(This review was updated on 9/20/23)
A few years ago some friends recommended John Flanagan’s The Ranger’s Apprentice Series. My family soon fell in love with these books, and since then I have read almost all of his books in the same world (The Early Years prequel series and The Brotherband Chronicles companion series) multiple times. I found Flanagan’s writing to be engaging, fun, and exciting. If you want to know more about these series, you can read a review of them here.
Sets of The Ranger’s Apprentice Series include the first book in The Royal Ranger Series A New Beginning. Many of my friends told me that, in fact, The Royal Ranger is not nearly as good as his previous works. I avoided reading them for a while, but finally, my curiosity won. At the time of writing this, I believe there are six or seven in this series. I have only read the first five, A New Beginning, Red Fox Clan, Duel at Araluen, The Missing Prince, and Escape from Falaise, and have no interest in the others.
Sadly, I have to spoil The Ranger’s Apprentice Series and The Brotherband Chronicles because these series overlap. I will assume that you have read at least some of Flanagan’s previous books.
The Royal Ranger takes place about twenty years after the eleventh book in The Ranger’s Apprentice series, The Lost Stories. The premise of the story is that the protagonist of The Ranger’s Apprentice, Will Treaty, is now much older and eligible for an apprentice. Eighteen months before the story begins, Will lost his wife, Alyss, in a fire. The fire was started by a band of criminals, whom Will had been systematically chasing down and turning in. The Ranger Corps did not ask Will to do this. In fact, they have asked him to stop. He is only doing this out of revenge. At the same time, King Duncan is declining in health. His daughter, Princess Cassandra, is acting as regent. She and her husband Horace have a 15-year-old daughter, Madeline. Princess Madelyn, or Maddie, as her friends and family call her, is always in trouble. She hates the constraints of castle life while loving the comforts. Truthfully, she is just like her mother. Often in the early morning, while her parents are sleeping, Maddie sneaks out to the woods to hunt alone. Frankly, she is a spoiled brat. Cassandra and Horace have forbidden this because she is next in line for the throne behind Cassandra. Through a series of events, it is decided that Maddie will be apprenticed to Will.
There are a few problems with this. First of all, Maddie is the first female Ranger. There are good reasons why women have not been Rangers, including that women can not pull back the eighty-five-pound longbow that Rangers favor. Maddie has to use a less powerful bow and sling instead. Second, and more importantly, Maddie is the sole heir to the throne after her mother. This puts her at serious risk. Of course, they hide her identity, but some will find out and target her. Moreover, Rangers are constantly in life-threatening situations. As an only child, her death would throw the kingdom into complete disorder.
I also do NOT like Maddie. In the first half of the first book, she is a brat. After that, I find her to be too perfect. And for those of you who have read The Ranger’s Apprentice, I feel similarly about Will–not that he was ever anything like Maddie, I just found him to be unrealistic as well. However, I did like him for his personality, just not as much as everybody else.
Book One: A New Beginning
In this book, Will and Maddie are sent on her first mission as a Ranger apprentice. One of the other Rangers is found dead. It appears that he took a fatal fall from his horse–that never happens to Rangers. Will and Maddie are sent to figure out if he was maliciously knocked from the horse and, if so, by whom. Naturally, there is a more sinister enemy behind all of this.
One thing happens in this book you might want to know about. In chapter 23, Maddie becomes popular among the village teenagers. Three of them invite Maddie to a party. It is when Will visits his former mentor, Halt, and Halt’s wife, Pauline. The three teens have stolen food and wine, and Maddie thinks this is the case but isn’t quite sure, and does not ask. They have a great time at the party, and all of them get drunk. Why Flanagan had to include this, I am not sure.
Books two and Three: The Red Fox Clan and Duel at Araluen
The Red Fox Clan is the first half of one story, and its sequel, Duel at Araluen, tells the other half. These are my favorite books in the Royal Ranger series. I think this story could have been told in one slightly longer book, but overall, they were the most interesting of the five.
In this story, we have what I object to in most main characters: Maddie is the only one who can get everyone out of a dire situation. In fairness, in the end, she has help from some characters you will know if you are familiar with The Brotherband Chronicles. The plot of this story is that there is a group of malcontents called the Red Fox Clan. They strongly disagree with the female line of succession. The Red Fox Clan is led by Maddie’s closest–though very distant–male relation. We don’t know his name until the end but I personally had no trouble figuring out who he was, though clearly, it was supposed to be a surprise.
Books Four and Five: The Missing Prince and The Escape from Falaise
These two books are my least favorite of the five, especially Escape from Falaise. There is no question that these two books could have been one shorter book. After Duel at Araluen, my favorite, I had higher hopes for these two. I was very disappointed.
In this two-parter, Maddie and Will are on a mission to rescue the prince of a different kingdom, Gallica. Posing as entertainers, they make their way to where the prince is held.
Naturally, the prince’s captor thwarts them in their rescue attempt. The process is made more complicated by the unstable political environment of Gallica. All the nobility are constantly betraying one another and struggling for the throne, making it hard to trust anyone. And, as always, they realize their mission is more complicated than they suspected.
I found this to be a very predictable story. The name of book five, Escape from Falaise, made it clear to me exactly what was about to happen.