Product Description

The nomad clan of Sawney Rath can feel their fortunes changing, much for the better. The Mighty One, the next great leader, has been born within the walls of Redwall Abbey and, at any cost, Sawney Rath is determined to harness the power of this magnificent beast - the deadly Taggerung! A baby otter is kidnapped from Redwall by Sawney's ruthless band of villains called the Juska. They believe he is a Taggerung - a legendary animal said to have supernatural fighting skills. The young otter is raised by Sawney Rath as his own son and trained to be a ruthless killer, but the Redwall spirit cuts deep and as the Taggerung reaches adolescence he begins to dream of another life ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #167244 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

From the Back Cover
Sawney Rath, ferret chief of the Juska tribe, and his ruthless band of villains kidnap a baby otter from Redwall to raise him as the Taggerung – a legendary animal said to have supernatural fighting skills. The young otter is trained to be a ruthless killer, but the Redwall spirit lies deep within him and as he grows older he begins to dream of another life . . .

About the Author
Brian Jacques was born and bred in Liverpool, where he lives today. At the age of fifteen he went to sea and travelled the world. He has worked as a stand-up comedian and playwright and now hosts his own programme, Jakestown, on Radio Merseyside. His bestselling Redwall books have captured readers all over the world and won universal praise.

Excerpted from The Taggerung by Brian Jacques. Copyright © 2001. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The clan of Sawney Rath could feel their fortunes changing, much for the better. Grissoul had predicted it would be thus, and the vixen was seldom wrong. Only that day the clan foragers had caught a huge load of mackerel which had strayed into the shallows of the incoming tide. Fires blazed in the scrubland beyond the dunes that evening, as the fish, skewered on green withes, blistered and popped over the flames. Sawney was not as big as other ferrets, but he was faster, smarter and far more savage than any stoat, rat, weasel, fox or ferret among his followers. Anybeast could lay claim to the clan leadership, providing they could defeat Sawney in combat, but for a long time none had dared to. Sawney Rath could fight with a ferocity which was unequalled, and he never spared the vanquished challengers. Sawney's clan were nomads, sixty all told, thieves, vagrants, vagabonds and tricksters who would murder and plunder without hesitation. They were Juska.
Many bands of Juska roamed the coasts, woodlands and byways, but they never formed a united force, each choosing to go its own way under a strong Chieftain. This leader always tacked his name on to the Juska title, so that Sawney’s clan came to be known as the Juskarath. Though they were little more than dry-land pirates, Juska vermin had quite a strict code of conduct, which was governed by Seers, omens and superstition.
Sawney sat beneath the awning of his tent, sipping a vile-tasting medication which his Seer Grissoul had concocted to ease the stomach pains which constantly dogged him. He watched the clan, noting their free and easy mood. Sawney smiled as some of the rats struck up a song. Rats were easily pleased; once they had a full stomach and a flagon of nettle beer they would either sing or sleep. Sawney was only half watching the rats, his real attention focused upon the stoat Antigra. She lay nursing her newborn, a son called Zann. Sawney could tell Antigra was feigning slumber from the hate-laden glances she threw his way when she thought he was not looking. Sawney Rath's eyes missed very little of what went on around him. He pulled a face of disgust as he sniffed the mixture of feverfew and treacle mustard in the cup he held, and, spitting into the fire, he muttered the newborn stoatbabe's name.
‘Hah, Zann!’
Grissoul the Seer stole up out of the gathering darkness and placed a steaming plate of food by his side. He glanced up at the vixen. She was an odd-looking fox, even for a Seer. She wore a barkcloth cloak which she had covered in red and black symbols, and her brow, neck and limbs were almost invisible under bracelets of coral, brass and silver. About her waist she wore a belt from which hung a broad pouch and bones of all kinds. One of her eyes was never still.
Sawney tipped the plate with his footpaw. 'Am I supposed to eat this mess?’
She smiled coaxingly. ‘Yar, ‘tis the mackerel without skin or bone, stewed in milkweed and dock. Thy stomach’ll favour it!’
The ferret drew from his belt a lethally beautiful knife, straight-bladed, razor sharp, with a brilliant blue sapphire set into its amber handle. Delicately he picked up a morsel of fish on the knife point, and tasted it.
‘This is good. I like it!’
Grissoul sat down beside him. ‘None can cook for thee like I.’ She watched him eating awhile before speaking again. ‘Th’art going to ask me about the Taggerung, I feel it.’
Sawney picked a sliver of fish from between his teeth. ‘Aye. Have there been any more signs of the Taggerung?’
Antigra interrupted by leaping up and thrusting her baby forward at them. ‘Fools!’ she shouted defiantly. ‘Can’t you see, my Zann is the Taggerung!’
The entire camp fell silent. Creatures turned away from their cooking fires to see what would happen. Sawney stood up, one paw holding his stomach, the other pointing the knife at Antigra.
‘If you were not a mother nursing a babe you would be dead where you stand. Nobeast calls Sawney Rath a fool!’
Antigra was shaking with rage. The baby stoat had set up a thin wail, but her voice drowned it out.
‘I demand you recognise my son as Taggerung!’
Sawney gritted his teeth. Thrusting the dagger back into his belt he turned aside, snarling at Grissoul, ‘Tell that stoat why her brat cannot be called Taggerung!’
Grissoul stood between them, facing Antigra, and took a starling’s skull, threaded on thin twine, from her belt. She swung it in a figure of eight until the air rushing through the eye and beak sockets made a shrieking whistle.
‘Hearken, Antigra, even a long dead bird can mock thee. Shout all thou like, ‘twill not make thine offspring grow to be the Taggerung. You it is who are a fool! Can thou not see the omens are all wrong? Even though you call him Zann, which means Mighty One, he will never be the chosenbeast. I see all. Grissoul knows, take thou my word now. Go back to your fire and nurse the babe, and be silent, both of ye!’
Antigra held the newborn stoat up high, shaking the babe until it wailed even more loudly. ‘Never!’ she cried.
Sawney winced as his stomach gave a sharp twinge. He turned upon the stoat mother, roaring dangerously, ‘Enough! You have heard my Seer: the omens are wrong. Zann can never be called Taggerung. Unless you want to challenge me for the leadership of the clan and change the Juskarath law to suit yourself, I command you to silence your scolding tongue and speak no more of the matter!’
He turned and went into his tent, but Antigra was not prepared to let the matter lie. Everybeast heard her shout after him: ‘Then you are challenged, Sawney Rath!’

Customer Reviews

WOW! Redwall's come to life again!
Apart from the original, I think this is the best Rewall book ever. Why? It's just so different! This time Brian Jacques has almost changed the monotonous old Redwall formula (i.e. Random guy gets a summoning from M the warrior to go on a quest, finds the route through riddles hidden in a song... etc). Rolicking adventure is replaced by an emotionally charged plot, with it's joys and sorrows, victories and defeats, and it's refreshingly new, nothing like the disappointing 'Lord Brocktree'. Being the latest book chronologically also has it's advantages, as this brings in a whole cast of new characters (as well as keeping two of the old). And the characters are just great! Sawney Rath, the adoptive father of Tagg who changes from almighty cheftain to old bodger, Nimbalo the harvestmouse, brought up by a cruel father and wanting to prove himself, Rukky the mysterious otter healer... they are all marvellously placed forward in the development of the story.

And there's more. This time Redwall itself is given a new, more organised feel. There's a dibbun choir, wallguards, music teacher... This time there's a badgerlord without bloodwrath, Russano the wise (yay!)... this time there's real friendship, hatred, romance... and, to the disappointment of some fans I guess, not much action (there's not even a main bad guy, and no final showdown)...

I just hope that other books will feature Deyna and his friends, Fwirl, Broogle and Rosabel, Mhera and Filorn, Old Hoarg, Boorab (he actually made me laugh out loud). They're simply amazing characters, and Brian Jacques has simply done an amazing job on this, his latest book...

The best Redwall book yet!
If you are a Redwall reader, you will know as well as I do that the Redwall books are excellent beyond belief. However, I had started to notice that the plots seemed to fade into one another and become all to similar. This saddened me, as I did not want my favourite book series to drop in its high standards. However, once I had read 'The Taggerung', I knew that my fears had been in vain. The plotline is unlike any other Redwall one - a true tale of mystery, determination and true colours shining through. If you do nothing else this summer, read this.

Excellent book! a true redwall thriller
This book was excellent. No need to say more, but i will. The thing that made this book special was the individuality. It stood up from the other books, it was very different. The taggerung is about a mystical warrior, a very rare one. It turns out to be an otter, and he is taken in by rats, and raised by them. This is very interesting, as it deals with the concept of a `vermin otter` an evil otter, and since otters are noramlly considered good, this looked great. The only small letdown is the Taggerungs character. Way too soft, and if he was brought up by vermin, he would have been a lot crueler..but anyway, despite this, please buy this book, as it is first class reading.