cindy's Reviews > Erak's Ransom

Well...well... looks like Will &co. were loooong way from home in this 7th book... Get trapped on sand storm, lost direction and half dead on vast dessert, wagering Tug on Bedullin tribe's race and Halt nearly beheaded? What went wrong here? Wait a minute, where were they actually?
(By the way, story wise it was between 4th and 5th book, so I read this before the 5th, but it was the 7th book of the installment)

(view spoiler)[Taken time some years after the peace treaty had signed between Araluen and Skandian, Svengal took a liberty to crashed at Halt and Pauline's wedding party, brought the news of Oberjarl Erak's hostage situation by the Arridis. Arrida is a dry land far south of Araluen, where the mainland's dessert still unknown to most outsiders. Considering Erak's position as leader of a nation, another monarch should attended this matter as the mediator, but as King Duncan was really occupied by something-something, Princess Cassandra volunteering on his behalf. So along with her, the King assigned Halt as her advisor, Will tagged along as her trusted companion and Horace was appointed as her personnal body guard. Gilan, who accidentally caught King's eyes along his cloak and sword, also dragged into. So all five of them, nine if we count the horses, -The Fellowship of The Rangers- accompanied Svegal back to Arrida to pay Erak's Ransom.

In Arrida, Cassandra successfully arranged the ransom with Selethen, the Wakir, or Lord, of the teritory. But when they went to Mararoc to get Erak, everything crushed and crumbling down. Selethen's men slayed and Erak's gone. Latter, Halt and the others were captured by Tualaghi, who they called The Blue Veiled Ones, while Will, seperated from the rest, embarked on his own journey, a solo mission to find Tug, and to verify his own readiness of being a full flagged Ranger. (hide spoiler)]

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What I like of this series was -beside the truely entertaining tales- how it really emphasized of the 'growing up' process all the way of the story. Will was maturing in front our eyes. In the first book, we saw that little dubious boy, uncertain of his own feet and eyes. Then he change into a worthy ranger apprentice. In second book we saw him so groggy in front of his first real combat. Latter we saw his unwavering will to burn a bridge, not even blinking his eye in the face of ample enemies. So was in the forth book, where he change again from a mere apprentice into a prominent leader of one extraordinary courageous troop. Now as he's about to enter his adultness, he was questioning his own ability to coupe with life. Something that I thought, one time of another, we question ourselves too. And in the end, life did came whether he's ready or not. But with his band of friends and mentors cheering and pretty ladies in both arms, being adult was not so bad after all. *or so you said, wait until these ladies had a cat fight, and then you wished you just a simple boy running away after stealing food from mr. chubbs* :D

#28/2013