Bookworm Speaks!- Ranger's Apprentice: The Royal Ranger Review

Bookworm Speaks!

Ranger’s Appprentice Book 12

The Royal Ranger 

by John Flanagan

****

This is the final book in the Ranger’s Apprentice Series. 

Warning! Review contains spoilers. 

The Story: Will Treaty has come a long way from the small boy with dreams of knighthood. Life had other plans for him, and as an apprentice Ranger under Halt, he grew into a legend—the finest Ranger the kingdom has ever known. Yet Will is facing a tragic battle that has left him grim and alone. To add to his problems, the time has come to take on an apprentice of his own, and it’s the last person he ever would have expected. Fighting his personal demons, Will has to win the trust and respect of his difficult new companion—a task that at times seems almost impossible.

The Good: This story takes place fifteen/sixteen years after the conclusion of the Nihon-Ja arc. Will, Horace, and Cassandra have grown up. Horace and Cassandra are married and have a fifteen year-old daughter named Madeline or Maddie. We already have an interesting premise here. Seeing the next generating 

The greatest strength of the novel is in Madeline. She is very much like her mother: headstrong and unafraid. This makes her appealing right from the start as Cassandra was a favorite character for the same reason. Madeline is written is a distinctive way. Maddie has a bit of an attitude problem, she is spoiled and has a condescending outlook on life and people.  

You can’t really blame her though. She is the heir to the kingdom and the daughter of two famous heroes and throughout her childhood she was waited on hand and foot. It should come as no surprise when she acts negatively to living the comfortable but somewhat yeoman lifestyle of a Ranger. 

At the same time, the reader can’t help but understand her and, no doubt to some surprise, feel sorry for her. Being thrust into a different paradigm is a traumatic experience, no matter the circumstances, and is relatable to almost everyone. She is not mean or insufferable (maybe a little annoying at times) and she tries to make the best of what she has been dealt. This makes her feel very real and a very good character. 

It serves as foil to Will in more than one way. More than just the grizzled veteran contrasted with youthful exuberance. Maddie is the same age as Will when he started out and has similar habits such as sneaking around and causing trouble, but that is where the similarities end. Maddie has had a happy childhood with a loving family and is royalty. Will was an orphan. They came from different worlds and both have to make adjustments. Character was what always carried the series through and it works really well here. 

What is also great about this book is how it no doubt fulfills many fan’s (including Bookworm) dreams of having a female Ranger. Bookworm loves female protagonist’s and finally seeing a girl become a Ranger makes it all the sweeter. 

The Flaws: Get ready for some ranting…

If the series had ended on The Emperor of Nihon-Ja, it would have been great!

If the series had ended on The Lost Stories, it would have been fine. 

Here…Bookworm thinks the author got fed up or just got lazy. 

This novel got a lot of things right, but it got too much wrong. 

The main problem was that it was just a little too close to home. This series was fun in how it sent its heroes on grand adventures into new lands. That didn’t happen here it was almost a rehash of the first half of the first book. Training, getting into trouble, punishments, Will gets frustrated. This is not what we have come to expect from Ranger’s Apprentice! A local story arc does not belong in a thrilling conclusion. That was what the Lost Stories was for. If it has to take place close to home. Really raise the stakes, make it an epic conclusion. But no! It was bandits! The most blah enemies in any work of fiction! 

The most grievous sin of this book was how a main character that we all grew to love was treated. Alyss was killed off!

Alyss was a good character but she was criticized for being the token love interest for the hero. Well…in this book, she really did become the token love interest and fell right into the tired, “woman in refrigerator” cliche. Killing her off did not serve any real purpose other than to add drama to the story and motivate Will into becoming a bitter, old man, similar in many respects to what Halt was like at the beginning of the series. To add insult to the fans, the author downgrades Will significantly. We all know that he is sad that his wife is dead, but considering what else he has been through, it stretches the realism of this series in that in the past, Will has taken on entire armies and enemy generals, a band of thugs should not have captured him so easily. He is supposed to filling the shoes of Halt. He is one of the greatest Rangers in the Corps now. He should have picked them all off one by one from the shadows. Instead, some half-baked revenge scheme tried to be hammered in but it didn't work for Bookworm. 

Final Verdict: Bookworm thinks that the author did not write this book because he wanted to but because he still had one more book on his contract or he had a hefty bill to pay. This was an incredible letdown. 

Bookworm won’t lie though, it would be nice to see some stories about Madeline being the first female ranger and going on some adventures, but maybe it is enough. Let this series rest. 

After all…you know what they say about all good things…

Two out of Five Stars

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