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fromdusktil's review against another edition
3.0
I loved getting a peek into the lives of characters other than Will. However, there are two things that really rubbed me the wrong way.
In "Dinner for Five", when Gilan comforts Jenny, she is crying and distraught, and Gilan apparently thinks she had never been more beautiful. I just... hate this. It feels out of place. We already know Jenny is supposed to be stunning and that her and Gilan are a thing. But at this point, he should just be concerned for her. (I'm not a huge fan of the "you're beautiful when you cry" trope.)
The Wolf. What a cop out! I understand that Tug would need to be retired, but I hate everything about how Flanagan approached this situation.
Will has spent 15 years with Tug, and he just rides away on this new horse and pretty much completely forgets about him? Give the new horse a new name, let Tug stay Tug! We have been with one Tug the entire series, and I feel as though Flanagan did us dirty by just replacing him with Tug 2.0. Yes, you can retire Tug. Let us be sad alongside Will. Show us Will bonding with a new horse while missing his best friend. And let Tug live with Old Bob so that Will can visit.
I understand that this series is for younger readers and maybe Flanagan didn't want to upset anyone, but it just left a bad taste in my mouth.
As a whole, I wish Flanagan would have relaxed on stressing how beautiful his female characters were. Yes, Will is going to think Alyss is beautiful. Same with Gilan towards Jenny and Horace towards Cassandra. But I felt like it was overstressed and became their important feature, rather than their talents and personalities, which fell to the backburner, especially later in the series.
In "Dinner for Five", when Gilan comforts Jenny, she is crying and distraught, and Gilan apparently thinks she had never been more beautiful. I just... hate this. It feels out of place. We already know Jenny is supposed to be stunning and that her and Gilan are a thing. But at this point, he should just be concerned for her. (I'm not a huge fan of the "you're beautiful when you cry" trope.)
The Wolf. What a cop out! I understand that Tug would need to be retired, but I hate everything about how Flanagan approached this situation.
Will has spent 15 years with Tug, and he just rides away on this new horse and pretty much completely forgets about him? Give the new horse a new name, let Tug stay Tug! We have been with one Tug the entire series, and I feel as though Flanagan did us dirty by just replacing him with Tug 2.0. Yes, you can retire Tug. Let us be sad alongside Will. Show us Will bonding with a new horse while missing his best friend. And let Tug live with Old Bob so that Will can visit.
I understand that this series is for younger readers and maybe Flanagan didn't want to upset anyone, but it just left a bad taste in my mouth.
As a whole, I wish Flanagan would have relaxed on stressing how beautiful his female characters were. Yes, Will is going to think Alyss is beautiful. Same with Gilan towards Jenny and Horace towards Cassandra. But I felt like it was overstressed and became their important feature, rather than their talents and personalities, which fell to the backburner, especially later in the series.
vtaektv's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
rahnawyn's review against another edition
5.0
When I found out that Flanagan was writing another book to tie up the Ranger's Apprentice series, I was thrilled. (Yes, I'm a teenage girl who fell in love with books written for middle school guys >_> )
Anyway, it lived up to all of my expectations. And more. Flanagan started from the very beginning, explaining just how Will came to be orphaned, and went all the way to Will probably in his 30s or so. And the stories didn't just deal with Will. We got to watch Alyss in 'spy mode', which was fantastic to see that side of her personality fully in a short story. There is also a story heavily involving Jenny and what life is like for her back at her restaurant.
Basically, Flanagan picked some really important milestones to cover, and he answered almost all of the questions that I had about the series when it ended.
And my favorite part? How brilliantly this book ties the Ranger's Apprentice series to the new series - of which the first book comes out November 1st!
Anyway, it lived up to all of my expectations. And more. Flanagan started from the very beginning, explaining just how Will came to be orphaned, and went all the way to Will probably in his 30s or so. And the stories didn't just deal with Will. We got to watch Alyss in 'spy mode', which was fantastic to see that side of her personality fully in a short story. There is also a story heavily involving Jenny and what life is like for her back at her restaurant.
Basically, Flanagan picked some really important milestones to cover, and he answered almost all of the questions that I had about the series when it ended.
And my favorite part? How brilliantly this book ties the Ranger's Apprentice series to the new series - of which the first book comes out November 1st!
misty_mountains's review against another edition
3.5
I’m not usually a fan of short story anthologies preferentially, but this one is a sweet farewell to such a fun series. Features RA’s characteristic humour with our beloved characters.
Dinner for Five might be my favourite because we don’t get enough Jenny or Gilan in the main series. It’s also really funny how Jenny handles everything.
I also loveboth wedding sequences . It was SO nice having everyone together and being happy. Especially having Erak, Selethen and Shigeru interacting with each other and our original crew.
The funniest bit for me isWill’s purple prose speech . Halt is awesome.
Dinner for Five might be my favourite because we don’t get enough Jenny or Gilan in the main series. It’s also really funny how Jenny handles everything.
I also love
The funniest bit for me is
ceena's review against another edition
4.0
I forgot to note my opinions of the stories as I went along-- whoops! I did enjoy most of them.
I think the beginning, or the theme of how these are journals found in the future really hit my heart and made me feel more nostalgic because then it really hits home that the characters will die eventually. Die and become legends, but perhaps not totally known by name.
Anyhow, most of the stories are really good. I liked the stories of Gilan and even of Halt's past. There were many instances to laugh, but also a few that had me tearing up. Ugh... The Wolf was a hard one to read :(
There is also a one page inclusion of the Spin-off about the boy from Scandia. Sorry, I can't remember his name since I haven't read the series. But it is a nice way to do it and build interest, because even though I wasn't planning on reading it, I just might now! It really is a good ending to the series and while I know there is still #12 Royal Ranger (which I see is also the beginning to another spin-off), I am hesitant to try reading a different ending to these amazing characters.
A good read if you enjoy the series.
I think the beginning, or the theme of how these are journals found in the future really hit my heart and made me feel more nostalgic because then it really hits home that the characters will die eventually. Die and become legends, but perhaps not totally known by name.
Anyhow, most of the stories are really good. I liked the stories of Gilan and even of Halt's past. There were many instances to laugh, but also a few that had me tearing up. Ugh... The Wolf was a hard one to read :(
There is also a one page inclusion of the Spin-off about the boy from Scandia. Sorry, I can't remember his name since I haven't read the series. But it is a nice way to do it and build interest, because even though I wasn't planning on reading it, I just might now! It really is a good ending to the series and while I know there is still #12 Royal Ranger (which I see is also the beginning to another spin-off), I am hesitant to try reading a different ending to these amazing characters.
A good read if you enjoy the series.
vhenderson93's review against another edition
5.0
Rereading this series, I found this book to be just as enjoyable as the first time I read it. I love how each story is short, yet still contains all that adventurous excitement. A lot of questions were answered and some character's backstories were revealed. Best of all, there was no language that I noticed.
jenmkin's review against another edition
3.0
Some of these are really good & fun, others are not on the level of the series, & the frame story was just a weird choice
adr14nn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0