Mattimeo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| UK 1st Edition Cover | |
| Author | Brian Jacques |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Gary Chalk |
| Cover Artist | Pete Lyon |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Redwall |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Hutchinson (UK) & Philomel (US) |
| Released | 1989 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 312 (UK Hardback) & 446 (US Hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-09-173898-9 (UK Hardback) & ISBN 0-399-21741-X (US Hardback) |
| Preceded by | Mossflower |
| Followed by | Mariel of Redwall |
Mattimeo is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 1989. It is the third book in the Redwall series.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
All his life, the worst thing young Mattimeo had to fear was a stern lecture from his father Matthias, but all that changes when Slagar the Cruel visits Mossflower Woods with plans to kidnap Mattimeo in a bid to shake the very foundations of the Abbey and its inhabitants.
[edit] Plot summary
Matthias and Cornflower have had a son named Mattimeo, who has been generally spoiled throughout his life. Meanwhile, the masked fox Slagar the Cruel and his gang of slavers are planning to enter Redwall Abbey during one of their feasts. Slagar, a villainous fox craving revenge for a crime never committed against him, intends to capture slaves from Redwall and take them to the Kingdom of Malkariss to be sold. After drugging the Abbey residents, he kidnaps Mattimeo, Tim and Tess Churchmouse, Cynthia Bankvole, and Sam Squirrel. They meet Auma, (a young badger maid) and Jube, (a hedgehog), who were also kidnapped by Slagar the Cruel. Upon discovering the children missing, Matthias, Basil Stag Hare and Jess Squirrel leave the Abbey to hunt down Slagar and return the children back home.
On their journey, they meet up with Orlando the Axe, the father of Auma and Jabez Stump, the father of Jube. As they journey, they find the Guerilla Union of Shrews in Mossflower (Guosim), and convince them to aid the travellers on their quest.
Meanwhile, at the Abbey, an army of rooks, led by the raven General Ironbeak, have declared siege to the Abbey, conquering it from the top down. The Abbey dwellers have sealed themselves in the large dining room (called Cavern Hole) and are harassing the birds by making them think the Abbey is haunted. As the siege continues, a large, badly injured redkite named Stryk manages to fly to the Abbey and is rescued from the rooks by Constance. Eventually, Ironbeak mangages to infiltrate Cavern Hole, but he is attacked by the now healthy Stryke and killed.
After a long journey up cliffs, fighting a horde of archer rats, and crossing a desert, Matthias's gang finally arrive at the underground kingdom of Malkariss, where Slagar has been trading his slaves. There, the heroes fight the massive army of rats, while Matthias frees the slaves held there and is reunited with his son. Having destroyed the kingdom, the now free army of slaves starts to leave the area when suddenly Slagar appears. While running from the former slaves, Slagar inadvertently falls down a hole and dies.
The party returns back to the Abbey and there is peace once again in Mossflower.
[edit] Characters in "Mattimeo"
- Matthias
- Cornflower
- Mattimeo
- Slagar the Cruel
- Vitch
- Tim and Tess Churchmouse
- Cynthia Bankvole
- Sam Squirrel
- Auma
- Jubilation (Jube) Stump
- Basil Stag Hare
- Jess Squirrel
- Orlando the Axe
- Jabez Stump
- General Ironbeak
- Stryk Redkite
- Constance the Badger
[edit] Major Points
- The name Mattimeo is a contraction of "Matthias (his father), (Abbot) Mortimer, and Methuselah (his father's role model, and help-mate) ” the three characters of the book Redwall.
- Slagar the Cruel (really Chickenhound, son of Sela) is one of the few recurring villains, major or minor, to survive from one book and appear in another. Another such villain is Ripfang the searat, who in fact perishes in his first appearance in Mossflower, but later appears in the prequel Lord Brocktree.
- Malkariss is the only polecat to appear in any of the Redwall books.
- After Slagar tells Mattimeo his distorted version of how he believes the Redwallers betrayed him, Sam the squirrel tells Mattimeo the "true" version. In fact, there are a number of inaccuracies in Sam's version. He omits the fact that Constance made and broke a deal with Sela and Chickenhound. He also claims that the foxes tried to spy on the Redwallers for Cluny and the rats and tried to sell information to both the Redwallers and the rats. According to the events in the novel Redwall, both claims are untrue; Chickenhound and Sela, despite their unethical behavior, never tried to spy on the Redwallers or sell information about them to Cluny and his army. Jacques presumably decided later that Constance's behavior in Redwall was too close to being morally debatable, and revised events after the fact to make the badger Constance perfectly ethical and the foxes completely evil and unredeemable. This lends support to the claims of some that Jacques' books are too simplistic in attributing perfectly ethical behavior to 'goodly' woodland creatures and portraying all vermin as unredeemably evil. OR it could mean that the events in Sam's story is how he understood them. He was very young at the time the events took place.
[edit] Lord of Mossflower
A very tall and big fir tree stands far from the badger and the bell, which on midsummer's day has a very long shadow that points the directions to the remains of Loamhedge Abbey. This very tree is called the Lord of Mossflower, which is stated in the message from the south wall of the abbey.
[edit] Book Divisions (English)
- Book 1: Slagar the Cruel
- Book 2: General Ironbeak
- Book 3: Malkariss
[edit] Translations
- (Dutch) Het Zuidland
- Het Zuidland: Slagar de Wrede
- Het Zuidland: De Kloof
- Het Zuidland: Malkariss
- (French) Rougemuraille : Mattiméo
- Tome 1 : Salik le Barbare
- Tome 2 : Le Général Becdacier
- Tome 3 : Le Royaume du mal
- (German) Mattimeo: Die Rache des Fuchses
- Slagar der Grausame
- General Eisenschnabel
- Lord Malkariss
- (Italian)
- (Swedish)
- Del 1: Slagar den Grymme
- Del 2: General Järnnäbb
[edit] External link
| Preceded by Redwall |
Redwall Series (chronological order) |
Succeeded by The Pearls of Lutra |
| Preceded by Mossflower |
Redwall Series (publication order) |
Succeeded by Mariel of Redwall |
| Books in the Redwall series, by Brian Jacques |
|
Lord Brocktree | Martin the Warrior | Mossflower | The Legend of Luke | Outcast of Redwall | Mariel of Redwall | The Bellmaker | Salamandastron |
