Dagfari's Book Reviews: Mattimeo

Mattimeo
By Brian Jacques

Mattimeo is at first a naughty young mouse who is always getting into trouble. Even though his father Matthias, who learned what it is to be a warrior through battling Cluny, a terrible rat who tried to conquer Redwall Abbey, tries to pass his knowledge on to Mattimeo, the spoiled little rascal won’t listen. And so he has to learn the wisdom of a warrior the hard way, through slavery and hardship.
All through his perilous journey, Mattimeo’s friends look up to him as their leader, and even though he struggles to live up to their expectations, he succeeds in standing up to Slagar, their captor. Mattimeo even gives his companions hope while they are imprisoned in Malkariss, a place which is dreaded by all creatures, even the rats of Slagar’s troop.
After his terrible journey is done, Mattimeo finally is able to take up the role of protector of Redwall Abbey, like his father before him.
I enjoyed this heroic tale because of its wonderful characters. Slagar makes a very interesting villain, because he is much more intelligent than your usual villain, and he has a secret identity as one of the more minor characters from Redwall.

Halloween

We all had a good Halloween. The weather was perfect, as it usually is this time of year in NC. Dagfari finally decided to be a Redwall vole (see photo). This caused some confusion among our neighbors during trick-or-treating, which I think was his intention.

D also decorated the yard extensively. See here for more pics. Now that Halloween is over, he wants to build a model of the Mayflower to put in the front yard for Thanksgiving. I think this is somewhat beyond my crafting skill level. We may have to make to with falling leaves in the yard, until Christmas season rolls around.