The Burning Bridge (Ranger's Apprentice #2)

1.  An excellent sequel by John Flanagan. Was apparently meant to be part of the same larger book as the Ruins of Gorlan but that got too big so it was split into two
2. Continues what the first did well and explores one of my favourite themes being "your team is only as strong as your weakest link"
3. Will and team stumble upon a key strategy of the enemy and decide to take the initiative to sabotage it, despite only being apprentices and outnumbered. There are high stakes and they are deep in enemy territory.
4. Espionage concepts: the importance of procuring and conveying key information to those in charge is a theme that is continued here -- Including the lack of information parity and lags in obtaining critical information (ie. travelling long distances with an important message to communicate/deliver, and that information needing to be updated gradually over time as more information comes to light)
5. More elements of the world map are explored, which I loved. 
6. The ending, including all the battlefield heroics and stratagems, surprised me and made me want to go straight into book 3.
7. Score: probably a 4.7-4.8/5. I liked this better than Deltora Quest's book 2 (if I am allowed to make the comparison)