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Ranger's Apprentice #10
The Emperor of Nihon-Ja
Will, you owe it to your friend to find him.
Horace is missing. Months have passed since he was sent on a military mission and you, Evanlyn and Alyss set out to discover what has become of your old friend.
You find him in Nihon-Ja where the rightful emperor has been overthrown. Now you must face the highly trained Senshi warriors, while Alyss and Evanlyn must overcome their rivalry to seek help from a mysterious group of mountain dwellers.
512 pages, ebook
First published June 17, 2011
1443 people are currently reading
15999 people want to read
About the author
John Flanagan
111 books9,206 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
For mysteries by this same author, see John A. Flanagan.
John Flanagan grew up in Sydney, Australia, hoping to be a writer. It wasn't until he wrote a highly uncomplimentary poem about a senior executive at the agency where he worked, however, that his talent was revealed. It turned out one of the company directors agreed with John's assessment of the executive, and happily agreed to train John in copywriting.
After writing advertising copy for the next two decades, John teamed with an old friend to develop a television sitcom, Hey Dad!, which went on to air for eight years.
John began writing Ranger's Apprentice for his son, Michael, ten years ago, and is still hard at work on the series.
He currently lives in a suburb of Manly, Australia, with his wife. In addition to their son, they have two grown daughters and four grandsons.
For mysteries by this same author, see John A. Flanagan.
John Flanagan grew up in Sydney, Australia, hoping to be a writer. It wasn't until he wrote a highly uncomplimentary poem about a senior executive at the agency where he worked, however, that his talent was revealed. It turned out one of the company directors agreed with John's assessment of the executive, and happily agreed to train John in copywriting.
After writing advertising copy for the next two decades, John teamed with an old friend to develop a television sitcom, Hey Dad!, which went on to air for eight years.
John began writing Ranger's Apprentice for his son, Michael, ten years ago, and is still hard at work on the series.
He currently lives in a suburb of Manly, Australia, with his wife. In addition to their son, they have two grown daughters and four grandsons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,867 reviews
June 20, 2012
(I just feel the need to explain the 2-stars rating here.)
I’ve been reading the Ranger’s Apprentice series, written by John Flanagan, for the past two years thanks to my good friend Kara. This is the final book, The Emperor of Nihon-Ja and I spent the entire night reading it, instead of going to bed. Haha.
I don’t think I’ve ever done a book review for this series because I’ve always been relatively impartial about it; it’s an okay book for me. Not something I would buy myself each time it comes out, but it’s an intriguing read with characters that develop throughout the series and interesting, if sometimes cliched, plotlines.
But something in the last book of the series irritated me so damn much I actually had to sit down and write it.
So the basic premise for the 10th book is this; the Emperor of Nihon-Ja is usurped from his throne, so our heroes go and save him. You know how that ends. Anyway, along for the ride this time is Evanlyn, a girl we’ve met in the previous books, and Alyss, Will’s childhood friend-turned-sweetheart. Will is our main character, the titular Ranger’s Apprentice. But this isn’t about him.
The books have established in the past 3-4 books that Alyss and Will are together, probably for a few years or more. Now when Evanlyn and Will were featured in the same book together, way back in book 3, it was shown that Evanlyn was interested but Will only saw her as a friend (and some spoiler reasons, which I shan’t go into), and that romantic thread was cut off.
Cut to book 10, where Alyss is still constantly jealous over Evanlyn. I’m serious. Alyss is a tall, beautiful, self-aware woman who speaks multiple languages and can kayak, and she spends most of the book being mean and petty to the ONLY OTHER FEMALE CHARACTER IN THE BOOK THANKS TO A LONG-AGO CRUSH WHOSE ROMANCE NEVER EVEN HAPPENED.
I mean, hello? I was seriously so annoyed. Every time I flipped over to the parts of the book which had their POV, it was always like that. And even Evanlyn, who could have just cleared it up that she wasn’t interested in Will far earlier in the book, just responds to this in the same manner. They are both so hostile to each other, which I just cannot understand. Every time it switches to their POV, there is always a mention of how much they cannot stand the other girl.
I would have understood if the characters were teenagers. But these two women are around their early twenties; I cannot imagine them fighting over a guy like that. Especially since it’s established that Alyss is a level-headed character and Evanlyn, while impulsive, has very good instincts. All throughout the book I was like, “What the fuck, author. WHAT THE FUCK.”
I mean of course in the end everything resolves itself, but wow, so they had to fight a gigantic monster together in a life-or-death struggle before they can actually see eye-to-eye? They spend months preparing for a war in a fortress as roommates, you’re telling me things couldn’t have somehow resolved themselves within that timeframe? SERIOUSLY? I have to be about 50 pages before the book’s resolution before the two of them become friends?!
I’m just really disappointed with how John Flanagan treated these two amazing women in his book. He’s featured them both as holding out on their own in their own adventures, and even in this book they do that, but they can’t get along with their fellow women? I mean, this jealousy and hostility is completely against their character. I can’t believe he even let it be the defining point of these two women in the book.
This sort of portrayal gives me a headache. Please. Women do not fight over men as much as movies and books like to think. There is plenty of common ground. Just because women are as stereotyped this way, doesn’t mean you have to keep encouraging it.
Plus it even makes canon make no sense. Will and Alyss have been together for a while, and she’s still jealous over this childhood crush that happened probably five or so years ago? I just find it so unrealistic. So Alyss happens to be a perfectly capable diplomat, who can stay calm in dangerous meetings, but she’s irrational when it comes to Will?
Just. AAAARRRGGGHHH. This book left a bad taste in my mouth, which I wish it hadn’t. It’s the last book in the series, and I wanted to enjoy it. Instead I got this. I liked Alyss and Evanlyn so much when they both got their time in previous books and I was so excited to see them in this book, and I got this.
I’ve been reading the Ranger’s Apprentice series, written by John Flanagan, for the past two years thanks to my good friend Kara. This is the final book, The Emperor of Nihon-Ja and I spent the entire night reading it, instead of going to bed. Haha.
I don’t think I’ve ever done a book review for this series because I’ve always been relatively impartial about it; it’s an okay book for me. Not something I would buy myself each time it comes out, but it’s an intriguing read with characters that develop throughout the series and interesting, if sometimes cliched, plotlines.
But something in the last book of the series irritated me so damn much I actually had to sit down and write it.
So the basic premise for the 10th book is this; the Emperor of Nihon-Ja is usurped from his throne, so our heroes go and save him. You know how that ends. Anyway, along for the ride this time is Evanlyn, a girl we’ve met in the previous books, and Alyss, Will’s childhood friend-turned-sweetheart. Will is our main character, the titular Ranger’s Apprentice. But this isn’t about him.
The books have established in the past 3-4 books that Alyss and Will are together, probably for a few years or more. Now when Evanlyn and Will were featured in the same book together, way back in book 3, it was shown that Evanlyn was interested but Will only saw her as a friend (and some spoiler reasons, which I shan’t go into), and that romantic thread was cut off.
Cut to book 10, where Alyss is still constantly jealous over Evanlyn. I’m serious. Alyss is a tall, beautiful, self-aware woman who speaks multiple languages and can kayak, and she spends most of the book being mean and petty to the ONLY OTHER FEMALE CHARACTER IN THE BOOK THANKS TO A LONG-AGO CRUSH WHOSE ROMANCE NEVER EVEN HAPPENED.
I mean, hello? I was seriously so annoyed. Every time I flipped over to the parts of the book which had their POV, it was always like that. And even Evanlyn, who could have just cleared it up that she wasn’t interested in Will far earlier in the book, just responds to this in the same manner. They are both so hostile to each other, which I just cannot understand. Every time it switches to their POV, there is always a mention of how much they cannot stand the other girl.
I would have understood if the characters were teenagers. But these two women are around their early twenties; I cannot imagine them fighting over a guy like that. Especially since it’s established that Alyss is a level-headed character and Evanlyn, while impulsive, has very good instincts. All throughout the book I was like, “What the fuck, author. WHAT THE FUCK.”
I mean of course in the end everything resolves itself, but wow, so they had to fight a gigantic monster together in a life-or-death struggle before they can actually see eye-to-eye? They spend months preparing for a war in a fortress as roommates, you’re telling me things couldn’t have somehow resolved themselves within that timeframe? SERIOUSLY? I have to be about 50 pages before the book’s resolution before the two of them become friends?!
I’m just really disappointed with how John Flanagan treated these two amazing women in his book. He’s featured them both as holding out on their own in their own adventures, and even in this book they do that, but they can’t get along with their fellow women? I mean, this jealousy and hostility is completely against their character. I can’t believe he even let it be the defining point of these two women in the book.
This sort of portrayal gives me a headache. Please. Women do not fight over men as much as movies and books like to think. There is plenty of common ground. Just because women are as stereotyped this way, doesn’t mean you have to keep encouraging it.
Plus it even makes canon make no sense. Will and Alyss have been together for a while, and she’s still jealous over this childhood crush that happened probably five or so years ago? I just find it so unrealistic. So Alyss happens to be a perfectly capable diplomat, who can stay calm in dangerous meetings, but she’s irrational when it comes to Will?
Just. AAAARRRGGGHHH. This book left a bad taste in my mouth, which I wish it hadn’t. It’s the last book in the series, and I wanted to enjoy it. Instead I got this. I liked Alyss and Evanlyn so much when they both got their time in previous books and I was so excited to see them in this book, and I got this.
June 5, 2011
John Flanagan always amazes me. He is a very talented author. There are very few series I would read to the very end if they had more than five books. Until now, the only author series I've read that have been longer than five books are Harry Potter and the first twelve books of The Secrets of Droon. My point? For me to read a series for this long and be willing to read more, the author has to be pretty darn good.
The Emperor of Nihon-Ja was great! I absolutely loved the drama between Evalyn and Alyss! It was really awesome when they had to work together without anyone else's supervision. This book focused a little bit on everyone, which I liked and didn't like at the same time. I miss the story having more of an emphasis on Will like in the fifth or sixth books. At the same time though, I liked how the story had a more even focus on everyone. Will is so blind when it comes to girls; it makes me laugh. But that's part of his character.
As you can imagine, there's a big battle at the end of the book. One of the best parts about the battle is that fact that Will leads it. He's the commander. Yes, he has help and stuff but he's the kind of like the master mind behind it. In previous battles, we've seen how Rangers usually stand back and pull the strings during a battle. Instead of Halt doing this, Will did. He was like the leader of the group at that point, protecting the Emperor. He's like a mini Halt. I love it!
The writing was, as usual, spectacular. Flanagan can really write a battle scene! He's done a great job staying true to the characters all this time. The banter between them all is as enjoyable as ever and is always one of my favorite elements of the book. I really do hope this isn't the last book in the series.
The Emperor of Nihon-Ja was great! I absolutely loved the drama between Evalyn and Alyss! It was really awesome when they had to work together without anyone else's supervision. This book focused a little bit on everyone, which I liked and didn't like at the same time. I miss the story having more of an emphasis on Will like in the fifth or sixth books. At the same time though, I liked how the story had a more even focus on everyone. Will is so blind when it comes to girls; it makes me laugh. But that's part of his character.
As you can imagine, there's a big battle at the end of the book. One of the best parts about the battle is that fact that Will leads it. He's the commander. Yes, he has help and stuff but he's the kind of like the master mind behind it. In previous battles, we've seen how Rangers usually stand back and pull the strings during a battle. Instead of Halt doing this, Will did. He was like the leader of the group at that point, protecting the Emperor. He's like a mini Halt. I love it!
The writing was, as usual, spectacular. Flanagan can really write a battle scene! He's done a great job staying true to the characters all this time. The banter between them all is as enjoyable as ever and is always one of my favorite elements of the book. I really do hope this isn't the last book in the series.
April 17, 2017
I love love love love love this series. The characters are great, the plots are wonderful, and the battles are described well and aren't super confusing. Also, the feeeeeels of that ending!!!!
My only problem (which isn't really a problem) is that I'm not a huge fan of Alyss, and I don't really ship her with Will, either. So far she's my least favorite character in the series. Other than that, though, I love all of the characters. <3 Such a good read!
My only problem (which isn't really a problem) is that I'm not a huge fan of Alyss, and I don't really ship her with Will, either. So far she's my least favorite character in the series. Other than that, though, I love all of the characters. <3 Such a good read!
January 29, 2020
The endings always make the whole book that much better. It's got such a "home" vibe swirling through its pages. 333
While I have overall problems with this book and the whole series I won't mention them right now. If I go back and give detailed reviews for the whole series then I will. Until that happens (if that ever happens) I will leave it at this.
KONA 😍😍
While I have overall problems with this book and the whole series I won't mention them right now. If I go back and give detailed reviews for the whole series then I will. Until that happens (if that ever happens) I will leave it at this.
KONA 😍😍
July 12, 2012
Here we have another entry in the Ranger's Apprentice series. This is an excellent YA series (some volumes are better than others) and I'd recommend it. Some say this is more a series for boys than for girls but I disagree. Even if it started that way it has grown to include the "love stories" of both Will and his best friend and this book was pretty much split in half. The stories of Will and his male friends is half the story while the tale of Alice and the Princess' adventures is the other half, the viewpoints alternating.
If you've followed this series you know that it's been based in a world much like medieval Europe with countries and peoples that roughly correspond with "Earthly" counterparts. Here we meet the people of a land that is roughly (very, very roughly) like feudal Japan.
This is a good fast moving adventure story. Don't go to it for detailed history or geopolitics. Do go to it for good characters, good plotting, great action and story telling.
It's a YA book but I think it'll stand up well for the parents of those YAs and even for older folks who aren't parents but like a good fantasy story. I can recommend this one, enjoy.
If you've followed this series you know that it's been based in a world much like medieval Europe with countries and peoples that roughly correspond with "Earthly" counterparts. Here we meet the people of a land that is roughly (very, very roughly) like feudal Japan.
This is a good fast moving adventure story. Don't go to it for detailed history or geopolitics. Do go to it for good characters, good plotting, great action and story telling.
It's a YA book but I think it'll stand up well for the parents of those YAs and even for older folks who aren't parents but like a good fantasy story. I can recommend this one, enjoy.
August 24, 2017
I think I just have to accept the fact that I'm over this series ... I probably should have stopped reading about five books ago or so.I'm just not invested anymore, not in the characters, not in the stories and certainly not in the hardly original worldbuilding.
September 4, 2019
I can hear you: Smaug, since you read the other nine books and you hated them all, why the HECK are you reading the tenth one?! Well, it's because I am a wishy-washy old grouch, that's why. I got this far, I might as well finish the series.
Man, where to start? Yet another extremely mediocre book with bad world-building, bad characters, and poorly done plot. Blatant spoilers ahead, by the way.
The whole Japanese thing does not work for John. He basically took the entire Japanese language, culture, climate etc. and tweaked things here and there to suit his tastes. Like how all Nihon-Jan are short and dark-haired, sit in a position uncomfortable to Westerners (in real Japanese culture they fold their legs underneath them--- you know, the tea ceremony position. In this book, they sit on their heels, legs apart, like a bunch of barbarians), drink green tea all the time, and have delusions of honor. And what John did for the language --- get this --- he took plain ol' Japanese and just made a few glaring grammatical and alphabetical inconsistencies. He altered the meaning of Will's nickname (Chocho, which means "a little" in Japanese and spelled "chiyo chiyo", means "butterfly" in Nihon-Jan) and for some reason against all grammar made the Nihon-Jan pronounce Horace's name as "Or'ss." I mean, WHAT?! Any dummy who knows even a little bit of the Hiragana alphabet can spell "Horace" in Japanese! I've studied hiragana, one of the Japanese alphabets, so I know quite a bit of pronunciation and such. And Horace could be said like this: Horasu. Not all that hard. I just don't understand how the Nihon-Jan language works. Also, may I add, "Nihon" means "Japan" in Japanese? How's that for originality!
More proof for bad language making: the Senshi class ("senshi" means "warrior" in Japanese) is the warrior class (just like feudal Japan), they call the Araluens "gaijin" (which literally means "foreigner"), and they call Halt "Halto" which has the letter L in it. The Japanese cannot pronounce the letter L. But apparently they make an exception for Halt but not for Will, whom they call "Wirru?" I get the feeling that John tried to combine all Asian languages to make the Nihon-Jan language, which would've worked fine if he hadn't made %99 of the culture Japanese. In fact, despite Nihon-Ja being extremely isolated for so long, most of the citizens can speak ENGLISH?! And that Alyss can speak Nihon-Jan?! Like, what the heck! If you stay away from each other for centuries, you can't speak each other's EXTREMELY DIFFERENT languages: rule of thumb.
The story was pretty lacking. It was almost exactly the same as ALL OTHER Ranger's Apprentice books with a castle/fortress and/or army. Will teaches the army some amazing, new, incredible effective way to fight (see Battle for Skandia) in which they become almost completely unbeatable. Halt hatches this sort of master plan. Horace either stands around scratching his head telling everyone how dumb he is, beats up people or displays his surprising cleverness in battle tactics. Literally the only reason they added Alyss an Evanlyn (whose name the Nihon-Jan misspell in a stupid way -- E-van-in or something like that when it should be Evu-anrin) was for them to acquire an extra army of apes for the rest of them --- again, an army that comes out of nowhere and is invincible. Also some romance where Evanlyn and Horace decide to get married (why would Evanlyn want to marry such a blockhead? Who knows?) but John could've done that in ANY OTHER BOOK. Also, a note on Horace's weapons: he lost his broadsword so he got a new, invincibly-forged one later. And then he slays a bunch of enemies with it. You know who would win if you pitted a katana-wielding samurai vs. a broadsword-wielding knight against each other? The samurai, of course! His blade is razor sharp and made for speedy slashes. Also, it's thin, so it can get into the cracks between the armor, AND they samurai SPECIFICALLY valued speed over force, so when Horace wins without a scratch, I just can't help but cringe. Nothing is right about the duels.
One more thing: the Nihon-Jan apparently don't battle all vs. all: each warrior finds another warrior to duel and then duels him until one of them dies. This is inconsistent with Japanese battling. In the 17th century, they fought like mad. It was total chaos, not honorable, organized duels.
The allied Nihon-Jan generals are noble, honorable, willing to give their lives for their even nobler cause, compassionate, and always cool under pressure, while the enemy Nihon-Jan as a whole are dim-witted, blindly obedient, or in the generals' cases, cowardly, greedy, cruel and out-of-control. Not a single enemy leader has any good qualities whatsoever. This is obviously unrealistic, because even HITLER had some good qualities, for crying out loud! He was a great leader of men, charismatic, and he even had a little girl over for strawberry cake because they shared the same birthday! D'awww! (That's not to say he wasn't the devil incarnate: he just wasn't bad ALL the time.)
The child, Mikeru, showed an astonishing amount or wisdom and knowing about weaponry, along with all the other farmers. Excuse me, I didn't get the impression that farmers, of all people, made it a point to study who weapons worked and what they should avoid when creating them. They had better things to do, after all, like providing food for their families.
As you've probably seen, this book annoyed me to near-death. I'm this far into the series, though, so I'm going to plow on --- mainly because it's a clean fantasy.
But if you skip this book, that's fine. Nothing happens that won't be explained in the next books.
And the worst part is, I was looking forwards to this one the most, since it was Japanese and stuff.
Man, where to start? Yet another extremely mediocre book with bad world-building, bad characters, and poorly done plot. Blatant spoilers ahead, by the way.
The whole Japanese thing does not work for John. He basically took the entire Japanese language, culture, climate etc. and tweaked things here and there to suit his tastes. Like how all Nihon-Jan are short and dark-haired, sit in a position uncomfortable to Westerners (in real Japanese culture they fold their legs underneath them--- you know, the tea ceremony position. In this book, they sit on their heels, legs apart, like a bunch of barbarians), drink green tea all the time, and have delusions of honor. And what John did for the language --- get this --- he took plain ol' Japanese and just made a few glaring grammatical and alphabetical inconsistencies. He altered the meaning of Will's nickname (Chocho, which means "a little" in Japanese and spelled "chiyo chiyo", means "butterfly" in Nihon-Jan) and for some reason against all grammar made the Nihon-Jan pronounce Horace's name as "Or'ss." I mean, WHAT?! Any dummy who knows even a little bit of the Hiragana alphabet can spell "Horace" in Japanese! I've studied hiragana, one of the Japanese alphabets, so I know quite a bit of pronunciation and such. And Horace could be said like this: Horasu. Not all that hard. I just don't understand how the Nihon-Jan language works. Also, may I add, "Nihon" means "Japan" in Japanese? How's that for originality!
More proof for bad language making: the Senshi class ("senshi" means "warrior" in Japanese) is the warrior class (just like feudal Japan), they call the Araluens "gaijin" (which literally means "foreigner"), and they call Halt "Halto" which has the letter L in it. The Japanese cannot pronounce the letter L. But apparently they make an exception for Halt but not for Will, whom they call "Wirru?" I get the feeling that John tried to combine all Asian languages to make the Nihon-Jan language, which would've worked fine if he hadn't made %99 of the culture Japanese. In fact, despite Nihon-Ja being extremely isolated for so long, most of the citizens can speak ENGLISH?! And that Alyss can speak Nihon-Jan?! Like, what the heck! If you stay away from each other for centuries, you can't speak each other's EXTREMELY DIFFERENT languages: rule of thumb.
The story was pretty lacking. It was almost exactly the same as ALL OTHER Ranger's Apprentice books with a castle/fortress and/or army. Will teaches the army some amazing, new, incredible effective way to fight (see Battle for Skandia) in which they become almost completely unbeatable. Halt hatches this sort of master plan. Horace either stands around scratching his head telling everyone how dumb he is, beats up people or displays his surprising cleverness in battle tactics. Literally the only reason they added Alyss an Evanlyn (whose name the Nihon-Jan misspell in a stupid way -- E-van-in or something like that when it should be Evu-anrin) was for them to acquire an extra army of apes for the rest of them --- again, an army that comes out of nowhere and is invincible. Also some romance where Evanlyn and Horace decide to get married (why would Evanlyn want to marry such a blockhead? Who knows?) but John could've done that in ANY OTHER BOOK. Also, a note on Horace's weapons: he lost his broadsword so he got a new, invincibly-forged one later. And then he slays a bunch of enemies with it. You know who would win if you pitted a katana-wielding samurai vs. a broadsword-wielding knight against each other? The samurai, of course! His blade is razor sharp and made for speedy slashes. Also, it's thin, so it can get into the cracks between the armor, AND they samurai SPECIFICALLY valued speed over force, so when Horace wins without a scratch, I just can't help but cringe. Nothing is right about the duels.
One more thing: the Nihon-Jan apparently don't battle all vs. all: each warrior finds another warrior to duel and then duels him until one of them dies. This is inconsistent with Japanese battling. In the 17th century, they fought like mad. It was total chaos, not honorable, organized duels.
The allied Nihon-Jan generals are noble, honorable, willing to give their lives for their even nobler cause, compassionate, and always cool under pressure, while the enemy Nihon-Jan as a whole are dim-witted, blindly obedient, or in the generals' cases, cowardly, greedy, cruel and out-of-control. Not a single enemy leader has any good qualities whatsoever. This is obviously unrealistic, because even HITLER had some good qualities, for crying out loud! He was a great leader of men, charismatic, and he even had a little girl over for strawberry cake because they shared the same birthday! D'awww! (That's not to say he wasn't the devil incarnate: he just wasn't bad ALL the time.)
The child, Mikeru, showed an astonishing amount or wisdom and knowing about weaponry, along with all the other farmers. Excuse me, I didn't get the impression that farmers, of all people, made it a point to study who weapons worked and what they should avoid when creating them. They had better things to do, after all, like providing food for their families.
As you've probably seen, this book annoyed me to near-death. I'm this far into the series, though, so I'm going to plow on --- mainly because it's a clean fantasy.
But if you skip this book, that's fine. Nothing happens that won't be explained in the next books.
And the worst part is, I was looking forwards to this one the most, since it was Japanese and stuff.
September 7, 2018
7/10. Probably my other least favourite of the series but the new setting of a whole new country was interesting, just a little uneventful and a bit of an abrupt ending. But still a very good book.
June 23, 2021
Another heartwarming and engrossing action-adventure for older kids and adults, featuring Horace, Will, Halt, Alyss, Evanlyn/Princess Cassandra, Gundar Heartstriker the Skandian (see The Sorcerer in the North) and Selethen the Irridian Arab (see Erak's Ransom and Scorpion Mountain).
As the title suggests, this story is set in ancient Japan (which is also known as Nihon / Nihon-koku, as well as Nippon / Nippon-koku). Horace and friends help the honorable Emperor Shigeru defeat a cowardly usurper. The focus on fighting as a group in formation (creating a shield wall) and other Roman (Toscanan) battle gear and tactics reminded me of Cursor's Fury. There is also a fairly strong focus on the Senshi class and their katana sword.
I enjoyed the new character, Mikeru.
I felt the cat-fights between Alyss and Evanlyn were overdone, but at least they finally resolved their differences.
I enjoyed the humor and the focus on Japanese culture, despite the obvious stereotypes. I also appreciated the intermix of Japanese language.
Butterfly. Haha.
As the title suggests, this story is set in ancient Japan (which is also known as Nihon / Nihon-koku, as well as Nippon / Nippon-koku). Horace and friends help the honorable Emperor Shigeru defeat a cowardly usurper. The focus on fighting as a group in formation (creating a shield wall) and other Roman (Toscanan) battle gear and tactics reminded me of Cursor's Fury. There is also a fairly strong focus on the Senshi class and their katana sword.
I enjoyed the new character, Mikeru.
I felt the cat-fights between Alyss and Evanlyn were overdone, but at least they finally resolved their differences.
I enjoyed the humor and the focus on Japanese culture, despite the obvious stereotypes. I also appreciated the intermix of Japanese language.
Butterfly. Haha.
June 15, 2023
Mano 11-metis sūnus jau kurį laiką vis klausinėdavo, kada pagaliau grįšiu prie "Žvalgo mokinio" serijos. Pažadėjau, kad vasarą.
Pažadą tęsiu.
"Nihonijos imperatoriuje", be visų įprastų ir gerai pažįstamų dalykų, akivaizdi meilė Japonijai. Jos kultūrai, vertybėms, bendruomeniškumui. Švelni neslepiama didaktika apie draugystės, ištikimybės, teisingumo, pasiaukojimo svarbą.
Dešimtoje serijos knygoje pagrindiniai herojai jau ne vaikai, todėl meilė tampa vis svarbesnė.
Man gal norėjosi daugiau Vilio - šioje istorijoje jis šiek tiek antrame plane.
Merginos - tiek Alisa, tiek Evanlina - atrodė kiek šabloniškos.
Bet turbūt taip subalansuota paaugliams, kur viskas balta ir juoda, kur kitų niuansų nelabai yra ir reikia :)
Stilius kaip visada įtraukiantis, puslapiai patys verčiasi.
Sūnaus džiaugsmui, seriją skaitysiu ir toliau.
Pagrindinė citata iš knygos:
"Tai itin pagarbus kreipinys"
Pažadą tęsiu.
"Nihonijos imperatoriuje", be visų įprastų ir gerai pažįstamų dalykų, akivaizdi meilė Japonijai. Jos kultūrai, vertybėms, bendruomeniškumui. Švelni neslepiama didaktika apie draugystės, ištikimybės, teisingumo, pasiaukojimo svarbą.
Dešimtoje serijos knygoje pagrindiniai herojai jau ne vaikai, todėl meilė tampa vis svarbesnė.
Man gal norėjosi daugiau Vilio - šioje istorijoje jis šiek tiek antrame plane.
Merginos - tiek Alisa, tiek Evanlina - atrodė kiek šabloniškos.
Bet turbūt taip subalansuota paaugliams, kur viskas balta ir juoda, kur kitų niuansų nelabai yra ir reikia :)
Stilius kaip visada įtraukiantis, puslapiai patys verčiasi.
Sūnaus džiaugsmui, seriją skaitysiu ir toliau.
Pagrindinė citata iš knygos:
"Tai itin pagarbus kreipinys"
December 27, 2012
THEY HAVE THIS!?!?! I wish it was out where I live. *sigh*
March 6, 2021
My least favorite of this series. Most sexist and racist, and, let's face it, most boring.
December 18, 2014
Not one of my favorites in the series, which is disappointing since it's the last one (not counting the book of short stories). It's not bad, per se, but it just didn't have that same spark that has made me love this series, in general.
Anyway - Horace has gone to Nihon-Ja (essentially a version of Japan) on a diplomatic sort of thing and, while there, gets embroiled in a political upheaval. Evanlyn, worried about him, joins with Halt, Will and Alyss - and others - to go find him.
A quick not about the "and others". In the beginning of the story Halt, Will and Alyss are helping Toscano and Arrida broker a piece treaty - Selethen being the ambassador from Arrida. Since Selethen is there when Evanlyn shows up to start the quest, he decides to join in.
Also, Evanlyn arrives there on a ship helmed by Gundar, one of the Skandians from a previous story.
I couldn't help but feel that a lot of this was just maneuvering in order to get as many familiar faces from past stories together as possible for this final story.
Anyway, a fair part of the beginning of the story is travelling, and a good portion of the rest of the story is about military engagements. And while it was interesting enough for what it was, it didn't really have the same intensity as a lot of the other fights presented through-out the series.
And I guess I was a little miffed that Horace seems to take center stage in this story. Not that I don't like Horace or anything, but since it was the last book in the Ranger's Apprentice series I thought Will should've been in a more pivotal role.
Also, the characterizations seemed to be off from time to time. Also, it bugged me that Will was sort of shown as being clueless when it came to
In some ways I felt like the characterization of Will was off. He felt younger again, more like the Will of his second or third year - not the Will who has graduated and become a Ranger in his own right. But since the events of the book take place after all the others, chronologically, it felt off. So not only does Will not take center stage, but he felt off.
Everyone felt a little off, really.
I don't know. I would almost have been happier if the story took place earlier in the timeline, because everyone felt younger, if that makes sense. But it very clearly doesn't.
Who knows - maybe I'm just disappointed because the series is over, and I never would've been happy with "the last". But I think it's more than that and, overall, while it wasn't a bad story, overall, it was a let down for being the last in the series.
(Oh - Tug and Abelard aren't even in this one! Talk about being off... )
I think I would've been happier if Book 9 had been the end, to be honest. When I inevitably reread the series, I might even stop with Book 9. Or read Book 10 before Books 8 & 9.
Ah well. It wasn't like it was bad enough to sour my feelings towards the series (and that has happened) - but it's a bummer to go out on a down note.
Anyway - Horace has gone to Nihon-Ja (essentially a version of Japan) on a diplomatic sort of thing and, while there, gets embroiled in a political upheaval. Evanlyn, worried about him, joins with Halt, Will and Alyss - and others - to go find him.
A quick not about the "and others". In the beginning of the story Halt, Will and Alyss are helping Toscano and Arrida broker a piece treaty - Selethen being the ambassador from Arrida. Since Selethen is there when Evanlyn shows up to start the quest, he decides to join in.
Also, Evanlyn arrives there on a ship helmed by Gundar, one of the Skandians from a previous story.
I couldn't help but feel that a lot of this was just maneuvering in order to get as many familiar faces from past stories together as possible for this final story.
Anyway, a fair part of the beginning of the story is travelling, and a good portion of the rest of the story is about military engagements. And while it was interesting enough for what it was, it didn't really have the same intensity as a lot of the other fights presented through-out the series.
And I guess I was a little miffed that Horace seems to take center stage in this story. Not that I don't like Horace or anything, but since it was the last book in the Ranger's Apprentice series I thought Will should've been in a more pivotal role.
Also, the characterizations seemed to be off from time to time. Also, it bugged me that Will was sort of shown as being clueless when it came to
In some ways I felt like the characterization of Will was off. He felt younger again, more like the Will of his second or third year - not the Will who has graduated and become a Ranger in his own right. But since the events of the book take place after all the others, chronologically, it felt off. So not only does Will not take center stage, but he felt off.
Everyone felt a little off, really.
I don't know. I would almost have been happier if the story took place earlier in the timeline, because everyone felt younger, if that makes sense. But it very clearly doesn't.
Who knows - maybe I'm just disappointed because the series is over, and I never would've been happy with "the last". But I think it's more than that and, overall, while it wasn't a bad story, overall, it was a let down for being the last in the series.
(Oh - Tug and Abelard aren't even in this one! Talk about being off... )
I think I would've been happier if Book 9 had been the end, to be honest. When I inevitably reread the series, I might even stop with Book 9. Or read Book 10 before Books 8 & 9.
Ah well. It wasn't like it was bad enough to sour my feelings towards the series (and that has happened) - but it's a bummer to go out on a down note.
June 13, 2023
۲.۵/۵
خببببب! جلد ده جنگاوران جوان
از نظر خط داستانی این کتاب یه جورایی آخرین کتاب ماجراست. (جلد بعد داستان های گمشده هست که داستان هایی ناگفته در طول کل داستانه و بعد هم ماجرای Royal ranger رو داریم). تقریباً مثل همهی کتاب های این مجموعه جلد ده رو هم یه سره خوندم که فکر میکنم بیشتر مربوط به ادبیات گیرای خود نویسنده باشه. توصیف ها ی نهایت جذاب بودن. مثل همیشه یه ماجراجویی هیجان انگیز؛
اما...
ماجراجویی هیجان انگیزی که فقط بود. اشتباه نشه ها، من خیلی از وقایع داستان لذت بردم ولی انتظار اتفاق های مهم ترین رو توی اینجای مجموعه داشتم. یه مشکل اساسی که من با این کتاب داشتم اولین و آلیس بودن. در کل علت اصلی کشش این مجموعه برای من کاراکتر ها هستن. این کتاب کاراکتر های جدید خیلی خوبی داشت. خیلی از کاراکترهای جذاب قدیمی هم بودن که عاشقشون بودم. ولی رابطهی آلیس و اولین رو نمیفهمیدم. نمیفهمیدم چرا کسی مثل آلیس که یه دیپلمات بی نظیره، زیباست و باهوشه باید چنین احساسات سادهلوحانه و حتی خاله زنکی در مورد اولین داشته باشه و اونم در مورد ماجرایی که سالها پیش حتی اتفاق هم نیافتاده و این فکرها رو برای مدت خیلی زیادی توی سرش بزرگ کنه و بذاره روی تصمیماتش اثر بذارن. این قضیه به شدت رو اعصابم و کم کردن امتیاز هم یکی از دلایلش همین بود. ولی برای جلد بعد و بیشتر آشنا شدن با کاراکترهایی که عاشقشونم خیلی اشتیاق دارم.
خببببب! جلد ده جنگاوران جوان
از نظر خط داستانی این کتاب یه جورایی آخرین کتاب ماجراست. (جلد بعد داستان های گمشده هست که داستان هایی ناگفته در طول کل داستانه و بعد هم ماجرای Royal ranger رو داریم). تقریباً مثل همهی کتاب های این مجموعه جلد ده رو هم یه سره خوندم که فکر میکنم بیشتر مربوط به ادبیات گیرای خود نویسنده باشه. توصیف ها ی نهایت جذاب بودن. مثل همیشه یه ماجراجویی هیجان انگیز؛
اما...
ماجراجویی هیجان انگیزی که فقط بود. اشتباه نشه ها، من خیلی از وقایع داستان لذت بردم ولی انتظار اتفاق های مهم ترین رو توی اینجای مجموعه داشتم. یه مشکل اساسی که من با این کتاب داشتم اولین و آلیس بودن. در کل علت اصلی کشش این مجموعه برای من کاراکتر ها هستن. این کتاب کاراکتر های جدید خیلی خوبی داشت. خیلی از کاراکترهای جذاب قدیمی هم بودن که عاشقشون بودم. ولی رابطهی آلیس و اولین رو نمیفهمیدم. نمیفهمیدم چرا کسی مثل آلیس که یه دیپلمات بی نظیره، زیباست و باهوشه باید چنین احساسات سادهلوحانه و حتی خاله زنکی در مورد اولین داشته باشه و اونم در مورد ماجرایی که سالها پیش حتی اتفاق هم نیافتاده و این فکرها رو برای مدت خیلی زیادی توی سرش بزرگ کنه و بذاره روی تصمیماتش اثر بذارن. این قضیه به شدت رو اعصابم و کم کردن امتیاز هم یکی از دلایلش همین بود. ولی برای جلد بعد و بیشتر آشنا شدن با کاراکترهایی که عاشقشونم خیلی اشتیاق دارم.
May 2, 2011
Dear Mr. Flanagan,
A heartfelt thanks for sharing the world you created and populated with some of my all-time favorite book characters! You did the series justice with this tenth book. I particularly loved the parts with Alyss and Evanlyn! They came very close to stealing the show, which I absolutely loved.
Does this really have to be the last one?? What are your plans for the future? Any thoughts of writing books that tell us about Halt as a young Ranger's Apprentice? Or are you going to branch out and write something entirely new? Whatever you decide to write, I will definitely be there with you - together with a large list of students and teachers at my school who are also fans! Again, thanks so much for sharing your world and your characters. I enjoyed the journey immensely!
Luann
A fan from Arizona
A heartfelt thanks for sharing the world you created and populated with some of my all-time favorite book characters! You did the series justice with this tenth book. I particularly loved the parts with Alyss and Evanlyn! They came very close to stealing the show, which I absolutely loved.
Does this really have to be the last one?? What are your plans for the future? Any thoughts of writing books that tell us about Halt as a young Ranger's Apprentice? Or are you going to branch out and write something entirely new? Whatever you decide to write, I will definitely be there with you - together with a large list of students and teachers at my school who are also fans! Again, thanks so much for sharing your world and your characters. I enjoyed the journey immensely!
Luann
A fan from Arizona
July 9, 2019
I thought they were 16-17 this entire time so that ending was kinda fucked up. Also what the f was Flanagan thinking while writing that last battle scene.
The rest of the book was amazing. I love love love 'Kurokuma' so this book was a real treat. I am looking forward to reading the next book. :)
The rest of the book was amazing. I love love love 'Kurokuma' so this book was a real treat. I am looking forward to reading the next book. :)
July 25, 2022
Nie wierze ze one są dorosłe
November 2, 2024
Mega oporowo mi szło XD
2 gwiazdki za to że podobały mi się tylko rozdziały z dziewczynami
I ZA ZWROT AKCJI NA KOŃCU!!
2 gwiazdki za to że podobały mi się tylko rozdziały z dziewczynami
I ZA ZWROT AKCJI NA KOŃCU!!
April 20, 2016
3.5 stars
I cannot say that The Emperor of Nihon-Ja was my favourite Ranger's Apprentice book, because it wasn't. While it wasn't as jarringly disconnected like The Sorcerer in the North, it was a little slow and the characters were a little more distant (is that the word I'm looking for?) than usual.
Nihon-Ja was an interesting setting. I love that it was somewhere new, so we got to learn about a new culture and meet new characters that bought something a little different to the story. The Emperor was the most adorable character, and it will be sad to see him go! But it was also fantastic that some of our old favourite characters - Evanlyn, Alyss, Gundar, Nils & Selethen - were back. I had missed seeing Evanlyn particularly as she was such a big part of earlier books, but I thought her and Horace's romance was a little forced. He just seemed to blush whenever someone said Evanlyn's name around him... now they are together?
The main characters, Halt, Horace & Will, like I said before, were lacking their usual spark. It wasn't hard to notice the lack of their usual banter. Halt seemed rather subdued, and him & Will barely did anything throughout the novel. It was nice to see Horace sticking up for himself at the beginning of the novel, but once Halt got there he sort of stopped and gave the reins to Halt which was disappointing. I didn't like that he thought he was so dependent on Halt.
I think the most disappointing thing about The Emperor of Nihon-Ja was the female characters. This is a very male-dominated story, so when the two female characters we get - Alyss and Evanlyn - came into the story as the jealous, whiny, pathetic, bitchy stereotype I was sorely disappointed. Alyss was plain rude to Evanlyn, and instead of being understanding and diplomatic like she should of been, Evanlyn riled Alyss up. Luckily, during their kayaking trip, the girls did bond and overcome most of their pettiness, which was nice to witness.
Overall, The Emperor of Nihon-Ja wasn't my favourite sequel. It should have been split into two books, and could have easily done so. The story would have flowed better. The battle would have had an ending rather than the pathetic thing we got. Horace and Evanlyn's romance would have had time to bloom. There could have been more time spent on Evanlyn and Alyss' trip, and the groups' trip to Nihon-Ja. But however much I am complaining, I really did love this book. The last 100 pages were back the usual standard, and I only wished the story could have been spread out more so I wouldn't have gotten so sluggish in the middle.
I cannot say that The Emperor of Nihon-Ja was my favourite Ranger's Apprentice book, because it wasn't. While it wasn't as jarringly disconnected like The Sorcerer in the North, it was a little slow and the characters were a little more distant (is that the word I'm looking for?) than usual.
Nihon-Ja was an interesting setting. I love that it was somewhere new, so we got to learn about a new culture and meet new characters that bought something a little different to the story. The Emperor was the most adorable character, and it will be sad to see him go! But it was also fantastic that some of our old favourite characters - Evanlyn, Alyss, Gundar, Nils & Selethen - were back. I had missed seeing Evanlyn particularly as she was such a big part of earlier books, but I thought her and Horace's romance was a little forced. He just seemed to blush whenever someone said Evanlyn's name around him... now they are together?
The main characters, Halt, Horace & Will, like I said before, were lacking their usual spark. It wasn't hard to notice the lack of their usual banter. Halt seemed rather subdued, and him & Will barely did anything throughout the novel. It was nice to see Horace sticking up for himself at the beginning of the novel, but once Halt got there he sort of stopped and gave the reins to Halt which was disappointing. I didn't like that he thought he was so dependent on Halt.
I think the most disappointing thing about The Emperor of Nihon-Ja was the female characters. This is a very male-dominated story, so when the two female characters we get - Alyss and Evanlyn - came into the story as the jealous, whiny, pathetic, bitchy stereotype I was sorely disappointed. Alyss was plain rude to Evanlyn, and instead of being understanding and diplomatic like she should of been, Evanlyn riled Alyss up. Luckily, during their kayaking trip, the girls did bond and overcome most of their pettiness, which was nice to witness.
Overall, The Emperor of Nihon-Ja wasn't my favourite sequel. It should have been split into two books, and could have easily done so. The story would have flowed better. The battle would have had an ending rather than the pathetic thing we got. Horace and Evanlyn's romance would have had time to bloom. There could have been more time spent on Evanlyn and Alyss' trip, and the groups' trip to Nihon-Ja. But however much I am complaining, I really did love this book. The last 100 pages were back the usual standard, and I only wished the story could have been spread out more so I wouldn't have gotten so sluggish in the middle.
December 28, 2023
Boże, to już dziesiąty tom za mną! Nie mogę w to uwierzyć 😭 pamiętam jak zaczęłam tę serię czytać i ci bohaterowie byli tacy młodzi, a teraz już wszyscy wyrośli i dojrzeli.
Ta część była wspaniała, zresztą tak jak każda poprzednia. Czytanie było prawdziwą przyjemnością, tutaj fabuła skupiała się wokół kultury azjatyckich wojowników, ich broni, formacji. Bardzo było to interesujące i widać, że autor przyłożył się do opracowania tych zagadnień. Ogólnie sama fabuła była fajna, trochę powiela format jaki pojawił się w poprzednich tomach, ale sprawdza się to doskonale i autor genialnie to prowadzi. Relacje między bohaterami są fenomenalne, naprawdę fantastycznie się rozwinęły od pierwszego tomu do teraz.
Te przyjaźnie są niepowtarzalne i niewiarygodnie silne, a więź między Haltem i Willem to moja ulubiona rzecz w tej serii. Ten wątek found family jest cudowny! A to jakie riposty się między nimi pojawiają to jest zwyczajne złoto i diamenty! Z niecierpliwością czekam na czytanie jedenastego tomu, który zamknie pewien etap Zwiadowców.
Kocham tę serię, całkowicie zawładnęła tym rokiem 😭❤
Ta część była wspaniała, zresztą tak jak każda poprzednia. Czytanie było prawdziwą przyjemnością, tutaj fabuła skupiała się wokół kultury azjatyckich wojowników, ich broni, formacji. Bardzo było to interesujące i widać, że autor przyłożył się do opracowania tych zagadnień. Ogólnie sama fabuła była fajna, trochę powiela format jaki pojawił się w poprzednich tomach, ale sprawdza się to doskonale i autor genialnie to prowadzi. Relacje między bohaterami są fenomenalne, naprawdę fantastycznie się rozwinęły od pierwszego tomu do teraz.
Te przyjaźnie są niepowtarzalne i niewiarygodnie silne, a więź między Haltem i Willem to moja ulubiona rzecz w tej serii. Ten wątek found family jest cudowny! A to jakie riposty się między nimi pojawiają to jest zwyczajne złoto i diamenty! Z niecierpliwością czekam na czytanie jedenastego tomu, który zamknie pewien etap Zwiadowców.
Kocham tę serię, całkowicie zawładnęła tym rokiem 😭❤
March 31, 2012
This is the last book in Ranger's Apprentice series, which have been just plain fun to read. I have to say, though, that the latter books have some slightly sexist overtones and stereotyping when it comes to male/female roles in society, but that's me with an adult hat on.
As for this book specifically, the POV switches in this book were slightly frustrating - it was very much two different stories in one book, and the book flowed a lot better once Will and Horace actually met up. But as usual, a good adventure.
As for this book specifically, the POV switches in this book were slightly frustrating - it was very much two different stories in one book, and the book flowed a lot better once Will and Horace actually met up. But as usual, a good adventure.
February 28, 2016
Like every other book in this series, this was a good solid, enjoyable read.
March 15, 2023
Definitely a step up from the previous entries. While it still has a very familiar set up, it feels different enough to stand out. Supported by a cast of new, interesting and well realised characters, the ~500 pages I read were very entertaining.
My main criticism does remain and that is that the stakes don't feel as high as they should because it always follows that familiar formula. Though I am not sure I can complain too much about that. The series already stands out in that regard because the 'heroes' actually have to kill and take risks.
My main criticism does remain and that is that the stakes don't feel as high as they should because it always follows that familiar formula. Though I am not sure I can complain too much about that. The series already stands out in that regard because the 'heroes' actually have to kill and take risks.
May 31, 2023
Ja ze Zwiadowcami mam jak z tym jednym filmem, teoretycznie na IMDb ma 4.0, fabuła się w nim nie klei, ale i tak oglądasz go 20 razy i zawsze bawisz się na nim tak jak na żadnym innym.
Po prostu historia w tych książkach nie ma dla mnie znaczenia, pokochałam każdego z bohaterów i jak tylko mam okazję czytać o ich przygodach, to cieszę się jak dziecko
Po prostu historia w tych książkach nie ma dla mnie znaczenia, pokochałam każdego z bohaterów i jak tylko mam okazję czytać o ich przygodach, to cieszę się jak dziecko
December 10, 2025
Super! Ta seria już nie budzi u mnie takich emocji, ale nadal są to są cudne przygodówki i jestem przywiązany do bohaterów ❤️🩹
September 2, 2023
czytalem to ponad rok, dłużyło mi sie okrutnie, myslalem ze dam 2 gwiazdki, ale zakończenie bylo najlepsze z tej serii stad moja ocena
November 20, 2021
Jei skaityčiau šitą seriją būdamas kokių 12 metų, būčiau ją įsimylėjęs.
O šiaip ji skaitosi smagiau, nei daugumą šiek tiek vyresniems skirtų YA distopijų. Taip, veikėjai nesudėtingi, vienplaniai, bet tokie prie kurių prisiriši ir už kuriuos sergi. Taip, siužetas dažniausiai paprastas ir lengvai nuspėjamas, bet veiksmas pakankamai intensyvus ir nuobodžiauti neleidžia. Taip, čia nėra vietos interpretacijoms kas geras, kas blogas, o moralas aiškus, bet būtent to ir tikiesi iš vaikams skirtos knygos.
O šiaip ji skaitosi smagiau, nei daugumą šiek tiek vyresniems skirtų YA distopijų. Taip, veikėjai nesudėtingi, vienplaniai, bet tokie prie kurių prisiriši ir už kuriuos sergi. Taip, siužetas dažniausiai paprastas ir lengvai nuspėjamas, bet veiksmas pakankamai intensyvus ir nuobodžiauti neleidžia. Taip, čia nėra vietos interpretacijoms kas geras, kas blogas, o moralas aiškus, bet būtent to ir tikiesi iš vaikams skirtos knygos.
April 11, 2024
It's a little slower than the other books, but still really good.
June 12, 2020
Personally, the beginning of this book is a bit slower than some of the others. But as the book progresses, the story line goes faster and we get some action.
If it was in a different series, I would probably rate this 4 out of 5, but since John Flanagan is my favorite author, it's obviously a five star book.
Content: (basically the same as always)
Language--dam*s, hel*s, and taking God's name in vain a few times.
Sexy Stuff/Romance--a few kisses? I think? XD
Violence--wars, battles, a giant beast in the woods
If it was in a different series, I would probably rate this 4 out of 5, but since John Flanagan is my favorite author, it's obviously a five star book.
Content: (basically the same as always)
Language--dam*s, hel*s, and taking God's name in vain a few times.
Sexy Stuff/Romance--a few kisses? I think? XD
Violence--wars, battles, a giant beast in the woods
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,867 reviews