The Rogue Crew

The Rogue Crew is the 22nd published novel in the Redwall saga by Brian Jacques. It was published in the U.S. on May 3, 2011. It is the only Brian Jacques work to be published posthumously and as such, did not receive an audiobook adaptation.

Read the Redwall Wiki's breakdown of The Rogue Crew's ARC to learn more about the history of this novel. Illustrator Sean Rubin completed illustrations for the book before Jacques passed.

Book Divisions (English)

• Book One: A Small Glutton's Dream
• Book Two: Enter the Rogue Crew!
• Book Three: All Forward to Redwall!

Official Synopsis

The Library of Congress posted the following synopsis:

The murderous and evil Razzid Wearat and his crew of vermin are on a mission to seize Redwall Abbey for themselves, and Abbot Thibb and his Redwallers must defend their home with the help of the hares of the Longpatrol [sic] and the Rogue Crew of sea otters.

Redwall.org posted this synopsis:

From Salamandastron's Western Shores, to the High North Coast, here they come. Captain Rake Nightfur, and his Long Patrol Hares, with Skor Axehound and the Rogue Crew Sea Otters. Marching boldly into a thrilling saga, singing, feasting, swashbuckling, and battling. Questing for the infamous ship Greenshroud, crewed by Searats and Corsairs, Captained by the murderous Razzid Wearat, terror of both sea and land. His aim, the conquest of an Abbey! Was there ever such a blood and thunder chase? The fate of Abbot Thibb and his Redwallers hangs in the balance. Who will be first to the gates, who can save the legendary Abbey from the clutches of a Wearat? On, on, to victory or death!

Penguin announced this synopsis:

Nobeast is safe from the terror of a Wearat!

Redwall Abbey has never seen a creature more evil or more hideous than Razzid Wearat. Captain of the Greenshroud, a ship with wheels that can sail through water as well as the forest, this beast is a terror of both land and sea, traveling Mossflower Country, killing nearly everything—and everyone— in his path. And his goal? To conquer Redwall Abbey. From Salamandastron to the High North Coast, the brave hares of the Long Patrol team up with the fearless sea otters of the Rogue Crew to form a pack so tough, so rough, only they can defend the abbey and defeat Razzid Wearat once and for all.

Plot Summary

After experiencing a defeat from the Rogue Crew, Razzid Wearat, captain of the Greenshroud, arrives at the Isle of Irgash, urgently requiring medical attention. As the corsairs become aware of Razzid's debilitated condition, a rebellion against him led by Braggio Ironhook gains support. Just as Braggio was about to sail off in the Greenshroud, which he renamed Ironhook, Razzid successfully assassinates Braggio and takes control. Back aboard the Greenshroud, he plans on attacking the Rogue Crew again. However, after convincing his crew, his seer Shekra tells him of Redwall Abbey, a place that he can allegedly plunder easily. He sets course for it, killing all who stand in his way.

Meanwhile, at Redwall, Uggo Wiltud, a hedgehog resident of the Abbey, steals a fruitcake and eats it. As punishment, he's sent to the kitchens to do chores for three days by Abbot Thibb. However, he experiences a dream that shows Razzid and the Greenshroud coming towards Redwall. Because of this, Jum Gurdy, the Cellar Keeper, takes Uggo with him to find Jum's uncle, Wullow, who may be able to provide further insights.

At Salamandastron, Lancejack Sage and Trug Bawdsley return from Seawatch dawn relief and announce that the four young hares who were on duty the previous night are deceased. After Buff Redspore, Salamandastron's tracker, leads an investigation, it's discovered that Razzid Wearat's ship, outfitted with wheels, ran over the hares, with the crew members shooting their bodies full of arrows to ensure their lifelessness before continuing into the sea. The Long Patrol decides to pursue Razzid and finds one of Braggio's former supporters, Crumdun, a deserter. After Crumdun provides the hares with all the information he knows, they keep him alive, treating him well.

After Jum took an afternoon nap, he finds that Uggo is missing; he was captured by Snaggs' Gang. Uggo meets another captive, Posybud, whose parents Snaggs' gang had murdered. While planning an escape, they hear a voice telling them to look for a log. The captives convince the gang to let them out to the sea to fish and escape on Jum's logboat. The Whoomers, a group of seals, fight back the vermin.

After floating towards the sea, Jum is swept off of the log during a storm, and Uggo and Posy are yet again captured, but this time by Razzid. After Razzid and Shekra question the duo about Redwall, Uggo says he doesn't know how to get there. They're locked in a storeroom, which they escape after building a makeshift raft out of crossbow arrows; the Whoomers help push the raft away from the Greenshroud. After finding Rekaby, a member of the Fortunate Freepaws pacifist organization, the pair joins the group and they encounter Swiffo, one of Skor Axehound's sons who associates with them despite his father's wishes. The Fortunate Freepaws meet the Guosim shrews, led by Log-a-Log Dandy Clogs.

Rake Nightfur, a high-ranking Long Patrol hare, leads the Long Patrol to the sand dunes of the Bloodrippers. Lancejack Sage, Buff Redspore, and Ferrul are drugged by the Bloodripper pygmy shrew queen, Dukwina Drampik. Her husband, Dibby Drampik, tells the Long Patrol about Dukwina's plans to capture the female hares, as females were powerful members of the Bloodrippers. The Long Patrol leaders capture Dukwina, and hold off the Bloodripper army until the hares are surrounded. Then, Skor Axehound, leader of the Rogue Crew, joins, and with the Long Patrol, they fight back the Bloodrippers. Skor and Rake Nightfur learn about Razzid and team up to kill the Wearat and his corsairs. After thinking about where the Wearat could be headed, they decide to mobilize towards Redwall. They completely forget about Crumdun, who decides to stay near the dunes and live a peaceful life.

Shekra stumbles across Drogbuk Wiltud, and he's taken aboard the Greenshroud in an effort to force him into providing directions to Redwall, until finally Skor meets up with the Wearat's crew and Drogbuk leaps overboard. Drogbuk is met by the Fortunate Freepaws. While the Fortunate Freepaws and the Guosim travel to Redwall, Razzid wreaks havoc on land. One night, he found Guosim logboats and massacred more than half the tribe as they slept.

The Long Patrol and Rogue Crew members attempt to one-up each other until Kite the Slayer discovers that there are differences between them, but in order to overcome this situation together, they all need to look past them. They enter a tunnel that was allegedly a shortcut to Redwall and continue out of it after encountering bats.

The Greenshroud arrives at Redwall. Abbot Thibb disguises himself as Martin the Warrior holding a flaming sword to deter the vermin. Razzid had dreams earlier about Martin defending the Abbey, and also had a fear of fire due to his previous encounter with the Rogue Crew. Seeing this, Razzid quickly retreats to develop a new plan.

A short while after exiting the cave, the Long Patrol and the Rogue Crew find the Guosim shrews. Uggo, Posy, Swiffo, Dandy, and the surviving shrews join the Long Patrol and Rogue Crew; Jum Gurdy stays behind with the Fortunate Freepaws. They run into Ketral Vane's gang, but the foxes escape. Later, Swiffo is killed with poison darts near the Abbey by Vane, and Skor mourns his son's death. They arrive at the Abbey, where they bury Swiffo and prepare for Razzid's invasion.

Talks of mutiny start in Razzid's crew. Razzid's most trusted advisors, Mowlag, Jiboree, and Shekra, plot an overthrow of Razzid after they capture Redwall. Razzid hears of this, but decides to take the Abbey before dealing with his traitorous advisors by ramming through the gate with the ship.

When the Greenshroud is within sight of Redwall, Dibbuns spot it from the top of a tower; their caretaker also notices the green-sailed ship when she comes to get them. When the ship is about to reach the gates, the Rogue Crew attacks, and a battle ensues. An arrow from the ship kills Kite the Slayer, and the other otters quickly move out of the way. Once the ship breaks through the gates, chaos ensues. Another one of Skor's sons, Ruggan, directs the Greenshroud off course, forcing the crew to abandon ship. Trug Bawdsley finds Shekra and kills her, avenging his sister Trey. As the leaders of the defenders beat back the vermin, Razzid gives his outfit to one of his ferrets and slips away, tricking his enemies. Razzid and his cook, Badtooth, try to break into the kitchens. When the kitchen staff become aware of the danger, Milda finds Uggo and Posybud. Uggo, holding the sword of Martin the Warrior, accidentally kills Badtooth, and the sword slips from his grasp. Razzid tortures Uggo with his trident until Posy takes the sword and scores a hit on Razzid. However, Razzid survives, and as he is about to kill Posy, Jum Gurdy hits him extremely hard with a stave, breaking the Wearat's skull and killing him.

After Razzid's death, Skor and Rake find Mowlag and Jiboree and kill them. Because of their victory, Abbot Thibb throws a celebratory feast. The Long Patrol kills the surviving members of Razzid's crew and returns to Salamandastron on the Greenshroud, which was renamed to the Posy Gurdy in honor of Posy and Jum. Ruggan Axehound and Captain Miggory were elected to jointly operate the ship.

The Rogue Crew visits Salamandastron, where they have another feast before returning to the High North Coast. Lady Violet Wildstripe plans on visiting Redwall the following summer. Dandy and his Guosim shrews stay at Redwall to help with repairs and raising the new wallgates. Abbot Thibb extends an invitation to the Abbey to the Long Patrol and the Rogue Crew members, which also includes anyone with a good heart.

Characters

Please see Characters in The Rogue Crew.

Trivia

• Brian Jacques first publicly mentioned that he was writing The Rogue Crew on November 1, 2008, during his keynote address at the New York Public Library's Book Fest 2008 event.
• The Rogue Crew is the fourth novel in the Redwall series to feature Dibbuns Against Bedtime.

Release Details

• 2011, US, Philomel Books, ISBN 9780399254161, Pub. Date: May 2011, Hardcover
• 2012, US, Ace, ISBN 9781937007485, Pub. Date: April 2012, Paperback
• 2013, US, Firebird, ISBN 9780142426180, Pub. Date: July 2013, Paperback
• 2021, UK, Puffin, ISBN 9780241525586, Pub. Date: September 2021, Paperback