Brian Jacques, author of the Redwall books, has died at the age of 71. Here's the BBC article. I myself have never been a Redwall fan, but despite that, Jacques certainly was a huge part of my mental conception of the realm of fantasy literature for kids, and it seems sad and hard to believe that someone so There now isn't.
The next Redwall book, The Rogue Crew, will be released this May. Here's the summary from Penguin, via the Redwall Wiki:"Redwall Abbey has never seen a creature more evil or more hideous than Razzid Wearat. Captain of the Greenshroud, a ship with wheels that can sail through water as well as the forest, this beast is a terror of both land and sea, traveling Mossflower Country, killing nearly everything—and everyone— in his path. And his goal? To conquer Redwall Abbey. From Salamandastron to the High North Coast, the brave hares of the Long Patrol team up with the fearless sea otters of the Rogue Crew to form a pack so tough, so rough, only they can defend the abbey and defeat Razzid Wearat once and for all."
No! I can hardly believe it.
ReplyDeleteI was never a big fan of the Redwall series myself, but he came for a signing at the bookstore I used to work at and I'll never forget it.
What a wonderful man he was... a great storyteller, tall and stout, with his British accent, it felt like he took up the whole room (in a good way)
He was inseparable from his pipe... I can't remember when I've ever seen such a heavy smoker. He was surrounded by a cloud of pungent tobacco wherever he went.
Just before he began his talk, as we were shushing the audience of eager children, one kid in the front row cries out, "Mommy, why does he smell so funny?" The mom proceeded to give the kid a lecture on why smoking was a bad idea!
Oh, Charlotte! I will have some students who will be devastated. I knew he hadn't been in good health. Thanks for letting us know; I'd missed it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the news. I wasn't a fan either but he was an awesome author and will be missed.
ReplyDeleteI read his first book to my children (we were homeschoolers) and they took it from there. My daughter has all of his books and they went to see him at a book signing in Edinburgh.
ReplyDeleteSorry he's gone... He did a lot of good work for children and young people.
I have never been a Redwall fan either, but I know lots of kids are. It is always sad for fans when a beloved author dies.
ReplyDeletehey, I just recently started to blog and recently started following your blog and this post caught my attention. I am very glad to see the influence his life has made on others, even those who didn't particularly enjoy reading his books. For me personally he was one of the greatest story-tellers of our time and he is and always will be my hero. Though I am still in my teens he is probably the singlular biggest influence in my own writting. I like your comments, and thank you for posting the final book description, I really appreciate it. :)
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