh yeah, plot. The whole Mara-Klitch thing was veryyy interesting, even if it didn’t last super long. Mara & Pickle’s journey started out similar to other books (I’m getting really tired of the frogs, y’all) but soon became unique with the Log-a-Log addition + journey. Sam & Arula’s journey started a whole new storyline and I looooved seeing them chase Martin’s sword! I just wish it had been a little longer and honestly it would have been fun if Martin’s sword had made it back to Ferahgo or something—it would have been so cool. Anyways, the 3 plot lines here were pretty much all journeys because then Thrugg and Dumble (the cutest thing) start off on their own journey to find the flowers because Redwall is afflicted with a deadly plague (super cool plot twist there!). Thrugg + Dumble were the most adorable pair and I absolutely loved their chapters. Especially when Rocangus shows up. Everything is wrapped up satisfactorily at Salamandastron—if it is very sad… and except the fact that I would have really loved to see where Mara was from—and eventually at Redwall too. <3 (T & T were a super cute brother-sister relationship, by the way).

    In short, this is another great addition to the series—bear with me, guys, I’m trying to find another way to say that—and I loved it. The end.

    *quotes & content list to come upon reread*

  • Junsei

    I decided to read this book because I wanted to understand the whole series of Redwall. This book was about a moutain called Salamandastron being attacked by a never-ending band of Ferahgo the Assassin's Corpsemakers. This really shows the writing skills of Brain Jacques. When reading this book, I thought of me being in Japan. I went to a mountain full of cave system, rooms, kitchens , staircase and I just thought that Salamandastron mountain in the book was just the same. I felt that I was Lord Urthstripe the Strong, wearing my heavy bag (which I thought it was the heavy amour he wore) and water bottle (which I thought it was the weapon he held). This book is a little different from the other books because the intro was the start of a dibbuns bed time story and there was no attacks on Redwall (I guess because this book was called Salamandastron). I feel proud for Brain Jacques because he was the author of the book I read which got me into reading. Before, I can only read about 10 min but now I read for more than 2 hours if I had the time and I get engaged easily.

  • Bridget

    Listen. I read a bunch of these as a kid and I LOVED them and I have very fond memories and with COVID and other life things reading has been really difficult for a very long time. So I've been reading this series and it's delightful and kind of like meeting an old friend as I slowly remember the stories. 12/10 would recommend rereading stuff you like if you're hating books like me right now.

  • Eon ♒Windrunner♒

    This was another great Redwall story and might just be the pick of the bunch so far.

    Salamandastron definitely has more plot lines going than any of it's predecessors, but managed them all with aplomb; I never felt that I wanted to skip any of them and was keen to see them all tie in with one another. It even featured quite a few darker moments, not shying away from character deaths, but balanced this nicely with some beautiful and emotional scenes. Lastly, as with every story in this series it features a veritable buffet of fine dining and I would never recommend to read this on an empty stomach as most of it sounded delicious.

  • Guguk

    Beberapa tahun lalu, waktu sedang main di 'rumah' Gusfina, Camo-sama cerita-cerita soal komik Redwall yang waktu itu ndak jadi dibuat filmnya. Pas itu aku tertarik tapi sadar kalo blom sanggup beli komik impor. Ndilalah kok ya pas browsing marketplace nemu novelnya (╯✧▽✧)╯!!
    "Hah?! Ini Redwall? Redwall yang dibilang Camo??"
    Langsung nyari info di gudrit ini, ternyata novelnya berseri (✧ω✧) Dengan semangat bonek membara, sikat aja novel yang (harganya) terjangkau. Dapat beberapa, nomer seri ndak urut, tapi percuma jadi bonek kalo gentar karenanya~

    Yang pertama dibaca ya judul ini (ノ´ヮ`)ノ*: ・゚♡
    ~dan langsung jatuh hati (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)❤

    Ada rasa, "Ke mana aja aku selama ini? Kok baru tau buku seseru inii?!!" Karena novel ini berisi semua yang aku pengenin: Tokoh2nya hewan semua, dan nyeritain pertempuran, pengkhianatan, kesetiaan, pengorbanan, keberanian, dan petualangan (✧ω✧)☆ Ada monster juga! Kurang lengkap apa, coba~ σ(≧ε≦σ) ♡

    Dan biarpun full-action, tapi ada banyak sisipan komedi dan acara makan-makan ( ^ ﹃ ^ ) sukaa~~ Sisipan ini ngga bikin keseruan terhenti, tapi malah jadi hiburan biar ga terlalu gersang.

    Jadi ini nyeritain soal benteng Salamandastron yang dipimpin seekor badger...
    description
    ...yang kuat berwibawa, tapi ndak sanggup mengendalikan anak angkatnya, Mara, yang memilih keluar dari benteng. Sementara itu, ada sekelompok bandit yang diketuai seekor weasel...
    description
    ...yang lihai dan licik, yang mengincar harta di Salamandastron.
    (*ini kok foto weasel-nya imut banget //mimisan XD)

    Selain itu, ada biara Redwall yang penghuninya riang gembira, yang tiba-tiba panik karena pedang pusaka yang disucikan di biara itu dicuri! Jalinan kisah perjuangan tentara benteng, petualangan tupai dan mole anggota biara yang mencari pedang, dan perjalanan Mara di tempat-tempat yang berbahaya, semuanya diceritakan saling-silang tanpa bikin bingung. Aksi bertubi-tubi! (☆ω☆)
    Dan ketika jalinannya saling terkait, rasanya makin w(°o°)w puas!

    Pas baca beberapa ulasan, ada yang menyebutkan kalau novel-novel di seri Redwall ini vibes-nya sama. Aku rasa, aku ngga keberatan (≧◡≦) Toh tokoh-tokohnya beda, dan petualangannya pun bakal beda~

    Di Salamandastron ini, tokoh favoritku adalah si Arula, the mole-maid \^o^/ yang ngedampingin si Samkin Tupai dalam petualangan mencari pedang; soalnya Arula bukan cuma berani tapi juga kocak 💙 Udah gitu, di sini kaum tikus tanah punya aksen sendiri, yang bikin kadang-kadang omongannya sulit dipahami pembaca makhluk lain, jadi sering dianggap remeh. Tapi Arula tak gentarr~ (❤▽❤)

  • Katy

    Another quest (or two), trouble at home, some bad guys to kill, and happy ending
    New characters in similar stories, but still enjoyable. Will I make it through all 22 books?

  • Kim

    I have run out of steam for the Redwall series.

    1- The characters are new in every book now, and there is very little attention paid to where each book falls in the chronology of Redwall Abbey's development. The reader spends a lot of time wondering who each creature is related to, when this story happened, etc. with no answer.
    2- Brian Jacques talks about food too damn much. If I read one more line about Foremole's deep-n-ever beetroot pie, buttercup cream or strawberry cordial, I am going to scream. Seriously, 25% of the book is menu and eating. AUGH!
    3- Which makes other parts of the book anachronistic because they are all about woodland creatures killing each other, poisoning, stabbing lances through hearts, slicing throats, I mean seriously gory, violent stuff.
    4- The accents are now pissing me off. The moles speak this kind of cockney that is so annoying and difficult to read I skim over all of it. The otters speak this pirate-type baloney, also skimmable. And the rabbits speak like I don't know what -- crazed British/Australian goofballs.

    The plots are very good. There are always disasters to resolve (Dryditch disease) and bad guys to annihilate (Ferahgo the Assassin). And the clever plot twists and cliffhangers kept me curious and reading past the annoying elements.

    However, between the food and the accents, I skimmed at least 50% of this book. Time to stop. The first 3 books in the Redwall series are great though.

  • Stacy

    5 stars from the 10ish year old me reading her first ever fantasy novel. It got me hooked, I devoured the whole series, then went searching for more like it. Present day me gives it 3.5 stars. Jacques is an excellent writer; I really do love the way he blends multiple story lines throughout the books only to tie them up together in one neat little package at the end. The characters and the world are just lovely. What I wouldn't give to live at Redwall Abbey! However adult me recognizes that each books plot is almost exactly the same, and doesn't really like having a moral lesson shoved down my throat at every opportunity.
    All the same, I look forward to reading these with my little ones someday. I think they are the perfect stories to instill a love of reading into a child.

  • Tabitha Tomala

    This review is also featured on
    Behind the Pages: Salamandastron

    Ferhago the Assassin has set his eyes on Salamandastron. He is convinced treasure lies within the mountain’s depths. His son tricks Mara and her friend Pikkle into leaving the safety of Salamandastron to use as leverage. But Ferhago will find that the young badger and hare are not so easily kept captive. Meanwhile, across Mossflower Woods, Martin the Warrior’s sword is stolen from Redwall Abbey by members of Ferhago’s crew. Samkin the squirrel and Arula the molemaid set off to retrieve the Abbey sword, inevitably crossing paths with Mara and Pikkle. Together they must find a way to aid Salamandastron.

    It was refreshing to see a squirrel wielding the sword of Martin the Warrior. The heroes of Redwall have all been mice up until Salamandastron. As each woodland creature has its own way of approaching situations, having a squirrel's perspective was a welcome change. Samkin is a skilled marksman but does not put his talent to good use. He and Arula are often found shooting arrows as pranks and landing themselves in trouble. But when Martin's sword is stolen, he and Arula do not hesitate to track down the thieves. And in doing so, they will overcome their mischievous ways and find themselves on their paths to becoming heroes.

    While Redwall Abbey is an integral part of Salamandastron, the focus stays rooted in the characters tied to the mountain. Ferhago is a devious foe, willing to play the long game to win. He has many tricks up his sleeve and could care less if he is dishonorable in his victories. The solidarity and determination of the Salamandastron squad will encourage readers to cheer them on and weep alongside those who lose companions. The battle of good versus evil ensues as heroes young and old rise up against their vermin foes.

    And while this time around no one is seeking to capture Redwall Abbey, a new unexpected threat lies in wait for the peaceful creatures. A sickness begins to spread, one that Brother Hollyberry has nothing to cure. And while it seems as if another plot would overtax the storyline, it gives readers a respite from the battles taking place at the mountain. Building a new form of tension as creatures succumb to the sickness awaiting the discovery of a cure.

    Salamandastron breaks the mold of the previous Redwall books and yet still immerses readers in a wonderful tale filled with heroes, quests, and found family. The fifth book of the Redwall series provides a healthy dose of Redwall lore, wholesome adventure, and great characters. Readers will be sure to enjoy this fast-paced installment of the Redwall series.

  • Greg

    4/5 This was the last of the Redwall novels I read when I was younger. I’ve been trying to read one or two of them a year to finally finish reading the series. Salamandastron is the 5th book in the series of 22 total. They’re easy reading and stylistically very similar of each other. I think I enjoyed this one a bit more than the last in part due to the larger cast of characters and better protagonist in Ferahgo the Assassin and his son Glitch. I think Mariel was a much better hero than Samkin who was the hero this time around but the Pirate Lord from Mariel of Redwall was pretty boring villain compared to the the rest. Ferahgo is up there with Cluny the Scourge or Slagar the Slaver.

    The series is fun but a bit repetitive but sometimes that’s just what I’m looking for. Not all fantasy tales need to be over deep or convoluted.

  • LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions)

    (I finished this a month ago and should have reviewed it back then, but I was more interested in diving into my next book than writing a review.)

    Salamandastron follows multiple groups of characters whose paths eventually converge. The primary storyline starts at Salamandastron. Ferahgo, a blue-eyed assassin weasel, has set his sights on that place and is convinced that there is great treasure to be found there. He knows it’ll all belong to him if he and his band can manage to defeat Urthstripe, the great badger Lord, and his skilled warrior hares. Urthstripe, meanwhile, is distracted by family problems: Mara, his adopted daughter, has been growing increasingly rebellious and restless.

    The secondary storyline starts at Redwall Abbey. Everything there is good food and celebrations, with occasional light punishments for scamps like Samkim the squirrel and his best friend Arula the molemaid, until a couple stoats accidentally do something horrible. Suddenly Samkim finds himself suspected of killing someone. As if that wasn’t bad enough, many of Redwall Abbey’s residents then fall ill with the dreaded Dryditch Fever.

    This is the first Redwall book I’ve ever read. I had planned to start with Redwall, the very first book in the series, but my copy was used and fell apart in my hands when I opened it up. After a little searching online, I determined that I should be able to start with Salamandastron, the one other Redwall book I owned, without becoming too confused.

    Salamandastron was given to me by a friend back when I was, I think, in middle school. If I had read it back then, I might have liked it more. Despite its copious amounts of (not explicitly described) violence and death, Salamandastron definitely read like it was meant for a younger audience - I’m guessing either the high end of the Middle Grade age range or the low end of the Young Adult.

    Then again, who knows? Maybe the various accents in Salamandastron would have annoyed Younger Me too. The moles were definitely the worst, although the falcons and eagle occasionally gave me trouble too. Here’s an example that made me laugh bitterly - a mole saying he had trouble understanding an eagle:

    “‘Och, these vittles are braw eatin’, Dumble. Ha’ ye nae mair o’ these wee veggible pasties the guid hedgepig lady made?’

    Droony squinched his eyes until they nearly disappeared into his small velvety face. ‘Bohurr, you’m heagle do be a-talken funny loik. Oi carn’t unnerstan’ a wurd ‘ee be sayen, Dumble.’” (290)


    Oh really. And how do you think I felt every time one of the moles opened their mouths? There were times I just gave up and skimmed certain characters’ dialogue. Why did Samkim’s best friend have to be a mole? ::sob::

    I can totally see younger readers being drawn in by the anthropomorphized animals and action scenes. And food descriptions! This book was chock full of delicious-sounding food. Unfortunately, sometimes all that food and eating detracted from the story. For example, at one point Mara’s friend Pikkle took part in an eating contest. This was after he and Mara had nearly been eaten by carnivorous toads. Not to mention, Mara and Pikkle should still have been worried sick about what Ferahgo and his band might be doing to their friends and family back at Salamandastron. But no, figuring out who could eat the most hot spiced apple pudding was suddenly the most important thing.

    This was part of the reason why the book read so young: serious stuff happened, but it didn’t seem to have as much emotional impact as it should. Several good characters died! At least one of them senselessly! And one villain’s fate was saved from being gruesome only because most of it happened off-page and none of it was described in detail. If the other Redwall books have body counts similar to this one, I don’t think it’d be too out of line to say that Brian Jacques is the George R.R. Martin of Middle Grade fantasy.

    But, again, those deaths didn’t have much emotional impact. Beloved friends and family died, and characters moved on within a page or two and were soon back to happily gorging themselves on delicious festival foods.

    Meh. I had hoped to fall in love with this series, but Salamandastron has left me with no desire to try more.

    Additional Comments:

    I couldn’t figure out how to fit it into the body of my review, but I wanted to mention it anyway: I have never seen so many characters practice such terrible weapons safety in a single book. Samkim liked to shoot arrows wherever, just for fun, and all the adults around him did was ground him and then worry they were being too harsh. And one character, an adult who should have known better, straight up stabbed himself (not fatally, but still) because he’d been playing around with a sword like it was a toy.

    Rating Note:

    I gave this 1.5 stars on LibraryThing and Booklikes and rounded down to 1 star for Goodreads because it just didn't interest me enough for 2 stars to be appropriate.

    (Original review posted on
    A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

  • John

    "Disappointing. For a book called Salamandastron, the wasn't enough about the lore of the place. There wasn't anything. It was also too split up between different characters, more than any other Redwall book. You'd have a cliffhanger and not get back to it for four chapters. Bad job, two stars. Didn't care about any of the characters either because you didn't spend enough time with anyone to get to know them."

  • Ben

    I love how Salamandastron abandons the pattern the first four books choose to follow. I think that's why it became one of my favorites right away. The way the story is told as a bedtime story to one of the dibbuns, it's rather clever. The pacing was also a lot more solid and I was always wondering how the good creatures of Salamandastron would protect their precious mountain from Ferahgo and his seemingly endless band of Corpsemakers. Definitely one of the best Redwall books so far, but I'm still looking forward to rereading my absolute favorite, Marlfox. Salamandastron also gives much love to the badger loving people, proving that badgers do not give up the ghost until they kill their target.

    Side note: This is probably one of the fastest books I read, even with my cousins staying the weekend.

  • Ethan Sexton

    I sound like a broken record talking about Redwall, but I don't care: this is one of the best in the series (just like all the others). The characters are realized, and the plot is well-structured, but it has distinct moments to it that elevate it. The B-Plot is a rare one to feel just as tense, yet unique and separate from the A-Plot. I think one of the best parts of this book is that I struggle with what else to say for risk of spoilers, which I never want to include in a review. Seriously, there aren't many books in this series I can confidently say have moments you don't want spoiled, but this book's got 'em. So in conclusion: good plot, good characters, good moments, great book. This is a top fiver.

  • Eric0022

    A fun, nostalgic romp through the pages of my childhood’s favorite series.

  • Nate Adams

    Excellent book, great action, pretty sad at parts but also really fun.

  • Alicia Aringdale

    One of my all time favorite tales from Redwall. I love all the characters, especially the Long Patrol hares and the way it all comes together in the end made me very happy.

  • James

    I appreciated this book because it was a bit of a departure from Jacques' prior books, in which he uses a formulaic, repetitive plot. This does still have similarities, but it also expands. I imagine that the books in the series after this one will continue to grow his universe quite well.

    That being said, there was a LOT going on in this with, I believe, six simultaneous sub-plots, and 95 named characters, almost every one of which is new to the series and brought up multiple times. Even as an adult, I found it hard to keep track of them all. I'm not sure I'd recommend this one to young readers. I also assumed that, having been named "Salamandastron," I would have been given the opportunity to learn a significant amount in regard to the inner workings of the mountain and what takes place inside there. However, I walked away with hardly anything I didn't already know from prior books, which wasn't much.

    Lastly, I hope Jacques stops using the word "bodily." As in, "Fearago threw himself bodily at Urthstripe." It just... sounds bizarre and makes me picture a creature picking themself up and flailing through the air at their enemy like a living meat projectile. He uses it often enough to make me cock an eyebrow.

  • Kyle Dinges

    I've got two primary thoughts after finishing Salamandastron:

    1. I found this to be the best book in the series since the initial entry.

    2. I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 because there are soooooo many songs. I don't know if it's an exaggeration to say that at least 5% of this book is characters singing songs. Authors putting songs in books, comics, etc...is one of my biggest pet peeves. They never work and are almost always bad. Just write "They sang songs as they rowed" instead of writing a song that's a full page of dull text. I mostly just skip them any time they come up in a book at this point in my life. RIP to Brian Jacques but I'll be damned if the man ever met a moment he didn't think could be improved by having woodland creatures sing about it. Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED talk. I hope you'll sign my petition requesting fantasy authors stop writing songs in their books.

    It is a good book if you skip all the singing.

  • David Clouse

    This is probably my second favorite in the series so far. The book starts out just brutal and maybe it's because I'm a father now that the beginning was more heart wrenching but this series can get really intense sometimes! As always, I read these books and want nothing more than to be able to live at Redwall for the rest of my life. On top of this, the badgers are usually some of my favorite characters so I love getting a story that focuses more on them. I'm also really surprised that I actually kind of felt bad for some of the rats for the first time in one of the books. Really I can't think of any complaints per se, just not quite five star material.