*** Warning: This review contains spoilers!! ***
The inside flap text of my library copy sums up the premise this way: it's a cross between King Arthur and Lord of the Rings. I agree! There aren't any hobbits or elves, but alongside the castles and knights and scribes, we have Rangers (in the vein of good old Strider) and powerful ancient beasts that live in the mountains and are rarely seen.
This is an entertaining beginning to a lengthy series that I am looking forward to reading. There are adventures and battles, but also some solid character development. Will, the Ranger's apprentice, was not immediately likable to me, but I warmed up to him easily enough. The author seems especially fond of the word "uncanny", which might have irked me if I wasn't such a fan of the word myself. He also throws in some light humor, good for a chuckle now and then.
While listing a bunch of shortcomings doesn't really do the book justice, my intent is to explain why I didn't just give the book 5 stars.
First, I think this book is geared towards upper elementary and middle school readers - both my 3rd grader and 5th grader are eagerly devouring the series now. The word "damn" is used just a couple times, and towards the end, the author made a comically explicit effort to make sure we readers knew that the apprentices were drinking "non-alcoholic beer...brewed from ginger root" (p. 234), instead of just calling it ginger ale or ginger beer. So, in that light, it seemed a bit unnerving that the bully storyline involved a violent resolution at the bullies' expense. Sure, it was satisfying to see the bullies get their due, but it was a bit too much of "an eye for an eye" for me. And it seemed especially odd that Halt - an adult in a position of authority - oversaw the humiliation of the bullies, rather than simply turning them over to Sir Rodney for discipline. And then, with the bullies being expelled from both the Battleschool and the fiefdom, it seemed like a loose thread being dangled - What would become of them? Where would they go? Were they contrite and willing to accept their punishment? Or would they seethe with resentment until they had a chance to exact revenge on Horace, Halt, and possibly the whole fiefdom!?
The other thing that didn't sit right with me was Gilan's complete lack of involvement in the battle against the Kalkara at the Gorland Ruins. Sure, he gives up his horse to Will - instrumental in allowing Will to seek and return with help in time - and yet, when he asked what he was supposed to do, Halt said, "Follow behind me on foot." (p. 207) Like, what? Why not ride on Halt's horse with him!? It seemed ridiculous. I get that Ranger horses are smaller than battle horses, but can they not even hold the weight of two men? In a book with no shortage of explanations of why things were happening, or how people were thinking, a little more information here would have been nice. And then - to make things worse - once the Kalkara were defeated, Gilan just rides up the next morning on a useless plow horse like, "What'd I miss? Oh, I guess I'll just go home now." I liked Gilan from the start, so it bothered me that the author didn't have Gilan return just a little earlier, to help in some way - he was one of Araluen's most skilled swordsman, after all! - and instead just made him out to be a tagalong.
Other than those two incidences, I enjoyed the book, and will surely continue the series.
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