Well, I've finally read "Outcast of Redwall." I was disappointed for several
reasons:
 
1. Even though named after the ferret, Veil only appears in a small portion
   of the book - less than a fourth of it.
2. Veil is raised by the Abbey - and is still a villain.
3. Bryony, the mousmaid responsible for Veil, maintains her faith in him
   while all other beasts tell her "Once evil, always evil..." UNTIL Veil
   saves her life.  Then, when her friends tell her she was right after all,
   she says "No, there was no real good in him." Makes no sense.
4. Reading "Joseph the Bellmaker," another Redwall book, there is a searat
   which does reform.  If a searat (bloodthirsty pirates and pillagers all)
   could grow to adulthood in wickedness, and reform, why does Jacques
   maintain that a ferret child could not be good at all even though raised
   well?
 
Traditionally and realistically, badgers are wild, more dangerous,
unpredictable and temperamental than ferrets.  ("Badgering a witness" is a
no-no in court.) They are also carnivorous.  Yet, badgers are "Lords"
throughout the Redwall series, fighting for good and right, respected by
all.  While ferrets, traditionally and realistically, are more playful,
cheerful, and have been domesticated for a couple thousand years, and yet
are used as villains throughout the series.  Hunh?
 
The only characteristic which ferrets have, that could be construed as
"naughty," is their habit of borrowing things which don't belong to them.
The word Ferret comes from the Latin word for Thief.  (And, the ability to
"ferret things out" is considered desirable...) Beyond this, I wonder
exactly what Mr. Jacques is modeling his ferret villains after?
 
As a story about a ferret, "Outcast" was an excellent story about Sunflash
the Badger.  Beyond that, I remain disillusioned about the series.
 
On a better note, I was surfing and found the "Worldsaway" home page.  There
are a couple of ferrets who subscribe to the FML, I believe their names are
Ali Quid and Roga Mae, who have created a new Redwall in this VR world and
it looks like they've done it properly.  I don't have Compuserve, so I
couldn't investigate deeply, but what I saw was within the spirit of Mr.
Jacques' writing, with the ferret image corrected.
 
Blessings,
Carla
(with a brief note from the Woozles: "'n whatcha meen, ally kwid, when yu
sed ferets talk funny bekuz thay kant spell?  we kin spell thins relly well!
we spell moms tea an make a big miss, we spell the kibble bekuz we liek
eting offa flor, we kin spell enythins at all thats inna dish!  so theer!")
[Posted in FML issue 1619]