Product Description

Several years have passed since the apprentice and his master, Will and Halt, first met, and Will is finally a full-fledged Ranger with his own fief to look after. The fief seems sleepy—boring, even—until Lord Syron, master of a castle far in the north, is struck down by a mysterious illness. Joined by his friend Alyss, Will is suddenly thrown headfirst into an extraordinary adventure, investigating fears of sorcery and trying to determine who is loyal to Lord Syron. As Will battles growing hysteria, traitors, and most of all, time, Alyss is taken hostage, and Will is forced to make a desperate choice between his mission and his friend.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2176 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780142414293
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Booklist
Will is just settling into his first post as a brand-new, just-commissioned Ranger when he is dispatched to deal with problems on the kingdom’s northern border. Though his keen senses and uncanny expertise with his knives and his bow are vital, Will’s success often hinges on his ability to assess the skills and intentions of those around him. The scenes involving Will, his mentor, Halt, and Halt’s mentor, Crowley, work beautifully to fill in background information, dramatize Will’s growing maturity, and entertain readers with clever dialogue. The Sorcerer of the North is a must-have volume for fans of the popular Ranger’s Apprentice series. Grades 5-8. --Carolyn Phelan

Review
The last few years have seen the publication of many fantasies, but few have the appeal of this original story. -Booklist, starred review, for The Ruins of Gorlan

About the Author
John Flanagan grew up in Sydney, Australia, hoping to be a writer. John began writing Ranger’s Apprentice for his son, Michael, ten years ago, and is still hard at work on the series. He currently lives in Manly, Australia, with his wife. In addition to their son, they have two grown daughters and four grandsons.

Customer Reviews

Don't read this until you've got book 6 as well
I've always enjoyed the "Ranger's Apprentice" series. While there isn't really anything new or inspired about them, they've proven popular with my students and quick, enjoyable reads.

The series centers around Will, a young Ranger, who is your typical hero in these sorts of stories: expert in woodsmanship, personal concealment, tracking, archery, being mistaken for a sorceror, that sort of thing. Naturally, he's an orphan, and naturally, "great things are expected of him in the years to come" which doesn't surpise us, given that he is "highly thought of, though of course he didn't know it."

I say this not to be disparaging, but with amusement. Will is exactly who we expect him to be. Simple and good.

But this latest installment into the series fails to impress me, and that for one simple reason: it isn't an installment into the series. The book doesn't end. It merely runs out of pages. The term "cliffhanger" seems inadequate to describe the final pages of this book.

I understand that this is a series, and that the overall story will be told over the corse of several books. Books in a series often end in cliffhangers. Flanagan has done this before - at then end of the series' second and third installments - but in this case it is far more jarring. Those books had a clear climax, the major conflict established in the early pages of the book were resolved. And while they certainly ended with a clear cliffhanger, the overall story had advanced. Not so, with "Sorceror of the North."

Again, I understand that this is a series, but in any series, each book should be able to stand on its own, even if greatly diminished. Each entry needs its own plot and conflict, even if subordinate to the overall story.

"Sorceror of the North" book lacks that internal plot. The story begins with a completely irrelevant visit to Will's fief. The area he is responcible for watching. But he has only enough time to unpack his bags and flirt once or twice with his maid's daughter before being whisked away to the north. His fief, his responcibilities, the girl -- never mentioned again. And there isn't a single thing that happens during this visit that is necessary to the story. You could start reading the book a third of the way in and not become the least bit confused.

Eventually, will is told to do that which probably should have just been his first assignment: he is told to act the part of a travelling minstrel, while seeking to determine the cause of a mysterious sickness that is afflicting the lord of a small but important fief in the north.

Once there, he finds things are not well as a power struggle is in place between Orman - the bookish and unliked son of the stricken lord - and Keren - the popular illegitimate cousin-soldier. Will must decide which of the two he must trust. Meanwhile, there's a pesky sorceror out in the haunted woods (favored lair of evildoers in these sorts of stories) that Will must find and deal with.

These are the conflicts that are introduced. All of them are compelling, interesting, and do well to draw you into the story.

And then the book simply stops.

Not a single conflict is resolved. Will no sooner discovers who the real enemy is and vows to defeat him "even if I have to tear down the castle stone by stone" than we turn the page only to find the rear flap of the dust jacket telling us how Flanagan grew up in Sydney and so on and so forth...

The book is well written, as is the series on the whole: if not truly inspired. I recommend the series as a light read for a rainy weekend. But as a stand alone, it fails to satisfy. There isn't anything here.

Hold off on buying this one until book six rolls around. You'll want to read the two of them together. Until then, there just isn't any point.

Great addition to the series
Reviewed by Avery Largent (age 9) for Reader Views (10/08)

"Rangers Apprentice Book 5: The Sorcerer of the North" by John Flanagan is a wonderful book about a teenager named Will who is struggling with a quest of his own and a new one that appears along the way. He must finish his quest and save many lives or choose to start a new quest, embarking to save the lady Alyss. With wonderful action, suspense, and great detail to make it very exciting, plus a more important relationship between Will and Alyss than in the previous books, this book is very good and entertaining. I believe the author's style was not exactly the same as his other books and enjoyed reading this new-sounding style.

All of the wonderful, fantasy-style parts such as battles are all very well written. There is great detail and suspense-making action. The author always chooses the perfect words for the time. The author also does a great job describing the characters' thoughts and feelings. One of my favorite parts was in the midst of a person being hypnotized to get information. It showed the person's thoughts and how she tried to stop herself from saying things. The author went into great detail about her internal struggle. I very much enjoyed these scenes.

The author also explores more deeply Will's feelings for Alyss. In the rest of this series, Alyss does not appear very much. In this one, however, she appears much more. She becomes a central character to the story. There is also more romance between them than before. I was surprised to see so many romantic scenes in this book, and I wish there were fewer. However, I understand that characters get older in a series, and Flanagan showed that Will was growing up.

Another difference in this book compared to the others in the series is that the author's style appeared to change. The writing seemed more mature. The other books in the series seem to belong in the kids' section of the library, and this one seemed more fitting in the teens' aisle. This book had more romance, was heavier in the details, and lighter in the action. But it was an interesting change. I can't really say that I like this style better then his previous books; it was very good either way.

I believe this book should not be read until you have read the rest in the series. Book 5 does not go back and explain what happened before like some books do. In this one you wouldn't know who the characters are, or what certain things they did, and that is very important to understanding the story.

Altogether, "Ranger's Apprentice Book 5: The Sorcerer of the North" by John Flanagan was a very good book. I would recommend this book to my friends, and can't wait to read the next in this series.

Why do we have to wait for so long between books?
It's been 4 years since Will and Halt helped the Skandians. Four years of growing up into a young man. Will is now a full Ranger, no longer an apprentice. He's being assigned his first mission alone, which takes him to a faraway fief in the kingdom. Along the way he finds a new companion, a sheep dog badly injured on the side of the road. Upon arriving at the castle he discovers the training and precautions are quite lax and things need a Ranger's touch. And he's to meet the Skandians once again. His mission is then moved to play the part of a jongleur. He must trek to the kingdom's boundaries, there are rumors of an age old sorcerer causing havoc and slowing killing a king with sickness. Will meets an old childhood friend, who was an orphan like himself, working as a courier now. Alyss has grownup tall and beautiful. Will there be romance between the old friends, or will the shadow of the Princess hold the Ranger back? Things take a turn for the worse, the king's son has now become ill. Will must seek out the sorcerer for help to heal the prince. Deceit becomes apparent with the poisoning of the prince. In his trek to find the sorcerer Will discovers not everything is as he's heard. Back at home Halt is growing concerned for the young Ranger and Courier and dispatches the best knight in the kingdom. Horace is on his way to help his friends.

This book like the others is a page turner. However, as other reviewers have mentioned it's a bit of half a book. To me, it's like your favorite TV show. They end it on a cliff hanger and you are forced to wait for the next episode. I don't feel this is a bad thing, it keeps the reader eager for the next book. I just wish they came out closer to each other. This is recommend to adults and teens alike, these are excellent books and a superb series.