The Pearls of Lutra (published as Pearls of Lutra, with the "The", in the US) is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 1996. It is the ninth book published and eleventh chronologically in the Redwall series.[1]
When gathering herbs near the quarry in Mossflower Woods, the young Redwallers Tansy the hedgehog and Arven the squirrel come across a mysterious skeleton among the rocks. They are disoriented in a rainstorm and after failing to return to the abbey before the breaking of the storm are rescued by Martin II the mouse, son of Mattimeo and grandson of Matthias. Tansy quickly leads curious Redwallers back to the quarry to examine the mysterious skeleton, and along the way, they meet two travellers: the irrepressible hare Cleckstarr Lepus Montisle and his owl friend Gerul.
Meanwhile, far across the western sea on the tropical isle of Sampetra, trouble is brewing. Ublaz Mad-Eyes, a large, sinewy European pine marten with a hypnotic stare, gathers an army of barbaric monitor lizards and trident-wielding searats. The stoat captain Conva is sent out to retrieve the Tears of All Oceans, six legendary perfectly spherical rose-pink pearls, but after murdering the members of Holt Lutra—a European otter community that owned the pearls—the Tears are stolen by the least weasel Graylunk, who flees into Mossflower Woods. Conva tracks him to Redwall Abbey, where Graylunk takes refuge, before returning to Sampetra.
US cover of Pearls of Lutra
Ublaz is not pleased and murders Conva. He then sends out an elite force of monitor lizards, headed by their general Lask Frildur, to Mossflower to retrieve the pearls. They are escorted by the ferret captain Romsca and her crew.
However, the daughter of the Lutra chieftain is not dead. Far away on the western shores, Grath Longfletch, a strong female otter, was at the gates of the Dark Forest before being found by a pair of bankvoles, who nurse her back to health. The otter fashions a powerful bow and a quiver of green-fletched arrows, with which she planned on wreaking her revenge. She eliminates a longboat-crew of searats and then takes their boat southward into Mossflower, where she hopes to find the corsairs that slew her family.
Presently, Conva's brother Barranca discovers that Ublaz has killed his brother, and he begins hatching a plan to overthrow the pine marten and take the island for himself. With the fearsome Lask and his lizards gone to Mossflower, Barranca decides to seize his chance.
Back at Redwall, the old bankvole recorder Rollo determines that the skeleton in the quarry was Graylunk. He had become gravely injured in a fight with the weasel Flairnose, whom he killed, over the pearls before seeking safety at Redwall. There he befriended an old squirrel called Sister Fermald before he went off to die in the woods. Fermald, a clever, though senile old beast, had expertly hidden the pearls throughout the abbey before passing away several seasons ago. Tansy, Rollo, and Martin II, along with the hedgehog maid's friends Craklyn the squirrel and Piknim the mouse, begin a search for the six exquisite pearls. The Dibbun Arven and his two partners in crime, the moles Diggum and Gurrbowl, occasionally help in the search.
When Abbot Durral takes young Viola Bankvole for a stroll in Mossflower Woods, they are captured by Lask and his troops. Lask binds the Abbot and the bankvole and attempts to ransom them for the pearls at Redwall. However, the pearls have not yet been found, and Lask and his lizards take the two Redwallers back to their ship to be captives at Sampetra.
Martin, Clecky, Gerul, and the Skipper of Otters pursue the lizards through Mossflower, slaying several but failing to rescue the captives. Gerul and Skipper become wounded and are sent back to the Abbey, but the others chase the lizards to the western shore. There, they meet up with the GUOSIM and Grath Longfletch, who had caught sight of Romsca's ship, the Waveworm, and attempted to pick off some of the vermin. Durral manages to help Viola get to safety on the shore, but the ship departs before he can escape. Viola is sent back to Redwall with two shrews to guide her, and Grath, Clecky, Martin, and the Log-a-Log's two sons use discarded vermin boats to form the Freebeast, a double-outrigger vessel in which they pursue Lask to Sampetra. Viola, who has sneaked aboard, also ends up coming along.
On Sampetra, Barranca has been slain by Rasconza, a clever fox corsair who takes over the rebellion against Ublaz. Initial attempts at negotiation fail, due to the double-dealing of the pair, and when Ublaz tries to have Rasconza assassinated, Sampetra is plunged into all-out war. Ublaz's trident-rats, led by his general Sagitar, desert him and switch to Rasconza's side, but they are unable to take Ublaz's fortress, which is still held by his monitor lizards. Under siege, Ublaz decides to hold out until Lask Frildur returns with reinforcements.
In the search for the six pearls, the Redwaller friends slowly but surely find them all, though not without paying the price. The young mouse Piknim ends up being slain by the cruel jackdaws at St. Ninian's while searching for a pearl. The church is burnt down to prevent evil-doers from ever using it again (it had been used as a base by Redwall's enemies twice before in Redwall and Mattimeo), and the search resumes, with all the pearls eventually being found.
Martin, Grath and their friends closely follow Romsca and Lask across the ocean, and end up meeting the otters of Holt Ruddaring along the way. Inbar Trueflight, another skilled otter archer, and the seal Hawm tag along on the quest.
On the Waveworm, Durral is underfed and mistreated, but the ferret captain Romsca protects him from the fierce violence and hunger of Lask's cruel monitor lizards. Lask and Romsca, who had been at odds with one another since the beginning, finally battle on deck, with the forces of both being wiped out. Romsca ends up slaying Lask but is fatally injured in the process. Before dying, she gives the Abbot instructions on how to set the rudder to fix the ship toward Sampetra. As the last living creature aboard the ship, the old Abbot sails alone toward the evil isle. By the time the ship arrives, he is so weak from hunger and thirst that he is hallucinating; Ublaz, furious that the reinforcements he was waiting for are dead, takes the Abbot hostage.
When Martin, Clecky, Grath, Inbar, the shrews and Viola arrive on Sampetra, a battle ensues. Suspecting Sagitar and her trident-rats have betrayed him, Rasconza mortally wounds her, but she manages to kill him before dying herself, leaving the corsairs leaderless. Most of the monitor lizards and wave-vermin are killed, and Martin corners Ublaz alone in the caverns below his palace. They duel it out, but after wounding Martin, Ublaz accidentally steps on a poisonous coral snake (which he had hypnotised and kept as a pet to intimidate his enemies). The snake bites him, and he dies.
Durral is rescued and the warriors all return to Mossflower. They leave the island of Sampetra with no timber for ship building to force the vermin to learn to live in harmony with each other. Grath stays with Inbar at Holt Ruddaring, as the pair have fallen in love, but the others meet Tansy and her friends at the shore. The young hedgehog, realising the pearls lead only to greed and violence and bring nothing but misery and death to all who own them, casts them out into the sea to be forever lost. For her hard work, perseverance and aptitude, Tansy is made Abbess of Redwall to succeed old Durral. She becomes the first non-mouse abbot/abbess.
James Brian Jacques was an English author known for his Redwall series of novels and Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series. He also completed two collections of short stories entitled The Ribbajack & Other Curious Yarns and Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales.
Redwall is a series of children's fantasy novels by British writer Brian Jacques, published from 1986 to 2011. It is also the title of the first book of the series, published in 1986, as well as the name of the abbey featured in the book, and is the name of an animated television series based on three of the novels, which first aired in 1999. The books are primarily aimed at adolescents. There have been 22 novels and two picture books published. The twenty-second, and final, novel, The Rogue Crew, was posthumously released on 3 May 2011, almost three months after Jacques' death on 5 February.
Redwall is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques. Originally published in 1986, it is the first book of the Redwall series. The book was illustrated by Gary Chalk, with the British cover illustration by Pete Lyon and the US cover by Troy Howell. It is also one of the three Redwall novels to be made into an animated television series, along with Mattimeo and Martin the Warrior.
The Legend of Luke is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 1999. It is the 12th book and fourth chronologically in the Redwall series.
The Bellmaker is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 1994. It is chronologically the seventh book in the Redwall series.
The Long Patrol is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 1997. It is the tenth book published and the twelfth chronologically in the Redwall series, and it was a New York Times bestseller.
Mossflower is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 1988. It is the second book published and third chronologically in the Redwall series.
Triss is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 2002. It is the 15th book in the Redwall series.
The Taggerung is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 2001. It is the 14th book in the Redwall series.
Mattimeo is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 1989. It is the third book in the Redwall series. It is also one of the three Redwall novels to be made into a television series, alongside its self-titled novel and "Martin the Warrior".
Mariel of Redwall is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 1991. It is the fourth book published and sixth chronologically in the Redwall series.
Salamandastron is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 1992. It is the fifth book published and eighth chronologically in the Redwall series.
Rakkety Tam is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 2004. It is the 17th book in the Redwall series.
Loamhedge is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 2003. It is the 16th book in the Redwall series.
Outcast of Redwall is a 1995 fantasy novel by Brian Jacques. It is the eighth book and chronologically fifth book in the Redwall series.
High Rhulain is a children's fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 2005. It is the 18th book in the Redwall series.
Redwall is an animated television series produced by the Canadian Nelvana, along with the France-based Alphanim and Germany-based TV-Loonland AG that ran from 1999 until 2002. The series is based on the Redwall novels by Brian Jacques. The series spans three seasons, the first based on the first book Redwall, the second on Mattimeo and the third on Martin the Warrior.
Eulalia! is the 19th book in the Redwall children's fantasy novel series by author Brian Jacques and illustrated by David Elliot. "Eulalia" ("Victory") is also the war cry used by the fighting hares and badgers in the Redwall series.
Doomwyte is the 20th novel in the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. It was released on 2 October 2008 in the United Kingdom and on 16 October 2008 in the United States.
The Sable Quean is the 21st novel in the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, and the last to be published before his death on February 5, 2011. It is illustrated by Sean Rubin. It was to be originally released in autumn 2009, but the release date was moved to January 2010, and then later delayed a second time to February 23, 2010. The mass market paperback edition was released on April 26, 2011.
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