The Ranger's Apprentice: The Icebound Land

      I read Ranger's Apprentice: The Icebound Land, written by John Flanagan. This is the 3rd book in the Ranger's Apprentice series which has 12 books in total. The first copyright date was November 30, 2005. The Icebound Land is a fantasy book about  Will, the main character and his efforts to escape a prison camp.  In the opposite story line, Halt goes on some random adventures. The overall theme of this book is the eventual triumph of good over evil.

      The author tells the story in third-person-point-of-view. There are 2 different perspectives in this book, Halt's and Will's. Halt's perspective is about him going to rescue Will and Will's perspective is his prison camp stay. The intended audience is for people who like fiction fantasy. The general genre of this book is fantasy, and the book takes place in a nonexistent land. The author's writing style is what keeps you interested by making the end of every chapter switch perspectives between 2 of the characters, in different places facing different dangers.This writing style is effective for fantasy readers because you want to keep reading more. 

     This book affected me by making me think about how good I have life, and how much it would stink if I lived in that book. I think of my own world as a civilized place, and to see that in their world there is unclaimed land and places where barbarians can roam freely. This did not bring up memories of books I've read but it does closely relate to real world events. My opinion didn't change over the course of the book, because my world is more civilized.

      John Flanagan wrote the entire 12 book series in 8 years. This book would have taken me 10 years to write it if I have written it, so I would say the overall quality is great. I like fantasy books and this is a well written fantasy book compared to others that I have read, so I recommend you read this series.

Benjamin Zimmerman
11/2/2013
RATING: ★★★★½