I just bought the following books in the Redwall series in a warehouse sale. I’m wondering what the best order would be for me to read them, considering I know that the order in which they were written =/= chronological order in the stories.
Redwall
Mossflower
Mattimeo
Mariel of Redwall
Salamandastron
Martin the Warrior
The Long Patrol
Marlfox
Also, are there any I should acquire not on this list and should read before going on with the ones I have?
I would read them in chronological order, really. The one i’d be unsure about is Martin the Warrior; it’s chronologically very much the first, but it feels quite different in tone than the others (I don’t know why, it’s just does to me), so, don’t judge them all by that one, love or hate. I would say this order;
Martin the Warrior
Mossflower
Redwall
Mattimeo
Mariel of Redwall
Salamandastron
The Long Patrol
Marlfox
I’ve switched Redwall and Mattimeo in sooner just because they’re the more representative books, plus they’ve had the cartoons made about them so someone clearly agrees with me that they’re the best. 
As for aquiring… The Bellmaker shares characters with Mariel of Redwall, so if you like that, get that (it comes after it). Other than that i’m a fan of the whole series, so unless you want all the books recommended i’ll just do no more. 
hmm it’s been a long time since I’ve read those stories, but I was a HUGE fan at a younger age. Enjoy!
I have a very strong prejudice for reading a series in publication order, rather than an internal chronological order. There is mystery and magic in all series which can be lost if a pre-quel is read first.
(Would you really ask someone to read The Silmarillian before they read The Hobbit?)
Yeah, I agree with the good Doctor. Read them in the order they were published.
Another vote for publication order. Redwall serves as the perfect introduction to the whole series–a young mouse discovers there’s a hell of a lot more out there than his simple abbey. It slowly unfolds the whole Redwall world then and there. The other books, depsite being able to be read in most any order, do have the feeling that you should be at least somewhat familiar with the world already. Do you really want to read about the exploits of Martin the Warrior first, only to ruin the suspense of the events in Redwall later?
Publication order, I really think that you’d ruin things for yourself if you read them in chronological order. Man I used to love those books, I don’t know if I’d be able to get into them now though.
Which book was the battle cry “Ambala Ambala, kill kill kill!” from? Crazy shrews.
Man I loved those books when I was younger! I think I’m going to have to dig up my copies. I also think you should read them in publication order.
–FCOD
I agree with the above posters – read them in publication order.
They’re wonderful books, and I think you should get all of them, if you can! I started reading them in 5th grade, shortly after Redwall was published, and my grandmother (a former teacher) still gets me a hardback copy of each new book that he writes – even if it isn’t part of the Redwall series.
Jacques is a really gifted storyteller. I got to see him at a book signing a couple of years ago, and he read – no, I think he recited from memory! – one of the early chapters of Redwall, and he had the audience hanging on every word. And this was an audience comprised mostly of people who had read the book dozens of times! That sort of storytelling seems to be a rarity these days.
I can’t wait until my son is old enough to read them. I would read them to him, but I know I’d mess up the accents.
Absolutely. He narrates the Redwall audiobooks with a well-picked cast supplying the dialogue, and it’s simply wonderful to listen to time and again. There aren’t many better audiobook readers I’ve encountered than him.
Cluny is coming!
I used to (note the past tense) be a huge fan of the Redwall books. I read, and read, and read, and finally managed to get up to Lord Brocktree before I just gave up and chucked the thing across the room.
They’re great for kids, I’ll give you that, but sweet Jesus, those things define formulaic.
… and those critters sure can eat…
LOL! I realized this when I was reading the books at 8-years-old. I stopped reading around book eight I think, but they were still enjoyable.
–FCOD
I’ve always liked weasels, so I don’t like the books.
I have to weigh in with publication order as well. ‘Mossflower’ was my favorite of the 5 I read but to read ‘Redwall’ first made it even better.
The voice is even better when you realize its coming out of this guy. I loved these books as a kid, reread Redwall last year, loved it anew, and will also recommend that you read them in the order in which they were published.
I read the first five or six of them. I found they were relatively decent fun adventure tales, though seem to spend rather too many paragraphs describing food.
Read them in publication order, I guess. It didn’t harm the fanbase, and probably would make more sense that way, continuity wise, as they would’ve been written with the shift in timeline clearly in mind.
My daughter loves them, and I think she read Redwall first and then just took them in whatever order struck her fancy. She’s reread most of them many times, as well as his other books.
We also have a fire-bellied toad named Oykamon. He’s fat, but only slightly evil.
