Fantasy

Book 4 of the Ranger's Apprentice was quite good, with Halt engineering his banishment from the Rangers so he can go rescue Will and Evanlyn (Princess Cassandra) from the Skandians. Joined by Horace, the four Araluens help the Skandians defeat the invading Temujai. (Need to read Book 7 next, which is still unpublished in U.S.) ( )

Honestly...I don't want to like these books. I started them to check them out for my sons but........darn it, I like them. I mean I really like them and I don't know why :) After the first few books I had a pretty good grasp of how the series was so I could have stopped but frankly I don't want to. I have the rest on hold right now!! ( )

{Fourth of 11 (or 12); Ranger’s Apprentice series. Fantasy, children’s, YA} (2006)
Group read.

Will and Evanlyn are trying to escape from Skandia and have been held up in the mountains by the winter snows. Halt and Horace are heading into Skandia by the land route, crossing from Teutlandt through one of the mountain passes, hoping to rescue them. In so doing, they discover a Temujai horde poised to invade Skandia. With their retreat into Teutlandt cut off by the Temujai and realising that once Skandia falls - and Halt knows it must, despite the Skandians' well-known prowess as fighters - the Temujai will look to invade the rest of the world, the Araluens decide to head back to the Skandian capital of Hallasholm to warn the Skandians and hopefully form an alliance with them to hold off the Temujai.

I like this series. The adventures are well written and while the outcomes may be resolved more easily than in the real world (so wars don’t drag out over many books, for example - but cliff-hangers are kept to a minimum) Flanagan doesn’t talk down to his readers and I’ve found the writing to be consistently solid and engaging. They are also light enough to keep me reading - I usually can't read two books in a series too close together - but well-written enough that I'm happy to read more.

I'm trying to avoid spoilers for the previous books. Points that I've made in my reviews for them that still hold true are the writing flows smoothly, they’re well written both for adult readers and the target age group (stated as 10+ on some of my editions), the characters are likeable, the action scenes are compelling and I like the humour.

‘Going to slow them down,’ Halt replied briefly. ‘Don’t stop to watch. Just keep going as hard as you can!’

Erik gritted his teeth as he came down heavily on the saddle. ‘This is as hard...as...I...can!’he replied. But Halt was already shaking his head. The Ranger had already unslung his longbow from across his shoulders and was brandishing it in his right hand. Eras saw what was coming, a moment too late to do anything about it.
‘No!’ he began. ‘Don’t you...!’

But then the bow whipped down across his horse's rump with a resounding crack and the beast leapt forward as if it had been stung. In a way, of course, it had.

The profanity that Erak was preparing for Halt was lost in a his drawn-out howl as he grabbed at the saddle bow once more to keep his seat.

I feel the writing is improving and some of my quibbles from the previous books have been addressed. Although the story revolves around Will, I like the way we are shown different points of view so we can see the bigger picture.

Erak opened his mouth to reply, but Olgak interrupted.

'The Ranger's right, Jarl,' he said. 'You'll be more valuable at Hallasholm. And besides, you're getting a bit long in the tooth for this sort of work, aren't you?'

Erak's eyes widened with anger and he started to say something. Then he noticed that Olgak was grinning broadly and realised that the younger man was joking.

(A young warrior talking to his earl/ war leader.)

Now I’m at an impasse. I’ve just finished Oakleaf Bearers (aka The Battle for Skandia.) which is book four. Book five is The Sorcerer in the North but there’s a note after the blurb in my book that says:

Ranger’s Apprentice book 7: Erak’s Ransom takes place before the events of books 5 and 6. You might like to read book 7 first.

I plan to take advice from LT friends who have read them before and the Ranger's Apprentice website and read book 7 first.

4.5 stars ( )

There were other books in the series that I liked better, but this one, to my mind, is better than book 3. Will becomes an active part of the story again. I was a bit surprised that the "big twist" revealed in the back cover blurb comes early in the book.

WARNING: SPOILERS may lie ahead. Read on at your own discretion.

Will and Evalyn's time at the cabin is coming to a close as Spring approaches. I don't think it was wise for Evalyn to go out to check the snares alone or for Will to let her do so--of course, if they'd gone together and both been captured, then we'd have a different book.

It is nice to see Will regain some of the skills he'd had before the warmweed. It was also nice to see Halt, Horace, and Will together again. I was glad to see Erak continue in the story and to see that I was right in that he is a friend to Will and Evalyn.

I'm glad the Skandians and the Araluen group could work together against a common enemy and glad that they came to an agreement (or treaty) after that. I'd wondered how they'd get Evalyn out of the Vallasvow.

It's reassuring that the heroes get rewarded--Erak becomes the new oberjarl; Horace is knighted; Halt's banishment is commuted early and he's restored to his rank. Cassandra's (Evalyn's) reuniting with her father is touching. I can understand her missing the camaraderie she had with Will for so long and it seems she tries to engineer something to make them more social equals. I can also understand why Will chooses to stay with his apprenticeship with the Rangers.

It does make me wonder if Cassandra will end up with Will or Horace in the end--or perhaps it will end up being someone entirely different. Or perhaps Will will end up being to Cassandra what Halt is to King Duncan? ( )