Book Review: The Ranger's Apprentice Book 4 - The Battle for Skandia

Book Review: The Ranger's Apprentice Book 4 - The Battle for Skandia

Author: John Flanagan
Publisher: Penguin Books
Genre: Fiction, Medieval

Like Last time, the Book I am reviewing is not the first in the series. In fact, as implied by the book's name, it is the fourth. Therefore, I believe a short introduction is necessary.

Set in the mythical land of Araluen, the series follows the adventures of Will, a small and lively 15 year old boy living in medieval Castle Redmont. Rejected for training as a warrior-knight, Will is apprenticed instead to the Ranger Corps – a mysterious group who act as the King’s eyes and ears throughout Araluen and beyond its shores.As an Apprentice Ranger, Will is trained to be an expert archer and knife thrower, as well as learning the skills of silent, unseen movement, tracking and concealment. Gradually, a bond develops between the garrulous, inquisitive Will and his grim-faced mentor, Halt – renowned as one of the greatest of all Rangers.
In the first book, the Ruins of Gorlan, Morgarath, the main antagonist, rallies vile and powerful creatures called the Kalkara. Halt decides to send a party to kill one. However, Halt and the rest of the party is soon severely injured and unable to fight. Will, who is one of the few uninjured people, uses an immense amount of determination and using what he has learnt from Halt, sets his arrow on fire and fires at the Kalkara, eventually defeats it.
In the second book, The burning bridge, Will and his friend, Horace, along with a friend, Gilan set out on a special mission, but discovers that something is wrong. Gilan thinks that it has to do with Morgarath and tracks Morgarath's army. along the way, they find Evanlyn, who is actually Princess Cassandra from Araluen. They find out the plan that Morgarath has and Araluen will suffer a bitter defeat, if Morgarath's plan is carried out. They discover the only way to stop this is to burn a bridge. They manage to do it, but are captured, except for Horace and Gilan, who went away to do other important things. Meanwhile, the war between Morgarath and Araluen continues, with Morgarath losing. He sends out an order to retreat and challenges Halt to a battle. However, the king forbids Halt from fighting Morgarath and Horace arrives and challenges Morgarath to a fight. Morgarath is powerful and every blow he delivers is a staggering blow against Horace. Horace fights back as much as he can and eventually kills Morgarath. Will, however is still captured and Halt arrives too late to save his apprentice.
In the third book, the icebound land, Will and Evanlyn form a strange friendship with Erak, who sells them in the hope they will have a better job then as their slaves. However, although Evanlyn is treated better, Will suffers greatly and cannot resist the temptation to take a drug which gives him a warm, soothing feeling, but makes him a mindless zombie. Meanwhile, while Halt and Horace is trying to find Will and Evanlyn (aka Princess Cassandra), they are challenged by freelance knights. Horace, however, defeats them easily. Soon, he is renowned as the Oakleaf Knight and is has not been defeated yet. Unfortunately, their fame does not go unnoticed and they are challenged by warlord, Deparnieux. Horace was injured in his last battle and declines. Deparnieux, angry at being declined, captures them until Horace recoveres. Seeing the cruelty at Deparnieux castle, Halt chalenges Deparnieux and kills him. Meanwhile, Evanlyn despairs at seeing Will as a zombie and Erak helps them escape. The conclusion is at the book I am reviewing, The Battle for Skandia.
In The Battle for Skandia, Will is freed from the effects of warmweed and helps Evanlyn search for food. However, Will is still weak and Evanlyn is captured by the Temujai, a powerful enemy which is the origin of the Rangers. Will tries to save her and is soon aided by Halt and Horace. Later they find Erak and discovers the plot of the Temujai to destroy Skandia, to achieve domination of the seas. Although the Skandians are fierce fighters, they have limited or no tactics and compared to the strategic Temujai, they are no match. Halt, who has experience with the Temujai, devises a tactic for the Skandians so that the Skandians can defeat the Temujai. The Skandians eventually wins after sustaining many casualties including the leader of the Skandians, the Oberjarl. Erak later becomes an Oberjarl and offers to send Will, Halt, Horace and Princess Cassandra back to Araluen. The king is overjoyed and rewards Halt, Horace and Will. However, Will refuses the kings offer to put him at a leadership position in charge of Royal Scouts, meaning honor, prestige, rank and recognition, but Will declined it, preferring the freedom of the forest. This descision was especially painful to Princess Cassandra, in which their friendship would be heavily tarnished. The book ends with Princess Cassandra waving farewell to Will, but Will, who was riding south, did not notice.

Personally, as with the other books, I had been amazed by the vividness and clarity of the story as well as the lure of the high adventure carried out by believable, down-to-earth heroes. The author's deft character potrayals and well paced story has never failed to leave me clamouring for the next volume. However, I must admit that it is impossible to go straight into the later volumes without going through the first volume by chronological order. Also, while the story is engaging and exciting, the story seems to miss a few gaping holes in which some of the events seem unbelievable. However, the weakness is covered by the storyline. Therefore, I can say that this book is one of the few books that have a superb appeal. I strongly reccomend this if you are interested in swordplay and archery. And yes, you have to read the earlier volumes in chronological order first.

Rating: 8.5/10