The Sorcerer of The North by John Flanagan (Ranger's Apprentice - Book 5)

Welcome back! Today I'll be reviewing Ranger's Apprentice Book 5: The Sorcerer of The North. Instead of leaving right off of Book 4, we are starting when Will is finally a full fledged Ranger with his Silver Oakleaf. He is assigned a mission in Seacliff Fief. QUICK CHECK UP: A FIEF IS KINDA LIKE A COUNTRY OR A STATE PLEASE READ THE BOOKS AND/OR MAPS FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THAT.

Read my reviews of book 1; book 2; book 3; and book 4

During Will's amazing travel, he meets a bloody dog on the side of the road. He takes her in and stitches her up. He puts her on the back of Tug (Will's horse). Once Will makes it to the land of Seacliff he is greeted with odd glances and voices. A few weeks after Will first moved into Seacliff he started to notice the lack of training and responsibility in the fief. He meets up with Alyss (Will's life long and friend. She is also a courier), and they discuss the mission Will was assigned. They later find a man named John Buttle (who is the one who injured the dog) and overhears their conversation. Will (with his awesome Ranger senses) finds out of John's presence and knocks him out.

Later after that Will travels to the Ranger's Gathering Grounds (a camp where all the rangers meet). Here he meets up with Halt (his former mentor) and Crowley (the Ranger Corps leader). They tell him to go under disguise as a jongleur (a guy that goes around towns playing music). This way Will can gather information about Norgate Fief. Lord Syron in Castle Macindaw (the castle of Norgate) has fallen very ill and people have blamed a mysterious "sorcerer". He meets up with Orman(Lord Syron's son and temporary ruler) who finds out Will is a ranger. He tells him that the "sorcerer" in Grimsdell Woods is to blame. So Will heads out with Orman's assistant, Xander, to Grimsdell Woods. Alyss is also there (disguised as Lady Gwendolyn) and stays around the castle. Then suddenly John Buttle walks in (remember him?) and finds Alyss. So he captures her and takes her to Keren (a guy who is planning to rule Castle Macindaw. He is also to blame for the poisoning of Lord Syron). Keren hypnotises Alyss to take all the secrets out of her, and after a 2nd attempt, it worked. Now with Will gone in Grimsdell Woods, and Alyss captured.

This leaves us to the rest of Book 5 and the setup for Book 6:The Siege of Macindaw. Thanks for reading this review and be sure to check out the series and my other reviews to understand this series better.

Reviewed by Conrad ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 850