This was a new read for me. Salamandastron was one of the many Redwall books I did not read when I was younger. While Jacques sticks to the same tropes and story-lines as his other books, Salamandastron does deviate to some degree and so I found it refreshing and enjoyable.
Jacques loves his multi-story line stories. I have found that there are times when having to keep up with more than one journey is tedious and un-enjoyable, especially if the story line I'm most interested in doesn't seem to receive enough attention. However, with Salamandastron I was able to enjoy all of them well. I was especially glad to see Jacques change up the Abbey story. Instead of chasing answers to mysterious riddles the Abbey dwellers had to deal with a deadly illness. Perhaps 2020's experience with COVID-19 made me connect with this story line more than I would have before, but in the end I think Jacques did a better job connecting and pulling the various story-lines together and concluding them in a satisfactorily way.

The range of characters in Salamandastron was also well done. Each seemed to receive the appropriate amount of time to carry their story and show their development. I particularly enjoyed Mara's personal growth because of her regrets and how she learned from her bad decisions. By the time the story-lines converged the connections and interactions between characters felt genuine. I still appreciate the simplicity and some-what predictable nature of Jacques' stories and I think it's these very things that make his books charming even now that I'm in my mid-twenties.