User blog:LordTBT/News:Redwall Collectors Community: The German Redwall Saga



I remember the first time I saw Michaela Helms' cover artwork for the German editions of Redwall, Mossflower, and Mattimeo many, many years ago.

It was those latter two covers that really fascinated me: Slagar the Cruel's prominent placement, with a long, glorious mask on Mattimeo, while on Mossflower, our heroes are actually riding on the backs of the hares.

These illustrations were completely different from the US and UK iterations I was previously privy to. And now, at long last, these three editions of the German Redwall Saga have entered the Redwall Wiki library.

Herr Helms also provided the interior illustrations for these books, as well as for a few other series entries, but I believe these are the only ones that he drew the covers for, which was the main appeal for me. Thienemann was the publisher, and they hit stores in 1998.

I received the books from independent booksellers in Germany - and I must say, with standard/normal shipping, waiting for them was the longest process yet - approximately a month and a half from shipping time to Redwall Wiki HQ, each, as they were from separate businesses. And with no tracking numbers, you can't help but wonder if your books are lost. Of course, everything arrived safely.

The immediate thing to observe about these editions is their bulkiness; ''Redwall. Der Sturm auf die Abtei (444 pages), Mossflower. In den Fängen der Wildkatze (464 pages) and Mattimeo. Die Rache des Fuchses'' (463 pages) take up some serious real estate on the bookshelf.

Additionally, the title and author text on the binding is backwards/upside-down. At least, compared to any other book I've ever owned. I'm not sure if this is a German thing, or just Thienemann. And if it's unclear what I mean: look at the titles on your bookshelf. To read them, you have tilt your head to the right. To read these titles, you have to tilt your head to the left. In other words, if you're holding one of these, face-up in your hands, the title on the side is upside-down.

All three books have the exact same map, which is rather beautifully illustrated, and includes locations from later in the series too, so I can't help but wonder if it also appears in the non-Helms books. The map appears twice in each book: inside the front cover, and inside the back cover.

Like the English-language version, each novel is split into three "books." But what's interesting here, is that each "book" receives a full page illustration! I've included one from each below.

Full page illustrations for Redwall include an amalgamation or group of good-guy characters (Book 1); the rats of Cluny the Scourge (Book 2); and a very threatening Asmodeus (Book 3, see below!).

''Redwall. Der Sturm auf die Abtei''