Book Review: The Ranger's Apprentice books 1-4 by John Flanagan

Instead of back reviewing each of these books, I thought I would simply combine them into one. The first four titles, The Ruins of Gorlan, The Burning Bridge, The Icebound Land, and The Battle for Skandiabegin the story of Will, a ward of the state who wanted desperately to become a knight. To his dismay, he is denied that career and instead taken up by the mysterious ranger Halt to be his apprentice. He slowly learns the difficult but impressive skills of the rangers. His newly acquired skills are put to the test with increasing difficulty. He also learns to rely more upon his friends for help, including Horace, a knight in training, and Evanlyn, a girl with a hidden identity. After the defeat of Lord Morgarath, Will is taken into slavery and faces new and perhaps more difficult challenges in a foreign land. His further adventures lead to a daring rescue, some unexpected alliances, and a fierce battle. And, of course, each book manages to end with a cliff-hanger!

 

I've been really impressed with this series. It is exciting, full of adventure and even some humor, and still manages to be clean of language and other mrg-related stuff. I think youth, especially boys, will be captivated by this fast-paced thrilling adventure series.

RATINGS:
s-factor: !
Only a few (if any).

mrg-factor: none.

v-factor: ->->
There are battles and fighting scenes, but not too gruesome.

Overall rating: *** or ****