Fantasy

This is another reread of this book. It has been a long time since I have read it though and there was a lot that I didn't remember. This series has been a godsend through this quarantine! Seriously, it is such an amazing series that has so much going for it. ( )

After reading the Ranger's Apprentice website, I decided to read Book 7 after Book 4, which is the correct chronology as Will earns his silver oakleaf. The Skandian Oberjarl Erak is captured in a raid, and his first mate enlists the help of Halt, Will, Horace and Princess Cassandra (Evanlyn.) Will leaves his friends to rescue Tug, who eventually saves Will, and Will then saves his friends from execution. ( )

{Seventh published of 11 (or 12); Ranger’s Apprentice series. Fantasy, children’s, YA} (2007)
Group read.

I started reading this but then paused it to finish some library e-books before returning to it so my reading was a bit fragmented. I read it before the books numbered 5 and 6 in the series, per the author's recommendation, as events in this book take place before those in the other two.

The story opens with Will's imminent graduation to full Ranger status and Halt's surprising upcoming wedding. However as the festivities are concluded news comes of Erak's capture. Erak is the Oberjarl of the Skandians, erstwhile enemies of Araluan but now allies since the signing of a treaty. Will, Halt and friends travel to the desert country of Arrida to ransom him taking the princess with them as negotiator. But nothing is as simple as that and adventures ensue.

There was a risk involved in coming so close to the shoreline, he knew. But it was the lesser of two risks. They'd kept a steady south-east course through the night, driven by the unwavering northerly breeze that blew towards the coast at this time of year. Borne along by the wind, Erak had sailed in close to the land, inside a huge bay that took a bite out of the coastline. On the eastern end of the bay, on a raised promontory, stood the township of Al Shabah. By placing his ship inside the bay, and inland of the spot where the town stood, Erak knew that he would be screened by the dark land mass behind him. Also, as the sun slowly rose, which it would be doing in about another forty minutes, his ship would still be in darkness, while the promontory and town, to the east of his position, would be illuminated. He could have turned towards Al Shabah while they were still further out to sea, avoiding the risk of being spotted from the coast. But that would have increased the risk of being seen from the town itself. Even by night, Wolfwind would have been a darker shadow on the steely grey surface of the sea.

Flanagan writes well; he does good action scenes that don't go on forever and I like his banter, which amuses and doesn't seem forced. The characters in this fantasy world, which parallels ours, are believable - not too perfect or too angsty. My eleven year old is also reading this series and enjoying it; it is a good one for children and doesn't talk down to them. The characters do go through hardships and, since they become involved in battles, there is some killing and some deaths but I don't feel that these are traumatic for readers while still keeping the story realistic.

Worth reading, even for adults.

4.5 stars ( )

In the wake of Araluen's uneasy truce with the raiding Skandians comes word that the Skandian leader has been captured by a dangerous desert tribe. The Rangers - and Will - are sent to free him. But the desert is like nothing these warriors have seen before. Strangers in a strange land, they are brutalized by sandstorms, beaten by the unrelenting heat, tricked by one tribe that plays by its own rules, and surprisingly befriended by another. Like a desert mirage, nothing is as it seems. Yet one thing is constant: the bravery of the Rangers. ( )