chaos_tempest's review against another edition
4.0
Ok, let me get the timeline straight and correct me if I'm wrong. Erak's Ransom (BK. 7) takes place after The Battle for Skandia (BK. 4), Kings of Clonmel (BK. 8) takes place after The Siege of Malinda (BK. 6). Well now that that is straightened out.
An old cult thought to have been stamped out years ago has risen up again, in Halt's birth country and it's spreading fast to Arulean. To stamp it out once again, Halt, Horace, and Will travel to Clonmel, to confront the ringleaders, and Halt's own past.
I enjoyed this book immensely, we started with a wedding and ended with a cliffhanger (good thing book 9 is out, huh?). We learn about Halt's strangely absent past and family, take a journey to a new land, and get the humor we have come to expect.
I am kind of disappointed that we don't have more stories of when Will was an apprentice, but knowing that the three are back together and will be through more books makes up for that.
An old cult thought to have been stamped out years ago has risen up again, in Halt's birth country and it's spreading fast to Arulean. To stamp it out once again, Halt, Horace, and Will travel to Clonmel, to confront the ringleaders, and Halt's own past.
I enjoyed this book immensely, we started with a wedding and ended with a cliffhanger (good thing book 9 is out, huh?). We learn about Halt's strangely absent past and family, take a journey to a new land, and get the humor we have come to expect.
I am kind of disappointed that we don't have more stories of when Will was an apprentice, but knowing that the three are back together and will be through more books makes up for that.
jetpackdolphin's review against another edition
3.0
Hooray! Yet another follow-on Ranger's Apprentice book to look forward to. This one wasn't nearly as good as any of the others, but it still had plenty of good moments, such as Halt's reunion with his brother. All in all, it's a basic Ranger's Apprentice. Although, if the series doesn't come up with something really interesting in the next couple of books, I'm going to get very bored.
tabithar's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable but only if you already like the characters and want to see where the story will go with them. Its neither best nor worst in the series. In this Ranger's Apprentice continuation, we learn more about the background of Halt (which has generally been a mystery).
Unlike some books in this series, there wasn't a clear nearly universally accepted great noble purpose/obvious overarching lesson. Some decisions made in it, could have gone the other way and prevented problems they saw later. I guess that's true to life but some of the decisions occurring repeatedly with similar negative outcomes for the main characters start to feel a bit preachy and a bit foolish. If your "right decision" consistently results in many more people dying and continues to add risk, is it right? Clearly its right for continuing a series but in terms of the overall message sent, it becomes frustrating.
I'm still reading the series so its not wretched...but it is rapidly losing creativity. When I finish reading the series, I plan to go back and note which books are worth continuing through.
At this point, I'd recommend stopping at the end of book 4, "The Battle for Skandia". It has a logical ending point and good energy. A reader could be quite happy to stop there and consider the series enjoyable.
Unlike some books in this series, there wasn't a clear nearly universally accepted great noble purpose/obvious overarching lesson. Some decisions made in it, could have gone the other way and prevented problems they saw later. I guess that's true to life but some of the decisions occurring repeatedly with similar negative outcomes for the main characters start to feel a bit preachy and a bit foolish. If your "right decision" consistently results in many more people dying and continues to add risk, is it right? Clearly its right for continuing a series but in terms of the overall message sent, it becomes frustrating.
I'm still reading the series so its not wretched...but it is rapidly losing creativity. When I finish reading the series, I plan to go back and note which books are worth continuing through.
At this point, I'd recommend stopping at the end of book 4, "The Battle for Skandia". It has a logical ending point and good energy. A reader could be quite happy to stop there and consider the series enjoyable.
Spoiler
Warning: The end is a bit of a cliffhanger much like some of the other books later in the series.jenmkin's review against another edition
5.0
The funniest part of this book is the reveal that Halt lied to Horace about lying about being related to the royal bloodline of Hibernia in book 3 & then acts like it's Horace's fault for believing him.
joram_w's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
320rcole's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was a cute addition to Will's story. I liked learning more about Halt and getting to see where he came from. Will is really coming in to his own. This is the first book in the series that I hadn't read when I was younger, and the first impression was still great as an adult.