Fantasy

I enjoyed this book but not as much as the 1st two. Felt a little like filler to get to the 4th book. ( )

It was nice, but felt an awful lot like a filler book. By the end of the book nothing much has really changed for anybody. I liked the first two books in the series and hope that the next one will be better than this. ( )

Fantasy

The third installment of the Ranger's Apprentice -- Summary: Chasing the Skandian slave-traders who kidnapped Will and Evanlyn, Ranger Halt and warrior student Horace find themselves in the frozen northern islands, where they battle a ruthless black-clad knight as they attempt to rescue their friends.

The book is divided into two storylines. The first being of Will and Evanlyn as they travel the sea with the Skandians who have kidnapped them as bounty and will sell them as slaves. Their friendship grows as they learn to rely on each other for survival. When they finally make it to their destination, they are split-up and Evanlyn finds hard work in the kitchen and Will tries to survive in the cold frozen landscape as a yard slave. The other slaves seeing Will's strength and determination get him addicted to warmwood where he becomes groggy and slow-witted and his body starts to wither. It is only with the help of Erak, the one who enslaved them, that they make their escape to the wilderness cabin in the mountains to wait out winter and plan their escape. Evanlyn slowly weeds Will off the drug hoping that he will return to his former self.

The second storyline is of Halt and Horace and their determination to fulfill Halt's promise to rescue Will. Halt pushes the King into a corner and is banished from the kingdom for one year. This gives Halt the freedom to travel north in hopes of finding and rescuing Will and Evanlyn from the Skandians. They run into several delays including a black-clad, evil knight that takes them prisoner while deciding what to do with them. They bid their time while waiting for the mountain passes to thaw and finally come up with a plan to bring justice to this evil warlord and continue on their quest to find their friends.

The series needs to be read in order. There is lots of action, some violence, but no strong language. Good read for any fantasy lovers especially those of LOTR. ( )