Note: The names of the books, in order, are: The Ruins of Gorlan, The Burning Bridge, The Icebound Land, The Battle for Skandia, and The Sorcerer of the North. There are other books out and more soon to be published, but these are the ones I have read so far. Click here for book six.
Plot: when Will is chosen to become a Ranger's apprentice, he doesn't know what to think. The Rangers are an elite group of warriors that protect the kingdom. They have mastered the arts of archery, invisibility (or at least the ability to remain unseen), strategy, observation, and many more such skills. Will is apprenticed to Halt, one of the best Rangers in the kingdom, and he teaches Will all he knows.
Comments: I loved the first four books in this series, but I didn't really like the fifth one. In the first four, Will is a teenager, learning the secretive arts of being Ranger, and he has all sorts of dangerous, live-threatening adventures. But the fifth book skips ahead to when Will is an adult, a fully-fledged Ranger himself, and I didn't appreciate that. I would have preferred to continue reading about the apprentice Will instead of the Ranger Will. However, I'm about to read The Sorcerer of the North again and I'll do my best to lay aside my prejudices and see if I enjoy the book better this time.
The characters are very different from each other, and even the minor characters show up vividly in my mind. John Flanagan has a skill for describing people using their appearances, their actions, and even their speech. They interact smoothly and a lot like I would imagine people in modern day to interact. The characters fit the settings well and don't seem out of place even when they kind of are.
I love Will's cheekiness and enthusiasm and Halt's mock-seriousness and patience. They fit perfectly as apprentice and teacher, and I like that Will makes Halt less grave and more appreciative to life and laughter - though Halt rarely smiles. I like how every story is different and that I am always interested throughout the books. These are great adventure stories, and I might have even learned a thing or two about war tactics and strategies.
Rating: I shall rate this series (so far) a seven and a half out of ten. Very well written.
Plot: when Will is chosen to become a Ranger's apprentice, he doesn't know what to think. The Rangers are an elite group of warriors that protect the kingdom. They have mastered the arts of archery, invisibility (or at least the ability to remain unseen), strategy, observation, and many more such skills. Will is apprenticed to Halt, one of the best Rangers in the kingdom, and he teaches Will all he knows.
Comments: I loved the first four books in this series, but I didn't really like the fifth one. In the first four, Will is a teenager, learning the secretive arts of being Ranger, and he has all sorts of dangerous, live-threatening adventures. But the fifth book skips ahead to when Will is an adult, a fully-fledged Ranger himself, and I didn't appreciate that. I would have preferred to continue reading about the apprentice Will instead of the Ranger Will. However, I'm about to read The Sorcerer of the North again and I'll do my best to lay aside my prejudices and see if I enjoy the book better this time.
The characters are very different from each other, and even the minor characters show up vividly in my mind. John Flanagan has a skill for describing people using their appearances, their actions, and even their speech. They interact smoothly and a lot like I would imagine people in modern day to interact. The characters fit the settings well and don't seem out of place even when they kind of are.
I love Will's cheekiness and enthusiasm and Halt's mock-seriousness and patience. They fit perfectly as apprentice and teacher, and I like that Will makes Halt less grave and more appreciative to life and laughter - though Halt rarely smiles. I like how every story is different and that I am always interested throughout the books. These are great adventure stories, and I might have even learned a thing or two about war tactics and strategies.
Rating: I shall rate this series (so far) a seven and a half out of ten. Very well written.
No comments:
Post a Comment