The Icebound Land by John Flanagan ★★★★☆

Well Done

Fiction – YA/Juvenile – Medieval

266 pages

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Publication Date: June 26, 2007

Ranger's Apprentice #3

Halt and Horace follow after Will and Evanlyn to Skandia to set them free from their kidnappers.

This book was a major improvement and I only have good things to say.  The pacing was superb.  The excitement suspense and drama began right from the start.  The story was a bit unexpected and pleasantly surprising.  The writing never broke with the book reality.  I loved the dynamics of differing points of view of the same events and was impressed at how well done the two story lines were done.  All of the characters were fully realized and distinctive from other as well as the different cultures.

I just really enjoyed it and by the end I was clamoring for the next one and so grateful to have a local library with a decent children’s section.

The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan ★★★☆☆

Fiction – YA/Juvenile – Medieval

262 pages

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Publication Date:  2005

Ranger's Apprentice #2

Literary Awards:  Children's Book Council of Australia Award, International Success of the Year Award (2007)

Will and Horace are sent on a special mission to their kingdom’s neighboring allies, Celtica, to request help in their fight against Morgarath, but when they arrive the towns are abandoned and frightening new information about Morgarath’s troop movements forces them to rethink their plans.  With the safety of their kingdom hanging in the balance Will and Horace must find a way to thwart Morgarath’s plan.

The orchestration of this novel is leaps and bounds beyond the first.  It has the quality that I had expected in the first and is pretty much an improvement in every way.  The story is more sophisticated and better laid out making the alternating points of view more appropriate. The risk factor is upped and better suited for making this an adventure story.  With a quicker pace and more action it held tightly onto my attention leaving in suspense of what was going to happen next.  The battles were complex and interesting and the ending was exciting and unexpected.  Again I enjoyed the lack of magic and found it unexpectedly refreshing.   Occasionally the writing did trip me up and pushed me out of the story world and I was a little surprised he didn’t draw out the Morgarath storyline, but in comparison to everything else these were minor distractions.  

The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan ★★★☆☆

A few quality issues

Fiction-YA/Juvenile-Medieval

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

249 pages

Publication Date: 2004 

Ranger's Apprentice #1

Literary awards: Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award Nominee (2008)

When 15-year-old Will is picked as a Ranger’s apprentice he is disappointed, but with the menace of the Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night readying for battle he quickly learns that Rangers are the greatest protectors the kingdom can have.

The book world is very authentic, with great multi-dimensional characters and rich detail.  The writing was rhythmic and a have very few complaints other than at times it was a bit amateurish.  The book was easy to get through and kept me wanting to know what would happen next.  The prologue creates a great platform for the rest of the story to be set on.   The focus of this book swings back and forth between Ranger’s apprentice Will and Battle School apprentice Horace, two very different characters.

Okay, now the other side.  I may have been betrayed by my own expectations, but I anticipated a whole lot more suspense and excitement.  The story was fairly slow moving and not big into subtlety.  Also, I have to say Horace not showing up in the climax seemed really weird and I was disappointed not to see him.  My investment of him just didn’t give the payoff that was expected, particularly since he was such a focus in the book.

Now, while I might seem a bit negative I have to say I really do see the potential of this series and have purchased the next two in the series already.  I haven’t given up on it.