Tuesday, 15 July 2025

The Sorcerer in the North (Ranger's Apprentice #5)

  1. Note: do not read the back cover and the title of book 6 - they both contain spoilers which is kind of silly
  2. We fast-forward a few years to a time when Will is a qualified ranger, and it takes about 40 pages for real drama to kick in. 
  3. Was a bit frustrating not being able to see Seacliff Island on the map..
  4. Some of Flanagan's conversations are again showing their age and seem archaic
  5. There's a bit more subterfuge, disguises, espionage + cloak and dagger in this book, particularly as the Diplomatic Service get involved - this makes for a nice change. We see Will partnering with his childhood friend (sweetheart?) Alyss who is in the Service
  6. Will is also embroiled in a tense and dire situation as he travels to the outskirting fiefs of the land - as he tries to unravel the politics of Macindaw castle and figure out the relevance of that to ghosts and spirits found in a nearby haunted forest 
  7. A key theme is things don't always appear as they seem
  8. Ending is clearly a set up for book 6 which is unsurprising by now as Flanagan seems to like to do books in pairs
  9. I found this quite enjoyable as it featured new surroundings, focused on Alyss and showed Will fending on his own again including in disguise ..but it was not as good as the first two books. 
  10. Would probably give it a 4.2-4.3/5

Saturday, 12 July 2025

The Dark Forest (Remembrance of Earth's Past #2)

  1.  "Make time for life, because life won't make time" 
  2. Do remember the title of the book and pay close attention to the opening chapter (as boring as it initially seems) - it's a metaphor and explains the basic concept as to how the Trisolorians can be defeated!! But you can probably guess at least half of the solution well before the end..
  3. The first 100 pages were frankly a bit dull and slow-going but it's actually quite interesting to see how it all fits together by the end - apparently, from what I've read,  most people found this to be the case too
  4. I love the idea that there are 4 "Wallfacer" humans tasked with creating secret stratagems in their mind to save the earth (that only they know about); and there are 4 "Wallbreaker" humans / cult members (working for the aliens) tasked with finding out what the stratagems are. There is plenty of smoke and mirrors in that regard and I really enjoyed that.
  5. I particularly enjoyed how the committee overseeing the Wallfacers are sceptical of the Wallfacers' plans, yet have to fund and accept the fact that they can't know everything about each Wallfacer's plan because those plans need to be kept secret from Aliens who are listening to and watching everything the humans are doing - it's kind of like being Merlin in a game of The Resistance:Avalon - Merlin doesn't want his identity to be found out or the Minions / bad guys win!
  6. The idea of hibernation - sleeping for hundreds of years and waking up in the future - is a very interesting concept and the exploration of what the world should look like in centuries from now was done really well. 
  7. There are some aspects of the book which ..kind of.. fall into what I or others would typically describe as the slice of life genre - these are the initially boring bits. The main character Luo Ji seems to spend a lot of time enjoying his life and abusing his position as and the near unlimited resources available to him as a Wallfacer - there are also some other random characters who talk about the alien crisis which is Liu's way of showing us a different angle of the crisis as experienced by society eg the urge to flee before the aliens arrive ie escapism, and later the surge of complete foolish overconfidence on the part of the human race.
  8. However it becomes quite interesting/exciting when you realise Luo Ji is being targeted specifically by the aliens and they appear to consider him to be the greatest threat - so he has to dodge all these assassination attempts - and he has no idea why but slowly guesses why and it becomes quite cool when he..appears..to start truly planning a strategy to defeat the aliens.
  9. The game theory and prisoner's dilemma concepts being applied at a cosmic scale are fascinating to read but it takes a long time to get to that point...it suffices to say that the book certainly makes you think about what's out there in the universe and how Earthlings would be viewed/perceived/treated by others if there are indeed others out there, and the high stakes involved to survive in the cosmos (...the dangers of the dark forest indeed...). It's a great fleshing out of a thought experiment as to how to deal with other lifeforms in space. 
  10. Score: probably not as strong as the first book (but could have been had it been less convoluted): I say 4.2-4.4/5

Friday, 11 July 2025

Oakleaf Bearers (Ranger's Apprentice #4)

  1. A solid addition to the series. Whilst the first 50-100 pages was slightly slower, I enjoyed the further exploration of the geography and world of RA
  2. It's better than book 3 but that's probably because of: 1) the fact that all of our characters are finally reunited and working as a team; and 2) just as books 1 and 2 were meant to be one book, it appears book 4 is merely the second half of book 3's story - it concludes the story arc of the search for Will and Evanlyn. 
  3. (Although books 1-4 feel like 1 big book or saga really split into 2 sections)
  4. One of my favourite themes of shaky alliances is explored well in this book
  5. Plots, counterplots, archery and battlefield tactics and coordination make for great reading in the last part of this book! The feels!
  6. Some of the earlier dialogue appeared to me to be a bit..cheesy and skewed towards eg young readers or antiquated views re the traditional role of girls and boys, but I turned a blind eye to that. 
  7. It's particularly uplifting to see Will regain his fitness, and it's interesting to see a new enemy and country brought in the series (including their tactics, military structure and way of fighting) - also interesting to see Halt's backstory weave into their introduction
  8. We also learn more about the Skandians and their country, fighting style and attitudes (building upon what we learnt since book 2) which adds to the flavour of the series in addition to what we know of Gallica
  9. I have to say though that the Skandian's rudimentary knowledge of fighting / war tactics seems a bit too unbelievable and naive. Halt is certainly a tactician but some of his advice is common sense
  10. Our main characters also finally get the reward, closure and payback us readers have been looking for - with everyone caught up with their exploits since book 2 and 3 - though not without a twinge of bittersweetness at the end
  11. Minor gripe: the title of the book is a bit weird - why Oakleaf Bearers? Seems a bit more anticlimactic and evocative than previous titles
  12. I'd probably score this 4.25-4.4/5

Friday, 4 July 2025

The Icebound Land (Ranger's Apprentice #3)

  1.  Didn't like it as much as the first two books but still a great addition to the series. The first half of the book was not as good as the last half but perhaps that is normal. 
  2. I was half wondering how John Flanagan would be able to sustain the super high standard - and here's my answer. While this is still very good I think it was lowered here 
  3. However I loved how Halt's and Horace's feelings for Will (including those of friendship, loyalty) are explored early on
  4. It was awesome to see the world map expand and new Kingdoms traversed
  5. It's also fun to see Horace develop including in his interactions and friendship with Halt
  6. Will and friends continue to be split and the challenges they face are quite different now - broadly, without spoilers, there is a greater focus on survival not in the sense of battle but on more primal aspects and re: fundamental threats like hunger, the elements, captivity... and more relating to captivity
  7. There isn't really a big supervillain in this book to be defeated so again this book strays from the formula a bit but there is a mini villain
  8. I enjoyed it - perhaps the City of Rats from DQ was more enjoyable at this relative juncture (again, continuing this clearly not apples to apples comparison of the two series)
  9. The story was focussed more about raw physical survival (including looking for Will) than battles, messages, strategies and tactics - which I guess I didn't like as much. I prefer the latter. 
  10. The ending is satisfactory but is a clear set up for the next book
  11. Maybe a 4 -4.1/5