Plot summary - Mossflower tells the story of Martin the Warrior, who finds himself trespassing on the land of Verdauga Greeneyes as Verdauga lies sick and near death. With his last strength, Verdauga struggles to make a decision on who should replace him as ruler of Mossflower Woods. Tsarmina has a fox healer named Fortunata give her brother Gingivere herbs to unwittingly poison Verdauga; when Verdauga dies her brother is framed. As Martin and his fellow prisoner Gonff become embroiled in the battle against Verdauga's ruthless daughter, Tsarmina, a bloody fight between good and evil ensues.
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First of all I have to say it drives me a bit nuts that these books are written out of order. It doesn't make them hard to follow, but I can find no rhyme or reason as to order of these stories. They leap back and forth in time for no reason than I can determine other than the author just decided to write whatever story grabbed his attention at the time. It doesn't effect the stories at all, and the official website gives a chronological order of these books, but recommends readers to read them in the order they're published. So maybe there is some order that I'm just not aware of.
Anyway Mossflower is the story of Martin the Warrior who is discussed quite a bit in the first book Redwall. (Which I have also reviewed.) Martin is a legendary figure in the Redwall story. In this story we see how he acquires his legendary sword and his journey towards becoming a skilled and compassionate warrior. Many animal species are represented in these stories and some of their speech is a bit difficult to follow. The moles especially take a while to get used to. But the skill which these stories are presented make for a very enjoyable read.
