The Icebound Land by John Flanagan
Hello, my name is Charlie Hechler, and today I will be reviewing the Icebound Land written by John Flanagan. Before I go on I must say that there will be spoilers ahead, so if you plan to read this then do not read this review.
The story starts off picking up from the previous book, which ended with a huge war. Will, the main character is captured along with one of his close friends Evanlyn by Skandians. Halt, the ranger Will is an apprentice under, is back in Araluen their home country and he is determined to rescue them both. However, the government of Araluen does not want Halt to go. He then betrays the kingdom to save them and he is kicked from the Ranger Corps and the borders of Araluen for a whole year. While leaving Horace, a previous bully of Will's joins Halt to save the couple. They encounter many different obstacles, mainly groups of warriors that are in the way of the path to Skandia. While Will and Evanlyn are in Skandia they are taken as slaves and have given up any hope of rescue or escape. Will develops an addiction to warmweed a drug that makes the person feel as if they are warm in the harsh conditions of Skandia. Evanlyn then has to ween Will off the drug over several weeks till he is himself again. Halt and Horace are eventually captured in Gallica before entering Skandia, but they manage to burn the castle they are kept in, Castle Montsombre. That is where the book ends without a resolution to Evanlyn and Will being still trapped as slaves in Skandia.
There is quite a bit of good and bad in this book. First of all the book is sort of a let down compared to previous books as it does not significantly move the plot forward and seems to be more of a gap in the adventures of Will and Halt. However, the amount it develops the characters makes up for it. It presents situations that we have not seen the characters run into before where they are challenged to go above and beyond what they have ever believed that they could do. Also, it gives more reason to enjoy the characters as they become more and more worthy of our praise and liking. It shows how everything isn't all fun and games either as Will and Evanlyn are not rescued by the end of the book. It makes the series less cliche and adds more unpredictability and character to the storyline.
The Icebound Land is a great book and the Ranger's Apprentice series is great as a whole. In comparison to the previous two books, it is not as entertaining, but you will not be disappointed. If you like books with a lot more focus on character development and smaller scale combat you will love this book. Overall, I would rate The Icebound Land an 8/10.
The story starts off picking up from the previous book, which ended with a huge war. Will, the main character is captured along with one of his close friends Evanlyn by Skandians. Halt, the ranger Will is an apprentice under, is back in Araluen their home country and he is determined to rescue them both. However, the government of Araluen does not want Halt to go. He then betrays the kingdom to save them and he is kicked from the Ranger Corps and the borders of Araluen for a whole year. While leaving Horace, a previous bully of Will's joins Halt to save the couple. They encounter many different obstacles, mainly groups of warriors that are in the way of the path to Skandia. While Will and Evanlyn are in Skandia they are taken as slaves and have given up any hope of rescue or escape. Will develops an addiction to warmweed a drug that makes the person feel as if they are warm in the harsh conditions of Skandia. Evanlyn then has to ween Will off the drug over several weeks till he is himself again. Halt and Horace are eventually captured in Gallica before entering Skandia, but they manage to burn the castle they are kept in, Castle Montsombre. That is where the book ends without a resolution to Evanlyn and Will being still trapped as slaves in Skandia.
There is quite a bit of good and bad in this book. First of all the book is sort of a let down compared to previous books as it does not significantly move the plot forward and seems to be more of a gap in the adventures of Will and Halt. However, the amount it develops the characters makes up for it. It presents situations that we have not seen the characters run into before where they are challenged to go above and beyond what they have ever believed that they could do. Also, it gives more reason to enjoy the characters as they become more and more worthy of our praise and liking. It shows how everything isn't all fun and games either as Will and Evanlyn are not rescued by the end of the book. It makes the series less cliche and adds more unpredictability and character to the storyline.
The Icebound Land is a great book and the Ranger's Apprentice series is great as a whole. In comparison to the previous two books, it is not as entertaining, but you will not be disappointed. If you like books with a lot more focus on character development and smaller scale combat you will love this book. Overall, I would rate The Icebound Land an 8/10.
I remember reading this book a while ago, and your summary helped refresh most of the important details for me. I agree that there is sort of an idle downtime for a few of the books in the series starting at from The Icebound Land until it picks up again. I recommend still sticking with the series, because it will definitely get a lot better. All of the decisions the writer makes in the next book or two while Will and Halt are separated are largely important to set up for the good parts. Nice review.
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