Bookworm Speaks!- The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan

Bookworm Speaks!

Ranger’s Apprentice Book 8

The Kings of Clonmel

by John Flanagan

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The Story: When a cult springs up in neighboring Clonmel, promising to quell the recent attacks by lawless marauders, people flock from all over to offer gold in exchange for protection. But Halt is all too familiar with this particular group, and he knows they have a less than charitable agenda. Secrets will be unveiled and battles fought to the death as Will and Horace help Halt in ridding the land of a dangerous enemy.

The Good: This is where we see Halt’s story. This series has always been about Will, ever since the beginning. Halt is such a good character, though, that the readers have grown to love him as much as Will and Horace. To finally see where he came from and what he’s connected to is a real treat. The truth of his origins will stun many readers. On the other hand…perhaps it will lend an explanation to a lot about Halt. 

We also get into what this series does best…the Power Team. Horace, Halt, and Will, going off on a grand adventure. What makes this particular adventure so great is how it is the first one where everyone has truly blossomed. Will is a fully fledged Ranger, Horace is a full-grown Knight of the Realm, and even Halt has changed…no longer is he the babysitter to inexperienced youths, he can work on equal terms with his allies and friends. This is perhaps best illustrated in the first few chapters of the book where Will returns to Redmont and they formulate their adventure for the rest of the book. It is a very nice for two reasons. One, in books that involve epic heroes, its is very refreshing to see our favorite be normal for change and enjoying simple situations, such as having a meal. The second reason is how is shows that they have grown. We see glimpses of how far Will, Alyss, Jenny, and even George from the first book and how they have come into their own. Halt and Crowley are able to talk to them as equals now and after watching Will stumble in the preceding books, we finally see him fully fledged. 

It shows a bit of courage on the part of the author to display religion and cults in such as manners as that described in the book. In fiction, Religion, in its myriad of forms, is usually portrayed in one of three ways: It is force for good, a antagonistic force, or simply part of the background. 

The Flaws: This book suffers the same way as the previous two-parter in the series, The Sorcerer in the North and the Siege of Macindaw, in that they are not very memorable. Perhaps the author is a more concise writer and does not do longer stories very well. This volume is one of the longest in the series and the author spends too much time filling it up with details that may or may not be relevant in the next half of the two-parter. The author may have become a bit overconfident by this volume after all of his success and more of the flaws in his writing style are becoming more apparent. 

Horace is one of the main victims of this. Horace has indeed grown in his aptitude for combat, but to be completely honest…not much else. Horace was a source of comedy in previous books in how his open and honest nature contrasted with Will and Halt’s broody and reclusive temperaments. This time around, the reader feels Halt’s pain when Horace teases him. He is a little too innocent and honorable to be entertaining. He gets annoying in some places. His obsession with food is understandable, again it’s a little annoying. 

While the cult is a fun enemy, its not the most well thought out. The villain seems to have no real plan other than getting lots of gold. That’s fine for a bunch of bad guys but there is all this talk of how the King of Hibernia is weak and the the cult plans to seize power. It never goes into a great deal of detail on how exactly this will be accomplished. Really, the only reason is because: “We’re greedy, bad guys. Didn’t you read the script?” That, in of itself, is not a bad motive but only for books and media for young children. The Ranger’s Apprentice sells itself as a young adult series and young adults need goals that are a little more sophisticated than just for evils.  

Final Verdict: The previous book is a classic, but this kind of the point where the other is starting to lose steam. What carries the book through is the characters and the interesting backstory but the book as a whole is lacking. 

Three out of Five Stars

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