Mossflower (Redwall #2) Book

If you asked me to pick a single favorite Redwall book, I'd probably splutter at you a lot and then mutter 'Mariel, if I have to pick just one'; but if you asked me for a list of my top 5, Mossflower would definitely be on it. Early on, before I'd read the rest of the series, it was far-and-away my favorite - for the interwoven quest and siege plots (two of my favorite fantasy structures, tropey as they can be, likely because of Redwall books), for the humor, and for the absolutely glorious takedown at the end. It's just a damn fun read.

One of, if not the, most memorable objects in the Redwall series is Martin's sword, and one of the things I love most about the books is their consistent emphasis on what the sword is and what it means. Nowhere is that more clearly laid out than in this book, wherein the sword is reforged by Boar the Fighter with the warning that "a sword is a force for good only in the paws of an honest warrior". The Redwall series does an excellent job of balancing both the mystical aura it affords to the sword and the message that the sword itself isn't inherently special; and for a series which rests squarely in line with so many fantasy tropes, emphasizing the importance of personal morality above object-linked magic is really important.

Last thing: as with all Redwall books, I strongly recommend the full-cast audio version of Mossflower. It's even more fun when you can hear it come to life.