John Flanagan, author of the bestselling Ranger's Apprentice fantasy adventure epic, delivers a second prequel to Ruins of Gorlan, the novel that started it all, with Halt and Crowley preparing for war against a near-unstoppable enemy When the former Baron Morgarath escaped to avoid punishment for treason, an uneasy peace fell on Araluen. But Morgarath, now in hiding, is already planning his next move, recruiting an army of savage, overpowering beasts known as Wargals. Newly crowned King Duncan knows he must assemble his troops for battle. To find out the full extent of Morgarath’s plan of attack, Halt prepares for a seemingly impossible task--climbing the deadly cliffs of the Mountains of Rain and Night and venturing deep into enemy territory to spy. After all, the winner of this war could be determined by one wrong move. At the Battle of Hackham Heath, the fate of a Kingdom will be decided. This origin story of how Halt came to be Araluen’s most famous Ranger – and how war will decide the future of the next generation – will thrill Ranger’s Apprentice fans and new readers alike.
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.
(2020) So I haven't re read this book which is rare considering this is part of the Ranger's Apprentice series, but it felt like reading it for the first time. I loved getting to know the characters when they were younger and how they got to their positions.
I should probably give this book 4 stars, but well, it was so easy and fast read and I love the idea of the prequels to Ranger's Apprentice series. I read the first book, Ruins of Gorlan, many years ago. I liked the idea of mysterious and skillful Rangers, who could shoot the bow like no one else, and ordinary people knew so little about them that they actually thought the Rangers were wizards of some kind, who could become invisible. My favorite character has always been Halt. Grumpy, seemingly cold and uncaring, pretty dangerous man...who turned out to be someone completely else, and who trained Will and has been like a father to him.
The prequels focus on Halt's past and tell the story of how he became a Ranger and then a legend, known in the entire kingdom of Araluen. It's also a story about how the Ranger's were re-formed and became so important. The readers of Ranger's Apprentice series might remember Crowley, the Commandant of the Corps. He didn't play any major role in the original books, but was pretty likable. In the prequels however, he is one of the main characters and he is as important as Halt. And he turned out to be a wonderful character and was a great addition to the story. Not many people can poke fun at Halt, but Crowley enjoys doing it (in a friendly way of course) and it provided some much needed humor to the story. Of course, aside form Halt and Crowley, we get to see some other characters from original series, like Duncan, Arald or Lady Pauline. And of course Morgarath. The books tell the story of how Duncan became the king and how Morgarath was defeated and driven from the kingdom for the first time.
The only problem with this book I might have is the fact that is aimed for younger readers mainly and I am not among them any more;)...so some of the things weren't really that funny, some other things were too obvious, and there were also those "talking" horses..but well, I could close my eyes to some things and still enjoy the story anyway.
It's an easy read and I recommend it to anyone (that is if you don't mind reading young adult books) and to the people who read Ranger's Apprentice and enjoyed it. The prequels are better than at least half of the books of original series, particularly the later ones, in my opinion. And it's a much better idea than continuing the original series, even though it should have ended some time ago...spoiled princess being a Ranger was too much for me...reading about real Rangers is a lot more entertaining, I can assure you.
Onward to the flailing of a fangirl. I did rather love this. (Hence it took me three hours to read from cover to cover) There is so much that excites me about returning to the great old kingdom of Araluen and the great old characters that are all so familiar. (Disclaimer: actually, I don't really know quite why I rated it 4 stars rather than 5...it just struck me as not quite 5-star stuff. Almost, but not quite)
It was so fun to get back to the old characters that I remember, and quiz my brain on every single random name to try and remember if he came up again in the actual RA series. And Halt is just such a great character. The first time Gilan's name was mentioned I may or may not have squealed out loud, and I loved every single time when he came in. *is a shameless Gilan fangirl*
There was actually less of the hilarious dialogue, although it was definitely still there, and it was just as good without it. Less is more, right? I'm going to go with the assumption that there was more action and less Halt and Crowley chasing butterflies.
The action did seem to take a few chapters to actually start up the pace properly, but once it was going it was good. Also, I kinda read this in three hours...so it may have felt faster paced for me than it would have if you read slower. It was rather good from about the 1/3 point through and onward.
And the plot is one familiar to all who've read the Ranger's Apprentice series, because the general outline is already there, but there are the details, the night raids, plus GILAN. If you don't read it for anything else, read it for the two pages when Gilan just takes over and totally saves Halt's life.
I loved the ending. It was so sweet and adorable and just really made me feel like re-reading the entire RA series again. (But no. Too many books, not enough time.)
I definitely recommend this to everyone and all. It's an easy read full of adventure and bows and arrows and swords and all the fun stuff like that.
Rangers Halt and Crowley are once again called upon to defend the realm for Duncan. Halt is sent off to spy on Morgarath and his band of Wargals, gaining valuable intelligence while Crowley accompanies the Queen to a spa during her difficult pregnancy. The serial introduction of important characters in the latter series was fun, as well as learning more backstories, but there is too much meandering and repetition in the novel, which could have been omitted.
Of course this is a good read, if too focused on coffee and meals. But I love the relationship between Halt and Crowley and young Gilan, King Duncan and Baron Arald. Fun to see the birth of Princess Cassandra and the origins of Will, Horace, and the other wards (orphans). If I hadn't already read The Ruins of Gorlan and The Burning Bridge, this book wouldn't have felt somewhat anticlimactic and predictable. But that's the risk when an author writes prequels to a finished series.
Flanagan repeated things too many times. How silently rangers can move. How a ranger's horse cannot be stolen and no need to tie it up cuz it won't wander away. And how much coffee everyone drinks, or thinks about drinking.
En weer een heerlijk spannend verhaal van John Flanagan. Erg leuk om vele mensen in de serie al te kennen, maar nu juist in hun vroege jaren. Blijf het toch knap vinden hoe Flanagan zo spannend kan blijven schrijven en op het juiste moment naar een ander persoon of situatie weet over te schakelen. Eerlijk gezegd ben ik door dit boek ook weer nieuwsgierig geworden naar deel 1, want hoe verging het Will in het begin van zijn Grijze Jager tijd..
In ieder geval: als je op zoek bent naar een serie die spannend is, lekker wegleest en ook nog wat humor bevat, dan zou ik zeker John Flanagan eens uitproberen. (Maar als je Vroege jaren 2 hebt gelezen, denk ik dat je dat al hebt gedaan haha)
I was disappointed by this book. I must admit, I started it with a bad attitude. The end was alright, but I did not find it a good book.
The first sentence was lame. The first 100 pages were also lame. I did not care about the characters or about the story. It is a prequel, I know who lives at the end. There should have been more there to care about. When you read a good book you actually care about the outcome.
The action got a bit better towards the last 1/3 of the book. But I still was not completely drawn into the story.
I felt that it was repetitive - I was told the same thing many times over. How many times do you need to bring up coffee for instance? How many times do you need to say the same thing? Like the fact that the Rangers moved silently... and no one could see them... and they blended into the trees... and...
It was fun to see some RA characters again. Although, their jokes were better in RA...
The political correctness bugged me. Really bugged me. It says so many times that so-and-so is not religious when it could have said it only once. The gender 'equality' annoys me too. John Flanagan seems to find it necessary to defend the intelligence of women. He defends the fact that women should be able to serve in whatever role they want. That they are just as good or better than men... I believe that men and women are equal but it does not have to be the way that it is in this book.
There were not only spoilers for the Ranger's Apprentice series, but for the outcome of the book itself. It told you straight out that . Even if you already know the state of the country in RA book 1-2, a story should not give away its own ending...
Another fantastic John Flanagan book. I love this world and the characters and getting to see Halt and Crowley in their younger years. Parts of this book made me want a whole series dedicated to Gilan and his backstory with Halt... but I can't wait to see what comes next.
3.5 STARS... As much as I love the Ranger's Apprentice series, I'm sad to only rate this book 3.5 STARS. I enjoyed this book, but it seemed a bit repetitive at times. The title is The Battle of Hackham Heath and when the battle came, it just came and went. It just didn't seem like much of a battle to me. Everything that came before was more exciting than the battle. I don't remember much about the first book in this prequel series, but did it mention the Wargals in it? How did these Beasts come about? Where did they come from and how did Morgarath get them? We find out how Cassandra is born and we even get to meet a 12 year old Gilan who actually is interested in becoming a Ranger's Apprentice when he turns of age!! I loved the prologue but I was also sad with the storyline of it. Will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will read the next adventure in this series because I do enjoy the characters!! It would be nice to see how Halt and Gilan get along in Gilan's apprentice days. Is Halt the same with Gilan as with Will or did he treat them differently? HHMMM something to ponder!!
Yeah!! I’ve finally read this book!!!! Congrats to me!!! I actually bought it last year, as soon as it was released. But…I didn’t read it until now. What am I waiting? Like…I don’t know…I realize that my reading process is rather slow during the semester…although I haven’t had a lot of work to do. (Wait…like hell I don’t have works to do…I’ve tons!) Now…I’ve loved Halt and Crowley, and i especially love how John Flanagan put all those character we love inside the book!!!! Oh! And there is a good thing about the prequel of this series…cause you know nothing will happen to your beloved characters.
The legendary Halt…and Crowley. Love that. The funny thing is that the son of the battle master was brought in this book as well!!!!! David’s son! Guess who he is???? Indeed Gilan! OMG…it’s so cute to read him as a twelve-year-old boy, with an extraordinary sword skill. Perfect. But…I didn’t realize this Gilan, was in fact that Gilan in the original Ranger’s Apprentice series. How stupid of me. Yet, throughout the entire book, Halt has been saying “oh! I’m not going to have an apprentice!!! No!!! That is simply impossible! I love to be alone!” especially to Gilan. Guess what? Guess What? I love that…it’s so funny.
So about this book, it’s still the funny and thrilling series we used to know. And…since John Flanagan has an extreme unique way of writing…his books are usually under a certain kind of quality. You won’t face something so horrible, and uncertain quality of book. And I especially love that, just in the case that they seem all the same. However, after reading so many, you’ll still love The Battle of Hackham Heath…I guess I just can’t deny that I love to read the story of the characters from the original series. I’d love to read the third book during the time when Gilan became Halt’s student. Although I guess that will be quite similar to Will’s. Who knows? But the book we love and we know will always remain funny and easy read. And that’s what I love most about this book. The friendship, the courage, the fun inside (Halt and Pauline, for example), it all makes this book worth reading. Btw, Will is here!!!! Will is here!!!! Will and Cassandra is here!!!!!
This book definitely focuses less on the character development/interactions, and more on the logistics of the battle. That isn't my favorite, since I care so much about the characters and the interactions are always hilarious (and i loved seeing little Gilan!), but I do appreciate Flanagan's practicality when it comes to constructing battle scenes and the like. All of the mechanics seem very common sense in a way that a lot of book battles aren't.
Also, this series does not feel like a kids series anymore. There's nothing there that shouldn't be given to a kid, but all the focus is on adult characters, without the "coming of age" aspect. Side note, writing my thesis has forever impacted the way I think about what I read, I can't read a single book without thinking about how it challenges or upholds the age range conventions it's categorized as.
یک جلد دیگه هم تموم شد و من با این سوال مواجه شدم که وقتی ۵ جلد دیگه رو هم بخونم بعدددد چیییی؟! چیکار کنم بعدششش😭
در جلد دوم از مجموعه سالهای اولیه رنجر، شاهد نبرد بزرگ آرالوئن یعنی نبرد مورگاراث و وارگالها برای تصرف پادشاهی بودیم. ۷۰ درصد این جلد مربوط به نبرد و تکنیکهای جنگی و ... بود و از این جهت کمتر پسندیدمش به نسبت باقی جلدها. فان کمتری داشت. اماااا ۳ تا کارکتر مهم مجموعه وارد داستان شدن و با چندتا کارکتر جدید آشنا شدیم و ...😭. شاهد دستاوردهای هالت و کراوالی بودیم🥹 در این جلد ۲۰تا رنجر داشتیم❤️ موخره بسی قشنگ بود♡
{مادرش هنگام زایمان فوت کرد. و پدرش به عنوان قهرمان. لطفا مراقب او باشید. نام او، ویل است.}
پائولین: و من از خودم میپرسم، آیا او و پرنسس همدیگر رو خواهند شناخت. هالت: یک پرنسس و یک پسر یتیمِ کشاورز؟ چجوری قراره این اتفاق بیافته؟ 🥲🤭
We enjoyed this one too. Pretty much the characters are the same as in later books, except the author adds the descriptor “young” or “dark haired” before their names instead of “older” or “gray haired.” Otherwise, the character portrayal is pretty static, but also enjoyably familiar. We keep a running tally of how many time the words “massive,” “gesture,” and “coffee” are employed. (Gesture won in this one, but the others keep up a fight.)
Przewidziałam zakończenie i było cudowne. W ogóle cała książka była cudowna. Halt za młodu był bardzo pyskaty, bardziej w pierwszej części, ale tu mu też nic mu nie brakuje. Bardzo fajne jest też to, że Crowley nie od samego początku wie wszystko i potrafi prowadzić korpus zwiadowców tylko się uczy.
Trochę chciałam żeby ten wątek się znalazł w książce i 💫epilog💫
Trochę się rozkręca, porusza wątki ciekawe dla przyszłych tomów i głównej serii Zwiadowcy. Chociaż wstępnie trochę się ciągnęło, to od połowy praktycznie ciągle się coś dzieje.
Naprawdę fajnie się czyta kiedy wiemy co wydarzy się później, mówię tu o nastawieniu Halta do pewnych rzeczy. Jak się zmieniło jego postrzeganie i takie tam...
WOOO thats fun i liked that a lot, especially seeing halt before apprentices. sad there isnt another prequel showing gilan’s apprenticeship, but gilan is in this book and he is amazing
prequel series in general review: theres other parts of it as well that i really love where you can see the development of things from this prequel era to present time in the main series, like the wargals, morgarath, the political environment etc etc i love it all
Book 2 of prequel duology set in the world of Ranger’s Apprentice- This duology follows the character Halt (and company) through his early days in the Ranger Corp. You don’t necessarily need to have read the Ranger’s Apprentice books to follow the plot, but you definitely should read the duology in order. FYI: You will care more about the characters if you are familiar with at least some of the other RA books.
Wow . He did it again!! It was just so amazing words can't describe how much I loved it!!!!!!! It answered some of my questions too ! You'll love it!!!!!