"Ranger's Apprentice"

Babylon 5, S.M. Stirling's Emberverse, Ranger's Apprentice, something else? Let's talk.

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Cimrandir
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"Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by Cimrandir »

All righty, I figured that I'd go ahead and start a thread on the "Ranger's Apprentice" book series by John Flanagan. I have heard different people on the board discuss the series, so I thought I'd start a thread. How many of you guys have read the series?

I'll start off. I am a huge fan of the series. I've read every single book in the series, my favorite being the fourth book, "Oakleaf Bearers." (I like the Australian title better than the U.S.) I enjoy how the author takes a practical bent with the Ranger's. Umm... that's it for now.

Sooo... Discussion on anything and everything welcome!

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Re: "Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by Eledhwen »

I have. Currently reading The Lost Stories. Looking forward to continuing with it...I've also got the first book in the new series set in the world but haven't begun to read it yet. Love the series. In the way of weapons I am more like the Araluen Rangers; long knife and tomahawk (instead of the throwing knife). That and the love of good, strong, black coffee. ;)

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Last edited by Eledhwen on Mon Dec 26, 2011 2:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Ringulf
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Re: "Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by Ringulf »

Well I might as well refresh the information about this series and my own history.

A few years ago when my nephew was getting to be about 14, He was very interested in Larp and SCA and all and he wanted to come with me but you needed to be 16 to be in it so I tried to find some things we could get into together that were age appropriate.

He is on the smallish side and reminds me very much of Will, While my son is a dead ringer for Horace. I decided to get the series for Mathew and Dan but thought it would be a good idea to read them first, so we had common ground to discuss them.

As I was doing my customary reaserch I came across an add for a "Ranger's Apprentice" RPG.

I got on and asked a bajillion questions and made a nuisance of myself as usual and the Global moderator was very kind and answered them all to get me started. I also filled out the profile to let them know what kind of nut was loose in their midst.

A short time later the global mod wrote me a note and said she was somewhat concerned because our profiles were so much alike she thought I might have been stalking her! The straw that broke the camels back was the fact that our birthday was the same day! I assured her I had not seen it and her birthday when I did check had been hidden and she had not shown it previously.

The next few weeks where a blur of communication between us and shortly after we met (Jan 4th) We met in person in Richmond VA (Feb 13th, our birthdays) for a Pirate Party to celebrate ours and several others birthdays and anniversaries around the same time.

That Global moderator on the Halt's Playground RPG was none other than our own Brandwyn a member now of this forum. I have continued on the HP site and am her co-Global Moderator as well as her boyfriend. She is relocating down here to Florida and is the Seneschal of my Shire in the SCA, the one we are having the Ranger Moot at in the spring.

So you see I have quite a bit invested in Mr Flannigan's works, My Nephew read the books but it did not go much further, My son, Daughter and my Son's Girlfriend are all very enthusiastically emersed in it as well. To the point that we are in comunication with Mr. Flannagan about a Ranger's Apprentice Larp that we have been trying to establish.

If you have anything RA to discuss I am always eager to do so! And check out the RPG if you are interested this is the link:

http://araluenrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi
I am Ringulf the Dwarven Woodsman, I craft leather, wood, metal, and clay,
I throw axes, seaxes, and pointy sticks, And I fire my bow through the day.
Come be my ally, lift up your mead! We'll search out our foes and the Eagles we'll feed! :mrgreen:
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Peter Remling
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Re: "Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by Peter Remling »

I've read 1-4 and am getting several others for Christmas, though not chronologigal order.
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Willrett
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Re: "Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by Willrett »

I have read all the books that are out in paper back. I love the series.
"Knowledge is a weapon. I intend to be formidably armed." Richard, the Seeker (Sword of Truth)"
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Re: "Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by kaelln »

I've read everything up to and including "The Kings of Clonmell".
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Re: "Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by Ernildir »

I've read all of them including the Lost Stories. Not touched Brotherband yet. I very much enjoyed the series and quite fancy the emphases on stealth and tactics.
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Re: "Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by Gondian »

I foresee a trip to the local tomes(library) in the very near future. I have heard a great many things about these books, all of them good. Now to find the time to actually read them!
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Re: "Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by Manveruon »

I saw these just a couple months ago for the first time on a shelf at the grocery store, and I have to admit, I sort of rolled my eyes. They looked like your typical poorly written young-adult drivel, and I figured they were probably not worth my time. But after hearing about them here I was intrigued, and so I went on a net-quest to find them on audiobook (my preferred method of devouring literature nowadays). I eventually found a torrent and nabbed them, and I am currently enjoying the first book immensely! In fact, I am sorry to say that starting the first Ranger's Apprentice book has actually delayed my finishing the Return of the King at long last (I'm so close I can taste it!).

So far I am finding it a very pleasant read. Though there are some bits that definitely seem contrived, or at least are very obviously written by a modern person with modern ideas about how the world works (case in point: the whole concept of Battle School being very much like modern boot camp - not to mention the name "Battle School" itself - the fact that showering instead of bathing is explicitly mentioned several times, Halt's "camouflage" cloak, etc.) I find there was also a lot of thought put into it, and I love that the author obviously based the world he created upon the real world, to some degree (using place-names like Hibernia, Scandia, and Gallica, and common items like seaxes, and describing recurve bows as being a distinctly Eastern weapon, and therefore rare in the "European" lands where the story takes place).

At any rate, I'm excited to see where the books will go. Thanks for turning me on to them!
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Re: "Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by Ringulf »

If you would like to see some of the maps of Flanagan's paralel Europe you can see them in the map section of our website "Halt's Playground"

http://araluenrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi

Alot of the comments you relate are topics we have all discussed somewhat, Flannagan is clever and somewhat humorus but one has to remember that if he is a tad predictable in some areas it is partly due to a younger audience. Keep reading it gets alot better!

Some of the little semi modern things that he has done like the twin knife scabbard with seax and thrower and the Blending cloak. are not so far off base.

I have been working on some of these items myself and have been able to achive them in a more or less medeivaly constructed way. The Cloak is not an outright camo pattern like realtree or any such silliness, it is just either in the weave or in the dyeing, blended shades of greys and greens that achieve a break up of the outline much as an Elven cloak might.
I was able to find some really cool Indonesian Batik whose methoed of coloration I have been told is very ancient, that simulates what I feel Mr. Flanagan might have been alluding too, (check the forum under ranger cloaks for a look at them) and even if the cotton is not authentically medeival as we have said Rosey's family couldn't be convinced of it I'm sure!
And it works very well down here in Southern Ithilian! We get it shipped up to the markets along the Dol Amroth coast and the mouth of the Anduin by the Umbarians and other southrons. :wink:
I am Ringulf the Dwarven Woodsman, I craft leather, wood, metal, and clay,
I throw axes, seaxes, and pointy sticks, And I fire my bow through the day.
Come be my ally, lift up your mead! We'll search out our foes and the Eagles we'll feed! :mrgreen:
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Re: "Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by Manveruon »

Very cool! Thanks for the link!

It's funny, I've been trying to brainstorm for a while so as to create my own alternate-Medieval-Europe and possibly set some stories there, but after taking a look at Flanagan's work, I find it's strikingly similar to what I was trying to envision myself. So far it looks like he did an excellent job creating a world that is at once extremely familiar and yet also slightly fantastical. A much better job in some ways than, for instance, George R. R. Martin, who also designed his fantasy novels to be "historical" in feel, but still ultimately created an entirely new world to set them in.

And as for the anachronisms, I can get over them for the most part. The cloaks I always imagined were sort of mottled through the dyeing process or just woven that way, with perhaps a different colored warp and weft, or just woven with thread that had a variegated color itself. In theory it's plausible. And as for the dual knives, they always seemed fairly reasonable to me - though I would personally take a short sword as well.

All told, they seem to be a very interesting series, and I can't wait to dive into the other books after this one.
Maerondir Perianseron, also called “Mickel,” Halfling Friend - Ranger of the Misty Mountains
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Re: "Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by Arlyssen Arlussen »

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why haven't I heard of this before?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I nearly died when I saw this thread!!!!!!!!! *Gets all excited again* Rangers Apprentice is like MY LIFE!!!!! I'm sort of reading Brother band but I lie R MUCH better!!!
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Re: "Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by Arlyssen Arlussen »

Arlyssen Arlussen wrote:AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why haven't I heard of this before?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I nearly died when I saw this thread!!!!!!!!! *Gets all excited again* Rangers Apprentice is like MY LIFE!!!!! I'm sort of reading Brother band but I lie R MUCH better!!!
man I really need to check my spelling...I blame two things. 1: I'm typelexic and 2: I was so freaking excited!!!!! Its supposed to be Like not lie and RA not just R
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Re: "Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by Manveruon »

Just so you know, you can always go back and edit your post if you goof the spelling. I actually do that quite often.

And as for the books, I have finally finished all but the Emperor of Nihon-Ja, and honestly I'm not all that interested in the last book. The rest of them, however, I have thoroughly enjoyed. I'd say my favorites overall were probably The Battle for Skandia, The Sorcerer of the North/The Siege of Macindaw, and Erak's Ransom. These were the stories I felt Flanagan really nailed as far as his characterization, plot, and believability of the world he created. I felt like they were leagues beyond the somewhat simplistic first three books - though I enjoyed those for what they were. The Kings of Clonmel I liked, but I thought it lacked focus, and Halt's Peril was a decent concept, but ultimately didn't warrant an entire book of its own, in my opinion.

Overall though, I've quite enjoyed the series, and I wish Flanagan would continue to pen new installments, because I feel there is MUCH more material to be explored with regard to Will, Halt, Horus, and the world they inhabit.
Maerondir Perianseron, also called “Mickel,” Halfling Friend - Ranger of the Misty Mountains
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Willrett
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Re: "Ranger's Apprentice"

Post by Willrett »

I only buy them in paper back so I'm a few books behind but I believe they come out tomorrow.
"Knowledge is a weapon. I intend to be formidably armed." Richard, the Seeker (Sword of Truth)"
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