The Legend of Luke

Redwall #12

by Brian Jacques

The twelfth Redwall story. Queen Silth rules Castle Mark from behind the curtains of her palanquin, and no beast may look upon the queen and live. Greedy and vain, she has sent her six children and an army of water rats out into the world to plunder treasure to adorn her palace.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Adventure, Animals, Middle Grade

374 pages, Hardcover

First published January 10, 1999

About the author

Brian Jacques (pronounced 'jakes') was born in Liverpool, England on June 15th, 1939. Along with forty percent of the population of Liverpool, his ancestral roots are in Ireland, County Cork to be exact.

Brian grew up in the area around the Liverpool docks, where he attended St. John's School, an inner city school featuring a playground on its roof. At the age of ten, his very first day at St. John's foreshadowed his future career as an author; given an assignment to write a story about animals, he wrote a short story about a bird who cleaned a crocodile's teeth. Brian's teacher could not, and would not believe that a ten year old could write so well. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as "a liar". He had always loved to write, but it was only then that he realized he had a talent for it.
He wrote Redwall for the children at the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind in Liverpool, where as a truck driver, he delivered milk. Because of the nature of his first audience, he made his style of writing as descriptive as possible, painting pictures with words so that the schoolchildren could see them in their imaginations. He remained a patron of the school until his death.

Brian lived in Liverpool, where his two grown sons, Marc, a carpenter and bricklayer, and David, a professor of Art and a muralist, still reside. David Jacques' work can be seen in Children's hospitals, soccer stadiums, and trade union offices as far away as Germany, Mexico, and Chile (not to mention Brian's photo featured in most of his books).

Brian also ran a weekly radio show on BBC Radio Merseyside, until October 2006, where he shared his comedy and wit, and played his favourites from the world of opera - he was a veritable expert on The Three Tenors.

When he was wasn't writing, Brian enjoyed walking his dog 'Teddy', a white West Highland Terrier, and completing crossword puzzles. When he found time he read the works of Mario Puzo, Damon Runyon, Richard Condon, Larry McMurty, and P.G. Wodehouse. He was also known to cook an impressive version of his favourite dish, spaghetti and meatballs.

Sadly, Brian passed away on the 5th February 2011.

Reviews

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

5+ stars (9/10 hearts). My first reaction on finishing this novel was OH MY HEART IT'S PERFECT AND EVERYTHING I WANTED IT TO BE 😭😭😭 and it’s still accurate. I loved this story so, so much!!

How do I even review it? I barely have any words. Just pure delight.

To start off, MARTINNNNNN!! HE’S BACKKKK!!!! and he’s just amazing in here—you get to see so much of his character in “normal” mode instead of war mode. I loved seeing him paired up with Gonff and Dinny again. They are such amazing friends for him—specially Gonff, who isn’t actually the shallow little beast he pretends to be. <3 I also love seeing him with the kids… He’s seriously so wonderful. Trimp was so sweet and strong, and Chugger was ADORABLEEEEE and hilarioussssss! And of course there was Beau the hare (love that guy); and the villain who was actually quite interesting and funny (at least, the fox was; V.D. was pretty standard but he served the purpose quite well); and LUKEEEEE—I loved Luke!!! He’s so awesome, very like Martin but still different from him. Martin has a streak of sweetness that he got from his mother. But all the sacrificial warrior blood he got from his father. <3 AND THE OTTERS! Ahem. Seriously. They were all so amazing. I love otters. And F. in particular was a striking one. Oh, and the warrior squirrel—she was epic.

It was sooo fun seeing Martin retrace his father’s steps and figure out his past and his childhood… and it was perfect… I mean it was so sad but it was perfect backstory to Martin and made everything make so much sense… and I love how LUKE LITERALLY CAME FROM MOSSFLOWER SO IT ALL FITS THAT MARTIN WENT BACK!!!! And also THEY TALKED ABOUT MASK FROM MOSSFLOWER!!! That whole connection was wonderful. And the beautiful abbey and its building, and the wonderful writing, and…

Y’all, this is the best Redwall book ever. Tied with Martin the Warrior, but—dare I say it?—somewhat more amazing. I couldn’t stop smiling, laughing, crying, exclaiming, shivering…

It’s. just. perfect.

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

"It was a wondrous tale he had to tell...It was also very sad at times, but does not sadness mingle with joy, to make us grow fully into the creatures we are?"

—Abbess Germaine, The Legend of Luke, P. 373

I wasn't sure what to expect when I first picked up this book to read it. Would the plot be focused more on Luke the Warrior or his son Martin, who has become a legend to fans of the Redwall series all around the globe?

Ultimately, I believe The Legend of Luke is the best Redwall book since volume number eight, Outcast of Redwall. The tone of Luke's adventures carries the same bittersweet style and spirit as the first few odysseys that Brian Jacques put down on paper, leading us on an impossible to forget journey into a world of surprising new characters and dark, unexpected plot twists, a fantasy world that never delves so far into the surreal as to dull the emotional impact of its sharply poignant moments. At his best, Brian Jacques is a master of writing and creativity, and his books reflect a deep knowledge of the human experience and the kind of wisdom that can touch us all and transform our hearts.

For anyone who loved the land of Mossflower as Martin the Warrior knew it, The Legend of Luke is an essential read. Being taken back once again to the time of Martin the Warrior is a gift that no lover of literature should pass up, well worth the time commitment required for a three hundred seventy-four page tome. Since the beginning of the Redwall series we have heard whispers about the immortal Luke the Warrior, casting teasing shadows of who this powerful warrior was and how the events of his life worked to make Martin into the great champion he would become. The Legend of Luke answers many of these questions, completely respecting the history that had come before it while introducing new ideas and characters whose identities will forever be etched in Redwall lore.

[Leila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story as always with all Brian Jacques's books.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of Martin the Warrior continues as he returns to the shores where he was born to learn the fate of his father, Luke the Warrior. Luke's story is an adventure in itself.

[Cheyenne Langevelde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did not expect to love this one as much as I do. Getting to see more of Martin's backstory is a mix of delight and grief, and I am left with that wonderful bittersweetness upon finishing this as I am with any great story.

Definitely one of my favorites among the Redwall tales.

[Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I loved about this book is that the beginning is in the present then in the past. It really unearths some of the characters' personalities. It also helps understand how Martin feels.

[Joseph Leskey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somehow, I managed not to review this when I read it, but it was highly fine and of excellent quality and all that.

[Brian Koser]

Redwall probably supplied more of my childhood imaginative geography than any other book series, more than The Hardy Boys, maybe even more than Narnia.

This was my first, a gift from my Oma who has estranged herself from the family. Aside from a couple early childhood visits, our only interactions were two book gifts: a health food book for a wedding present, and this for Christmas 2001.

You could analyze this and find missteps, but I choose not to. Jacques balances the adventure and the homecoming in his stories as well as anyone. It's not at the level of The Hobbit or Narnia--I'm past the time of life to read Redwall books on my own. But I expect I'll read more with the children.

I've never read one of these to the children and I don't know why. Was I worried them not holding up? Too long? At this point the oldest two have read more of the series than I ever did; was I avoiding re-reads?

[Thea (All About Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool adventure fantasy book, great characters.

[Kryptomite · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a welcome departure from Jacques, who has typically written in an almost identical manner for his entire Redwall series. The main part of the book (part 2) focuses on Martin's father, Luke, and his adventure of revenge for himself and his tribe. It's surprisingly grim, and displays many tribulations I wouldn't expect Jacques to portray in a children's series. It also explains why Martin might have hinted-at anger issues and possible repressed abandonment troubles. It even includes a memorable villain and ship, which is a major upgrade from the past series of villains who don't end up having a major part to play, in my opinion.

Legend of Luke is not without its downfalls. The first and last parts of the book are seriously disjointed from the middle. The first part has martin and his crew traveling through serious peril just to find out Martin's past, with people dying or risking death along the way. One might argue that losing one's friends would not be an acceptable risk for a history lesson. And it also brings up the question how anyone survives in Mossflower woods at all with the number of evil creatures that live in it. Worse, by the time you finish with Luke's story, you're 3/4's of the way through the book, and the slog they had gone through to find out about Luke is all but a distant memory, which brings me to part three.

The last part of the book is awkward, because the section on Luke really wraps things up, and its followed by Martin also wrapping up his emotions and sailing away. You really get the feeling that he should have simply shown back up at Redwall and greeted everyone as a wiser, more grounded mouse. Instead, you go on a strange, backward adventure through all the areas they've already been. Now, that's not to say it didn't have its highlights - mounting their ship on wheels to create a wind-powered hot rod, being one of them - but it still felt strange. It's like if LotR made you follow Frodo and Sam all the way back from the volcano to the shire again. Yes, there are still dangers, obviously, but isn't the story over? And because part 1 and 3 were separated by the comparatively large part 2, you find yourself separated from the characters, and I at least struggled to remember who some of them were.

Other than that, the book could almost be classified as a musical, as it has 30ish songs/poems throughout it - almost as many as it has chapters - which does cheapen that aspect of his books a bit. And it doesn't really dive into what happened to the remains of Luke's tribe, or go into the detailed construction of Redwall Abbey (Having Martin show up after you follow everyone around Redwall, doing entertaining building adventures would have been a much stronger part 3 to the book than Martin's return journey). That being said, I enjoyed Luke's story so much, it really drove the book home from me, and shows that (perhaps) Jacques may have grown a bit in his writing.

[Anne L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Legend of Luke is one book in the series A Tale from Redwall, in which all the characters are animals, with their own quirks, dialects, and interests. Redwall Abbey centers in most of the stories. An immense (for critters) edifice that houses dozens or more, it’s a place where anybeast (part of the series’ lingo: nobeast, everybeast, etc., just substitute “beast” where you normally would say “one” or “man”) can come to live in peace and harmony, working in the orchard or kitchens or with the dibbuns, the baby animals that sometimes seem to rule the roost. The stories are simple, involving great adventures, hardships, villans, and just plain fun, such as picnics in the orchards. There are good guys (mice, badgers, otters, shrews, and hedgehogs) and bad guys (rats, foxes, stoats, and toads). In this particular book, Martin the Warrior, a mouse of great renown and one of the founders of Redwall, searches for clues to the fate of his father, Luke, a great warrior of his own time. In the company of friends, he journeys north to discover why his father deserted him as a child and never returned. Not only Martin’s tale is told here, but also Luke’s. The books are cute, and would be best read a chapter at a time as a bedtime story to small children. Just be sure you’re up to tackling the oft-times difficult-to-read dialects of some of the species. I tended to skip over the poems and songs, which abound. My favorite part is when they’re dining on repasts that sound so enticing, I’m tempted to become a vegetarian. If you’re looking for something different, give one of the Tales of Redwall a try.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Legend of Luke was written with the same high quality that we have come to expect from Brian Jacques and his Redwall series. Unlike his previous stories though, this novel lacked the same level of character connection that the others created between the characters and the reader.

The story leading up to Martian finding his father's former comrades had some adventure, but nothing that we have not seen before from Martin and his loyal companion Gonff, including Gonff making a reprisal of his ability to out wit crabs.

As for the tale of Luke's last adventure, I think the fact that we the reader knew that this was an account that was not currently taking place, that we lost the sense of being involved in the action.

As for Martin's return trip to Redwall, he met up with old acquaintances and made a couple of new friends, but it all took place in a very quick, sum-it-up, kind of way.

Overall the story wasn't the most engrossing of the first four novels (chronologically), but it was a very good story and has peaked my interest as to what will happen next now that Marten has laid down his sword.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first red the book Redwall over 20 years ago. It brought back a love for reading which had been dormant for a few years. After that I would read each of Jacques' books, many just as soon as they came out. Later I moved on to other books and genres. I was given this book as a gift, and while grateful - because of the special place in my heart for Jacques and his tales, I was too busy reading "more important" pieces.
Then I decided to take a little break, dust off "The Legend of Luke" and enjoy the tale. What a delight. While it is a little simplistic in the plot, it is filled with fun adventures, mixed with a little bit of Christian values.
It nicely wraps up the tale of Martin the Warrior, a character who is central to Jacques stories. And while it might seem like a good way to end the Redwall chapter of my life, I now have a daughter and I hope that I will have many more chapters with her in the years to come.
While there may be other books which are "more important", I have learned that books like Jacques' are a good cement to fill the cracks.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The wonderous thing about reading Brian Jacques' writing is that it is so enchanting, you always want to return to it, in particular Redwall Abbey. Yes I have the audiobooks and I love how they have been dramatised, but reading the words created by Jacques is something altogether special.

This book gives the final piece of background to the one character who appears in nearly all of the Redwall books, Martin the Warrior. The story is in toxicating and although you know that there cannot be a completely happy ending, Jacques' writes it in a way that makes you still think there is a chance complete happiness will be found. The Redwall books are truly brilliant books for readers of all ages, but particularly for younger readers as they grow up due to their portrayal of youngsters and the learning curves they go through.

I will always love returning to the world of Redwall and it still saddens me to think there will be no more adventures coming from the imagination of Brian Jacques.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really disappointed going back to Jacques in adulthood. The animals are adorable, of course, but I skimmed over the saccharine feasts and shenanigans, looking for actual plot.

Speciesism in spades, naturally. Jacques rarely takes a complex approach to good and evil.

Also? This is a *tragedy*, no matter how sweet or fulfilling the frame story tries to make it.

I don't find Luke's fate praiseworthy. He abandoned his son, as well as the women and children of his tribe to seek revenge. And he took many of the able-bodied fighters with him. (Who all die at sea.) Consequently, Martin is captured into slavery despite this whole nonsense of "ridding the world of the great evil red ship." Like, Luke, buddy, you chose your dead wife over your living son. That's not heroic. And the ending in which Martin is somehow satisfied by this story is completely contrived -- maybe a Viking warrior culture would be into it but I simply didn't believe it.

Blah.

[Deborah · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot ended halfway through the book. The rest of the book was the triumphant procession home and the celebratory party. I'm not even kidding.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Three and a half stars. I liked that this book was about characters I already knew and liked, but why did so many other people have to die?"

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few issues: I’m not sure how well the three-part structure worked. Part three is mostly just conclusion; the meat of the book is in 1 and 2, and I didn’t feel like they were actually tied together very tightly, except by two characters who are defined as having minimal actual relationship or connection (a son abandoned by his father with few memories). The first section feels like something of a pilgrimage in a way. But it meanders, and the various events seem episodic, not always building strongly on each other. Part two has a much stronger narrative direction, and I felt it moved a bit better. The two are separated by a frame story that doesn’t actually work much though—part 2 is presented as a journal written by the four island dwellers. However, there is little change in style or tone or other literary device to set it apart from part 1. Most importantly, it maintains the same 3rd person omniscient POV as part 1, which probably does the most damage to the frame story. Jacques could have executed the frame story as presented; we know this from the epilogue, which offers pages from Abbess Germaine’s diary, and makes the necessary style, tone, pov changes to be consistent.
Part 2 I felt was the stronger; better defined narrative direction and better defined characters as a result. This section was much more engaging.
I also found it odd that Martin (nor anyone else) seemed to think any less of Luke for abandoning his son and dying on an explicit mission on vengeance. He’s praised for getting rid of this terrible sea pirate, but protecting the good folk wasn’t his primarily stated motive. No one seems to question these motives how they lead him to abandon Martin. Just seems like maybe not the most responsible parenting decision to me.
One notable thing about Jacques: he has the temerity and talent to write out various dialects and accents phonetically, but he manages to make it consistent and comprehensible to readers. That’s not easy.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

Top 3 books of the first 12: Redwall, Legend of Luke, The Long Patrol. I both admire the tradition & world-building (thus the OG being in the top 3), and clearly value when the formula gets shifted up, Luke being the most radical formal departure yet. Redwall is the rare series where a prequel introduces creative freedom; we know that Luke is long dead, so his story doesn't need to have the tidiness of heroic arc that most do.

I own about half the series from when I was a kid, having filled in the rest as an adult man with disposable income and no children. Imagine my surprise and delight, when I pulled this up from the depths of a box I moved out of my parents' house a few years ago, and found that my hardcover copy of this is signed by Jacques. :)

[Brett Weaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know for a fact I read this one as a kid and was too young to understand how Act Two was entirely Luke's story. So happy to be re-reading this series as an adult.

While I was grateful to go with Martin, Gonff and Dinny on another outing, I really enjoyed Luke's story as well. His personality was similar but noticeably different than Martin, and I really enjoyed that he got to interact with Vilu Daskar more than protagonists and antagonists usually interact, it gave character to them both. As always, a grand and heartwarming adventure.

No matter how many times Brian Jacques ends his books with a journal entry inviting the reader to stop by Redwall some autumn day, I get misty-eyed every time.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good Redwall book. I like the ones that have Martin in them, because he is not just a warrior who fights and stands for good and has no personal issues, like a lot of the other protagonists. He has a history, and it comes back to him. He wants to know what happened to his father, he wants to know where he came from. He is a very dynamic character.
The writing is great as always, very descriptive, especially the feast scenes. This is a good series to talk to young children after, about the difference between good and evil and how it is not always black and white.
A really good action tale as well, with plenty of humor throughout as well.

[Melissa Koser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dang, this one might be the darkest of all the Redwall books; Jacques didn’t pull the punches on this one! Just when things seem to be going pretty well, all hope is absolutely decimated. And yet, where there’s life there’s hope.
I felt that the journey of Martin to and from Tall Rocks to hear his father’s story made a nice bookend to it, rather than filler material. Pretty sure this one is in the top three best Redwall books.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Trevor Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Legend of Luke breaks the Redwall mold by splitting its story into two very separate sequences: the story of how Martin gives up his sword and the story of his father, Luke. Although the book is called The Legend of Luke, this is still very much part of Martin's journey, and it's mostly about how the character moves from the end of Mossflower to becoming Redwall's patron saint.

It's a weird book structurally, completely bifurcated by Martin's journey for his father's story, and then the tragic story of his father itself. Thematically, I'm not sure if any book is as thematically tight as this one, and while it has one of the lower body counts for the series, it is a profoundly sad book in many parts. Jacques is firing on all cylinders at certain stretches of the narrative, even if I still would have loved a tighter focus on a couple of elements.

But none of that really matters, because while this may be a very different Redwall book, it's still a Redwall book, and I think this is even one of the better ones when read in sequence with the others before it.

12 books into the series, I don't think I could love it more. Revisiting this classic was a real treat, and I think it holds up as one of the better entries to the series.

[Megan Cutler · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a word: disappointing.

I was actually looking forward to the Legend of Luke because it involved Martin and his fabled father. And indeed, the opening of the book was a breath of fresh air. I liked the linear nature as opposed to the back and forth the books usually feature.

Alas, as soon as the book reached the main story, the one about Luke, it became the same predictable formula of all the other books, though compressed to fit in the midsection of the book. The parts with Martin, Gonff and gang seem to only serve as a very long prologue and epilogue with no meaningful story or character development to speak of. Worse, the old mice telling the story in the first place reveal the climax before they even begin to tell the story!

I won't talk about the fact that no one can put together a coherent sentence in this world (now even the good guys talk like pirates! "Yore?" Seriously?). What I do find disturbing, though, is that with each passing book the good guys become more indistinguishable from the bad guys. I'm not sure which is worse; Martin and company *laughing* as a child is *beaten* or Luke and his tribe slaughtering a group of sea rogues to the last to steal their ship, not to mention some of the brutal and grotesque slaughter featured near the end of the book.

Unless you're fond of continuity bending, easily skipable. It adds nothing to the series.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Legand of Luke" by Brian Jacques is is a story about a mouse Named Martain, who is like a person in this series, looking for his father. The main character Martain was level heade,"wondrous indeed, Trimp, but you must always remember what a sword is really made for. It has only on purpose, to slay..."(Jacques 22). Martain was aware that Trimp admired the sword as if it were holy and could do no evil. He was aware of the perpous of the sword and was reminding Trimp of that. Martain was kind, " Karar isn't gone, Chugg, he's watching over us, even though we can't see him..." ( Jacques 60)

"The Legand of Luke" by Brian Jacques was not my favorite book in the "Redwall" series. It was slow pasedit took almost a quorter of the book to get to the rising action. It was in eventful. It was just discrasful to the series. I did not enjoy " The Legand of Luke" by Brian Jacques.

[Fiver · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another add-on to the Redwall series, appropriately churned out of the Redwall-plot machine and added onto the pile.

I understand that this is precisely how Children's Series are supposed to work, but I've read too many excellent children's books to suggest that anybody read this one.

[Asa · Rating 3 out of 5]

All around a great, fun book! It is written plainly and yet with engaging characters throughout its pages. It's plot is easy to follow and the narrative tropes are appropriate for younger readers without becoming annoying to older readers. Plus, there are fun songs to sing!

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoilers luke dies.