The Burning Bridge (Ranger's Apprentice #2)

[TheMusicalMuse]

War is brewing. Morgorath is on the move, and the kingdom of Araluen must defend itself. The knights intensify their preparations, and the king calls out the Rangers--his special ops team.

In the midst of all of this tension stands Will, the young apprentice to the most famous Ranger in the kingdom. Fresh off of his success in slaying the Kalkara, one of Morgorath's murderous minions, and saving his master Halt, Will is raring to do something productive for the sake of the kingdom. Seeing his eagerness but wanting him safe, Halt sends Will on a presumably safe diplomatic mission to the neighboring kingdom of Celtica. Little does he know that he may be sending Will--and his friends Gilan and Horace--into a more dangerous situation than faces the kingdom of Araluen.

Upon arriving in Celtica, the trio of young men is baffled to find a barren landscape and deserted towns. A mishap with two looters reveals that Wargals, another breed of Morgorath's minions--have taken most of the Celts for reasons unknown and have bottled the rest of the kingdom up on its southern peninsula. Said mishap also delivers a half-starved servant girl refugee to the Ranger camp.

Wanting to deliver the news to the king of Araluen immediately, Gilan rides home, leaving Will, Horace, and their new companion Evanlyn to follow at a slower, safer pace. However, Will's curiosity gets the better of him, and he decides to further explore the barren country, hoping to locate a clue to Morgorath's schemes.

As Will takes charge in his first leadership position, questions arise? What are Morgorath's ultimate plans? Who is Evanlyn, really, and what secret does she hold so closely to her chest? And when the young trio finally unravels Morgorath's plan, they find themselves in greater danger than they anticipated. What can three young people do in the face of Morgorath's evil?

Will's choice leads to a day that Araluen will never forget...and consequences that he and his young friends never could have foreseen.

Written in John Flanagan's witty, fast-paced style, this second book in The Ranger's Apprentice series is better than the first, and it will have you racing to the library to check out the next book in the series.

[Crimsonsky 749]

I adore the Ranger's Apprentice series and in The Burning Bridge I am happy to say that John Flanagan has done a great job. He has displayed the character's personalities just as well as in the first book. Will is as reliable and stubborn as ever, Horace proves that he just as courageous as a knight should be and a small bit of Halt's past is revealed to us. The setting is quite mysterious and creepy at the start but really fits with the theme and leaves you wanting more.There are barely any grammer mistakes and the plot was very good with almost no holes. I would recommend it to all of my friends if I could but sadly most of them do not share my love of books. But well that's their choice.