John A. Flanagan (1) (1944–)

Book 3 again directly continues the story told in the first two books. Morgarath has been defeated but Will and Evanlyn have been captured by the Skandians and carried away as slaves. Halt and Horace are determined to rescue them, even if they have to travel to Skandia.

Skandians are of course inspired by the vikings. This is a worldbuilding technique commonly used in these books. Araluen is based on Western Middle Ages, and other countries are based on other real-world cultures. Pretty basic, but effective.

The story is a bit naive, and nothing sexual ever happens, but if you are willing to suspend your cynicism and enjoy a good story for young readers you'll like this one.
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This time Horace, Will and company travel to Nihon-Ja (read Japan). At this point, the series is readable not as good now as it used to be. The adventures feel more forced, as if the author struggles to find new things to say with these characters. In this case it’s a bit embarrassing how useless the Nihon-Ja natives are. They need the foreigners to do all the planning for them. I’m not complaining out of political correctness, but because it feels too unrealistic. I know this is a middle-grade fantasy and it’s always been a bit like that, but here it becomes a bit too much. It’s time to bring this series to a close, I think.… (plus d'informations)