Martin the Warrior (book)





This book, the sixth in the series, is often considered to be one of the best-written and most tragic.

Book Divisions (English)

 * Book 1: The Prisoner and the Tyrant
 * Book 2: Actors and Searchers
 * Book 3: The Battle of Marshank

Summary
Martin the Warrior has been captured by Badrang the Tyrant, and has been working as a slave in Fort Marshank. Revolting against the torture and cruelty of Badrang, Martin vowed to free himself and one day return to reclaim the sword of Luke, his father, which Badrang had stolen. Along with fellow slaves Felldoh and Brome, he is rescued by Brome's sister Laterose of Noonvale and her mole friend Grumm Trencher. During their escape, they are separated.

An old friend of Badrang, Tramun Clogg, arrives with his pirate crew at Marshank and claims a slaves from Badrang. The Tyrant refuses to give them to Tramun and an argument ensues. Finally, Tramun marches out of the Fort and begins to besiege Marshank.

The slaves of Marshank collect weapons for the day when they are going to attempt to free themselves. The leaders of the rebel movement, Barkjon, Keyla, and Hillgorse encourage to others to work, but one of the slaves, Druwp, is a secret spy for Skalrag. He spies the events of the slave pen and reports them to the fox.

Brome and Felldoh meet the Rambling Rosehip Players, a traveling troupe. The squirrel and the mouse tell them their life stories and together they decide to assist in freeing the slaves of Badrang's fort.

Meanwhile, Martin, Rose, and Grumm are captured by Queen Amballa and her pygmy shrews where they meet Pallum the hedgehog. Martin saves Amballa's son Dinjer from a gannet and she allows them to leave safely with Pallum. They meet the kind old molewife, Polleekin, and tell her about their journey, which is to Noonvale. Polleekin warns them to return to Marshank or a terrible accident will happen. They continue their journey to Noonvale and later bump into the snobbish Mirdop family. The travellers are warned about cannibal lizards by Fescue Mirdop.

The Rambling Rosehip Players, Felldoh and Brome arrange a performance in Marshank and during the performance Felldoh secretly sneaks to the slave pen to free the slaves, including his own father. Just as the slaves are escaping, Dwurp sounds the alarm. Chaos ensues and Felldoh kills Druwp for treachery and Hillgorse is killed by the soldiers of Marshank while he is protecting the slaves, but unfortunately only half of them escape.

Martin, Rose, Grumm and Pallum arrive in a swamp and are captured by the cannibal lizards Mirdop warned them about. The travellers are fed and kept under the strict treatment. Later, the lizards attack Martin and drag him to a roasting pit, but fortunately travellers are rescued by the Warden of Marshwood Hill.

In the camp of Rambling Rosehip Players, Kastern and Rowanoak notice that the squirrelmaid Celandine is missing and Felldoh promises to go search her. The escaped slaves and Rambling Rosehip Players come together to form the rebellious Fur and Freedom Fighters unit.

Tramun Clogg and his crew find the missing Celandine and give chase. Felldoh, Rowanoak and Ballaw de Quincewold rescue her and of few of Clogg's rats are killed in the process. Brome, watching all of this, gets the idea to go and rescue the rest of the slaves of Marshank.

Tramun and Badrang make plans to murder one another. Badrang sends his captain Gurrad to murder Tramun and Tramun sends Oilback to murder Badrang.

The Warden of Marshwood Hill leads the travellers across the swamp and in the night he is attacked by a group of reptiles, but he the four travellers in turn save him. Later they arrive at the base of a mountain and the Warden tells them to climb to the cave half-way up to meet the owl Boldred.

Brome, who is now disguised as a searat called Bucktail, sneaks into Marshank by helping Wulpp. With Keyla's help, he strikes the rat unconscious. Brome tells Keyla his mission and together they transport the rest of the slaves into the slave pit. They bump into Oilback, where there is a momentary conflict. Finally Brome and Keyla get all of the slaves transported to the slave pit and Brome searches for the original tunnel dug by Grumm. While all the slaves are in the tunnel, it collapses.

Martin, Rose, Grumm and Pallum climb up the mountain and are attacked by the Gawtrybe, who destroy their camp. The foursome threatened the Gawtrybe with the Warden and Boldred, but the squirrels jeer them and leave the camp. When they later continue their journey up to the cave, Gawtrybe again appear around them and their chief Wakka demands Martin fight him without weapons. Martin agrees and wins.

Keyla digs the tunnel open and slaves escape to the southern cliffs. Their escape is noticed in Marshank and the chase begins. Tramun promises Badrang to go searching for the escaped slaves to the north, but he actually walks with his crew around the fort and conquer it after Badrang and his soldiers have left. At the cliffs a battle takes place, but the slaves and Rowanoak, Felldoh, and Buckler (who has come to help) manage to escape. A few slaves and soldiers of Badrang are killed.

The four travellers meet the squirrels of Gawtrybe again and this time they want to play. Martin and companions agree but the squirrels notice they are breaking the rules of the game. They get angry and begin to chase the four and the game becomes deadly. Finally Martin and Co. reach the cave and call Boldred for help. She scolds the squirrels about their behaviour. Boldred introduces her mate Hortwingle and their daughter Emalet to them.

Badrang conquers his fort back from Tramun by coming in through the tunnel in the slavepit. Tramun himself becomes a slave and his crew become the members of Badrang's Army.

The following day the travellers are led to the other side of the mountain by Boldred. In a cherry orchard they meet a grim old hedgehog called Aggril, who scolds them about eating his cherries. Boldred turns up and tells Aggril that the cherry orchard isn't his. The old hedgehog takes the four to his home and serves them cherry juice. Later they notice that they are on the boat, which takes them to Noonvale.

The four trek back to the peaceful community of Noonvale, where Martin tries to convince Rose's parents, Urran and Aryah Voh to organize an army for a final attack on Marshank. Although Urran is committed to peace and is reluctant to involve his people in a battle, he allows Martin to raise a small group of volunteers.

Felldoh's lust for revenge eventually leads him to launch a solitary attack on the fort, where he wounds Badrang and kills many vermin before finally being overwhelmed and slain. This leads to an all-out war between the Marshank forces and the Fur and Freedom Fighters.

As Martin returns to Marshank, he rallies otters and shrews to his cause and finally allies with the Fur and Freedom Fighters for the ultimate battle. Martin successfully kills Badrang and reclaims his father's sword. Rose, however, is killed, and in his grief, Martin does not feel comfortable staying on at Noonvale. The legendary Warrior eventually heads south into Mossflower Woods in search of more adventures.

The plot itself is actually a "story-within-a-story", as the book begins and ends within Redwall Abbey, where the mousemaid Aubretia and her hedgehog companion Bultip are telling the story to the current Abbey dwellers, during the time of Abbot Saxtus. Characters in Martin the Warrior

Release details

 * 1993, UK, Hutchinson Children's Books Ltd, ISBN 0091761506, Pub. Date: October 1993, Hardcover
 * 1994, US, Philomel Books, ISBN 9780399226700, Pub. Date: February 1994, Hardcover
 * 1994, UK, Red Fox, ISBN 0099281716, Pub. Date: June 1994, Paperback
 * 1995, US, Ace, ISBN 9780441001866, Pub. Date: April 1995, Paperback
 * 1996, US, Time Warner International, ISBN 0441001866, Pub. Date: February 1996, Paperback
 * 2004, US, Puffin, ISBN 9780142400555, Pub. Date: February 2004, Paperback
 * 2006, UK, Red Fox, ISBN 1862301433, Pub. Date: August 2006, Paperback
 * 2006, US, Red Fox, ISBN 1862301433, Pub. Date: September 2006, Paperback