# Rangers Apprentice: What do you think?



## fcbkid15 (Jul 5, 2011)

I've recently been reading the Rangers Apprentice series and I love them. The first few are a little short, but the are still good. I love the characters, the world, everything. The whole idea of all the rangers corps is just awesome. Many books have had rangers in them, but they haven't gotten into all the details of it, how the rangers work. These books focus on all that. The author, John Flanagan did a really good job of coming up with his own version of the rangers. Their not warriors, their silent spy's almost. The whole idea is just cool to me. But what I'm asking is have you guys read them? Heard of them? What do you think of them? Do you like them? Well, have fun discussing this!


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## Joe the Gnarled (Jul 5, 2011)

I read a few of that series.  I thought it was an enjoyable YA series.  I did, however, get the feeling after book four that the author was struggling to keep the series going.  It kind of got that "padded" feeling.


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## fcbkid15 (Jul 5, 2011)

Yeah. The first four are the best. The newer ones are still good, but like you said, padded. I mean look at R.A. Salvatore's ice wyndale, the first three were awesome, the other three, the legends of drizzt were pretty good, but now that he's written so many, there just meh.


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## Dr.Dorkness (Jul 5, 2011)

they are great books. looking forward to part 7 and 8 (those are not available in my country yet, or atleast not in paperback like the rest. XD)


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## fcbkid15 (Jul 5, 2011)

yeah. were at book 10 here in the states. i think thats where he plans to stop at though.


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## myrddin173 (Jul 5, 2011)

I really enjoyed all of the ones I have read (Books 1-7).  I'm just waiting for the rest to come out in paperback, which seems to be taking an unusually long amount of time.


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## Joe the Gnarled (Jul 5, 2011)

For those of you waiting on paperbacks I have two words:
Nook
Kindle


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## fcbkid15 (Jul 6, 2011)

I wish, there way too expensive though.


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## Joe the Gnarled (Jul 6, 2011)

fcbkid15 said:


> I wish, there way too expensive though.


I agree that they are expensive, however you will save in the long run.  I bought my wife one this year and the first thing she got on it was 100 classic novels for $0.50.  New releases run from half the cost of paperback to $1.00  If you buy a lot of books it is a good investment.


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## Argentum (Jul 30, 2011)

I've read all ten books already. It's easy to find online as it's already been released in Australia. I love this series dearly. Not only did I love the whole idea of Rangers, the whole relationship between Halt and Will was incredible and endearing. Halt, Will, and Horace. They were my absolute favorites. The jesting and teasing and witty remarks between friends was one of the things that made this series awesome.


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## fcbkid15 (Aug 2, 2011)

yeah, its pretty awesome. I hope they make a movie, but that they do a good job. I think it has the potential to be the next harry potter. Not the next epic series and movies, but the next best book to movie adaptation. Anyone get what I'm saying?


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## Argentum (Aug 2, 2011)

They probably won't be as action packed or as intense as the Harry Potter books, but if they did a good job, I would go see every single movie. Since the books are pretty short, it should be easier to adapt without having to chop out huge sections of story to squeeze everything into a 2 hour movie.... unless they decide to take the first three movies and chop them down into one movie...which would be absolutely horrible.


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## Leuco (Aug 4, 2011)

Joe the Gnarled said:


> I agree that they are expensive, however you will save in the long run.  I bought my wife one this year and the first thing she got on it was 100 classic novels for $0.50.  New releases run from half the cost of paperback to $1.00  If you buy a lot of books it is a good investment.



I agree. If you buy a lot of books, you definitely will save more. ebooks are a lot cheaper. I can't believe new releases are over $20 in the bookstore. That seems so ridiculous! Kindles are at $114 now. Sooner or later, they'll drop in price again like Playstations. Maybe you should wait.


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## pskelding (Aug 14, 2011)

I love this series also and have read up to 8. I have the other books in my reading pile (which is too large and grows monthly!) I particularly loved how the Rangers were portrayed and spy-scout types and some of the training that Will goes through.  It gave me more than a few ideas for my writing.  

The author's website shows a note for (new movie) but no details that I can find. The website is really good with some good stuff for fans.


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## flyboy (Aug 20, 2011)

I've read them all (I think) I like them, they are simple but well written that mixture of history and fantasy (but I think the earlier ones were less predictable).


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## Sinitar (Sep 13, 2011)

I've struggled through the first book and stopped there. 

"It's a little better than Eragon." That's how I described the book in a review. The characters are not very realistic, the first book is filled with common fantasy tropes(Will is so special that Halt prepared a 'trap' to show him just how skilled he is; Will has no parents, but has hidden abilities that the other wards do not possess) and the narration is not very catchy.


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## Whitefur (Sep 13, 2011)

I tried to give it a read before I was denied that right by the cat above me. I was basically told that it's a typical fantasy story with an evil king, a special order of rangers and a main character that is recruited into said order. That was enough of a persuasion for me not to shuffle through it.


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## flyboy (Sep 14, 2011)

Whitefur said:


> I tried to give it a read before I was denied that right by the cat above me. I was basically told that it's a typical fantasy story with an evil king, a special order of rangers and a main character that is recruited into said order. That was enough of a persuasion for me not to shuffle through it.[/QUOTE
> 
> Whilst I'm sure you are joking, I think it does serve to emphasize the detrimental effect other peoples criticism can have on a books reputation. I think you should read one yourself and form your own judgement rather than take other peoples gospel and swallow it. I took the books for what they were - simple, uncomplicated, easy to read.


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## Sinitar (Sep 14, 2011)

I agree with flyboy. A book may have a different effect on different people. Just because I did not find it very exciting does not mean you will automatically not like it Whitefur. 



> took the books for what they were - simple, uncomplicated, easy to read.



The books are how you described them. However, I don't think simplicity is really the best way to describe Ranger's apprentice. It's a more gentle way to hint at its...not quite original roots, but I've read stories that are both easy to read and way better in terms of characters and plot than Ranger's apprentice. To be frank, it does not take a huge amount of talent to invent a plot more different and exciting than this classic approach Ranger's Apprentice has used.

Was it that much different if Will was just a nobody and Halt a stranger who was simply struck by compassion? Helping Will because Halt considers it his duty is just silly and does not really work for me. It's almost like the Uncle Ben syndrome(Or lack of family syndrome), only that Halt knew his father insteand.

Uncle Ben Syndrome is where the main character is orphaned and lives with his only remaining relatives (typically his aunt and uncle or just the uncle). This relative then plays a key part in inspiring the character to follow his/her destiny.


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## pskelding (Sep 14, 2011)

I think we should keep in mind that Ranger's Apprentice is YA and we shouldn't expect the greatness of a GRRM, Jordan, Sanderson, Erikson, or Abercrombie.  But for a YA book I personally feel they are a cut above most in the genre.  If anyone here has read my blog I'm posting a series of posts called DNA of a Story in which I show the influences for my current project Dark Archers.  Ranger's Apprentice was the first cornerstone influence on my story.


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## Whitefur (Sep 15, 2011)

> Whilst I'm sure you are joking, I think it does serve to emphasize the detrimental effect other peoples criticism can have on a books reputation. I think you should read one yourself and form your own judgement rather than take other peoples gospel and swallow it. I took the books for what they were - simple, uncomplicated, easy to read.



You're right... and wrong, at the same time . While there was a mix of silliness in my bowl of stew, I didn't jump far from the truth. It all relates to one... well, two facts, actually. One of them is that I'm not a big reader, and two is that Sinitar is my brother so I always tend to question him about things whenever he gets ahead of me with reading. 
And that's how it happened with Ranger's apprentice. I kindly asked my brother to provide me a summary for the book, and he did. Me, having read and outgrown the three books of the Inheritance Cycle I read previously  ( which were also the first ones I've read in years besides ones I had to read for school) did not find it that interesting, so I took his word for it.

Was I at fault? Definitely. I admit that I'm too lazy for my own good sometimes. Have I done injustice to the books by not reading them? I plead guilty as well, but since there are so many books out there I'm always thinking "meh, there has to be something better than this" before reading something I find uninteresting. For me, the first opinion matters quite a lot, especially when it comes to books. Reading anything on this old wreck of a cathode ray tube monitor is a real pain.


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## flyboy (Sep 16, 2011)

*Rangers apprentice*

I think I also need to step back, if one of my family - one who new my taste - said I dont think youll like it because of xyz, I'd follow that advice.

Regards: To you and yours


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## Tamwen (Sep 28, 2011)

I think the books are wonderful, personally. I find that the quality of writing gets way better from... Oh, I'd say book seven or eight onward. The dialogue in particular is my favorite part of it all; I'm a sucker for some good old fashioned sarcasm. 

He is going to write another book, btw. The Lost Tales, which I assume will be a collection of short stories, is coming out in Europe/Australia this autumn.


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## Argentum (Sep 29, 2011)

I'd agree with Tamwen. The sarcasm, wit, and playful proding was the one thing I think I loved most about the series. The comradery. The story, to me, was fresh and new territory. I never read a story before that had rangers as main characters and archery as the main weaponry. In other books, they're usually the side-kicks and archery is more of a secondary weapon. But it was the way the characters acted around each other and reacted to each other that really got me hooked. Was it the next Lord of the Rings? No. And I didn't get the warm fuzzies, but I was definitely warm and content when I read those books.

Yeah, they were simple books too. But sometimes the idea of reading a book with many characters, plots, subplots, and plot twists just makes me exhausted thinking about it. They're great, but it's nice to read simple books too.


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