The Pearls of Lutra
UK first edition cover
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| Author | Brian Jacques |
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| Illustrator | Allan Curless |
| Cover artist | Chris Baker |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Redwall |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Hutchinson (UK) & Philomel (US) |
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Publication date
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1996 |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 375 (UK Hardback) & 408 (US Hardback) |
| ISBN | (UK Hardback) & ISBN (US Hardback) |
| OCLC | 43178085 |
| Preceded by | Outcast of Redwall |
| Followed by | The Long Patrol |
The Pearls of Lutra is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 1996. It is the ninth book published and eleventh chronologically in the Redwall series. The American edition of the novel was published simply as Pearls of Lutra.
When Ublaz Mad-Eyes sets out on a mission to steal Tears of All Oceans, a set of six spherical rose-pink pearls, from the Lutra otter clan (Lutra lutra being the Latin name for otters), Grath Longfletch must stand up to the evil pine marten while the Redwallers search for the missing treasures.
The gruesome discovery of a skeleton in Mossflower woods heralds the start of both a mystery and a quest. Far away, on the tropical island of Sampetra, Emperor Ublaz, also known as Mad Eyes, sends his fearsome lizards and corsairs on a murderous mission to Redwall. Back at home, the Abbey dwellers race against time to unravel a fiendishly difficult series of riddles. At a northern shore, a young otter fashions a bow and arrows from a yew branch and vows to avenge the slaughter of her family.
Why does Martin, son of Mattimeo, undertake a perilous voyage with his brave companions? Who is Grath Longfletch and why do vermin fear her green-plumed arrows? And what are the fabulous Tears of all Oceans that inspire such passion and greed?
When gathering herbs near the quarry in Mossflower Woods, the young Redwallers Tansy and Arven 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. 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 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 perfectly spherical rose-pink pearls, but after murdering the Holt Lutra who owned the pearls, the Tears are stolen by the weasel Graylunk, who flees into Mossflower Woods. Conva tracks him to Redwall Abbey, where Graylunk takes refuge, before returning to Sampetra.
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.
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