John Keating’s experience narrating the Ranger’s Apprentice series and his familiarity with the characters add richness to his performance. Set 20 years after the last installment, the story focuses on Will Treaty, now the Royal Ranger, who is set on avenging the murder of his wife, Alice. At the same time, his close friends, Cassandra and Horace, fail to control their rebellious daughter, Maddie. To solve both problems, Halt, Will’s former mentor, suggests that Will train Maddie as the first female Ranger. Maddie’s transformation from the petulant princess to accomplished apprentice is beautifully paced by Keating. He weaves Will’s calm patience with Maddie’s eager curiosity to showcase their unique relationship. The two different Irish accents of Halt and Gillan, the Corps Commander, pair nicely with the British accents of the other characters. M.F.T. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
It’s time to roll up our mermaid tails, shake the vacation sand out of our hair, and start rounding up the backpacks and school supplies. But that doesn’t mean we have to shelve our summer reading goals. Keep the warm-weather reading going even after the school bell rings with our picks for this month’s best […]
Before we can discuss why The Battle of Hackam Heath is so amazing (and it really is!), we have to take a step back and introduce the sadly uninitiated into the world of Ranger’s Apprentice. Here are a few things you need to know: Second, this twelve book series (not counting the prequels) is compulsively readable (for both young […]
A real, classic adventure story is becoming increasingly hard to come by. Sure, you can find tales of magic and dragons—and don’t get me wrong, I love magic and dragons—but sometimes you just want to read a classic fantasy where the characters fight with swords instead of wands, and ride horses instead of winged animals. […]