Ranger's Apprentice Books 1-2 (The Ruins of Gorlan & The Burning Bridge)

Overview

Will is a ward of the baron of Castle Redmont. He has no last name, he was left at Castle Redmont as a baby with a card attached to him identifying him as Will. The Choosing Day is coming up when the wards will be assigned to a Craftmaster to be apprentices. Like all boys, Will lives for being assigned to Battleschool and becoming a brave knight, as he imagines his father to be, but he's small, wiry, and not very strong, and to his horror, he's assigned an apprenticeship to the mysterious Rangers. 

Negative

Some violence with no gore. About ten or fifteen exclamations of d**n and five of h*ll. From a story perspective, the books read almost more like an action-packed history book. There isn't very much effort to make the characters relatable, and Will doesn't even do anything in the climax of the two books (Which makes a sort of a miniseries within the main series which is why I decided to review them together.). 

Positive

This is a story about Knights and Rangers, all fighting to protect the people of Araluen, despite their differences. Will and his mortal enemy end up putting aside their differences and becoming friends. This is a book filled with traditional style knights, and chivalry is practiced by every member. 

Conclusion

Ranger's Apprentice is a story chockfull of knights and warriors fearlessly protecting their kingdom with a  few monsters thrown in to boot. They won't hesitate to put their own lives on the line to stop Lord Morgarath from exacting his vengeance on Araluen. Yet, there is basically no effort to make the characters relatable at all. The only thing I found at all relatable was Horace and Will's friendship. Will make basically no appearance in the climactic final duel, the author instead opting to have Will carried off so that the series could continue, making for an unsatisfying ending. The characters are extremely black and white. Good and evil are clearly defined and their no moral struggles at all. Yet, the books are full of heroicness and make a good read, just don't expect them to get you thinking.