Ranger’s Apprentice – The Sorcerer of the North  by John Flannigan is a story of knights and medieval times, of good and evil and is part of a series of seven. This is the fifth book. The important characters are Will, Alyss, Malcolm, Orman, and Keren. Will is the protagonist in this series. He appears in every book and everything ultimately revolves around him. He was the apprentice Ranger of Halt and has been sent undercover as an entertainer (jongleur) to a castle in a far end of the kingdom. As a Ranger, Will represents integrity, strength, loyalty, guile and a higher purpose. He is sad when he has to leave Alyss in order the save Orman’s life, the purpose of his quest.

Alyss is a blond girl the same age as Will. They have been friends since they were kids. Alyss represents friendship and vulnerability. In this book she is undercover as a noblewoman engaged to a nobleman and meets up with Will at the castle. Her disguise is revealed and she becomes imprisoned in the castle.

Malcolm is an exiled healer who is hiding in Grimsdell Wood outside the castle along with his group of cast-offs – the area’s maimed, deformed and rejected. Malcolm represents independence, rejection, misconception, unfairness, forgiveness and goodness. He also represents nature, the unknown and fear of the unknown. The townsfolk forced him into hiding after one of his patients mysteriously died. There he has created a community of castoffs.

Orman is a scholar and son of the ailing (poisoned) king. He spends most of the day in his study, reading books to try and find the cure to his father’s ailment. Orman represents scholarship, superiority, misunderstanding, disappointment and loyalty. He knows that Keren wants to take the castle from him and Orman must find a way to stop him.

Keren is the illegitimate cousin of Orman. He is betraying his family and his country to obtain the castle. Keren represents disloyalty, ambition, selfishness, evil, and deception. He has poisoned his uncle and Orman, intending to kill them. He has recruited petty thieves and thugs as his soldiers.

Plot Summary

In the book Ranger’s Apprentice: the Sorcerer of the North, our main character, Will, is sent to the northern border of Araluen to find out what is ailing the ruler there. He is told that a sorcerer who is seeking revenge is the one who is controlling the sickness. After investigating, Will find out that the sorcerer lives in Grimsdell Wood. He goes into the forest to seek out the sorcerer and is scared off by apparitions. Later, Will returns with his friend, Alyss, to find the cause of these apparitions. He finds out that they are just lamps moved on ropes to scare the townspeople. Later Will finds out that Keren is attempting to take control of the castle by poisoning Lord Syron and Orman. Will takes Orman to Grimsdell Wood in an attempt to save Orman’s life by finding the sorcerer. They find him just in time and save Orman. Then Will has to return to the castle to save his friend Alyss but his attempts are unsuccessful and he must leave her to the mercy of Keren for the time being. The book leaves you hanging as to what happens next. For this reason I was disappointed with this book. I thought it was a very weak ending.

Theme

I think that the most important theme in this book is that looks may be deceiving, there’s often more than meets the eye. Such is the case with Will when he is in disguise as a jongleur. It is also true with Alyss when she takes the role of Lady Gwendolyn. Malcolm is widely feared as an evil sorcerer even though in reality he is a caring and humorous man. Orman is thought to be the antagonist until we realize that Keren has poisoned him. Keren comes across as strong and capable man until we find out from Orman that he is the evildoer who is trying to take the castle from his cousin. In this book vary few people are whom they appear to be. It is a lesson against jumping to conclusion and making quick decisions.

The quote I chose is from page 162 and describes a scene in which someone is pretending to be Will and copying his playing style exactly although in reality this person (Max) is a prodigy:

“Understanding dawned as Will passed the instrument to the older man. Max took it and, without any of the usual re-tuning or fiddly adjustments that most musicians undertook when they borrowed another’s instrument, he began playing immediately. Will realized that the man was copying his own style exactly.”

This quote is important because is goes along with the theme with this book. This is true because Max is a portrayed as just a simple servant but actually he is an accomplished musician, so good in fact he can purposely play bad. In this way he is not who he seems to be just as with Will or Keren or Malcolm.