Erak's Ransom (Ranger's Apprentice Series #7) Book

What does it mean to earn the Silver Oakleaf? So few men have done so. For Will, a mere boy, that symbol of honor has long felt out of reach. Now, in the wake of Araluen's uneasy truce with the raiding Skandians comes word that the Skandian leader has been captured by a dangerous desert tribe. The Rangers are sent to free him. But the desert is like nothing these warriors have seen before. Strangers in a strange land, they are brutalized by sandstorms, beaten by the unrelenting heat, tricked by one tribe that plays by its own rules, and surprisingly befriended by another. Like a desert mirage, nothing is as it seems. Yet one thing is constant: the bravery of the Rangers.

In this red-hot adventure, winner of the Australian Book of the Year Award for Older Children, John Flanagan raises the stakes on the series that has already sold millions of copies worldwide.

VOYA

The book 7 and book 8 installments in the popular Ranger's Apprentice series will not disappoint fans. Erak's Ransom, book 7, takes place before the start of book 5, when Will is still an apprentice to Halt. The Skandian leader Erak, an ally of the Araluen's, has been captured and ransomed by a tribe of warriors from the desert. Will's courage and Ranger abilities are tested throughout the difficult quest to find and free Erak. Evanlyn has the chance to prove she is just as brave as the warriors around her as she negotiates Erak's freedom. At the conclusion of book 7, Will graduates as a Ranger and is placed in charge of his own fief. The Will that readers meet again in The Kings of Clonmel, book 8, is now confident and cunning. When a religious cult called the Outsiders conquers several surrounding kingdoms, Will, Halt, and Horace set out to convince the residents of Clonmel to believe in the abilities of the Sunrise Warrior instead of lies being spread by Tennyson, the cult's leader. At the conclusion of this book, the Rangers defeat the evil forces and restore order to the kingdom. As a result of brilliant characterization, the protagonists in books 7 and 8 have the skills to persistently outwit and outfight opponents while still maintaining a sense of humor that makes them seem realistic. True to this series, books 7 and 8 are filled with twists and turns, impassioned negotiations between leaders, and vivid, bloody battles complete with the clang of weapons. Reviewer: Amy Wyckoff