The Burning Bridge (Ranger's Apprentice #2) by John Flanagan - Review

Book Synopsis:

Bracing for a final clash with the evil warlord Morgarath, the Rangers rally the kingdom's allies, and Will is chosen, along with his friend Horace, as special envoys to nearby Celtica. But the simple mission soon takes an unsettling turn - the Celticans have disappeared, their town abandoned. The scheming hand of Morgarath, it seems, has been far from idle. He has found a way to bring his legions over the once impassible eastern mountains and is planning to ambush the king's army in a rout. Now with help many miles away, Will and Horace are the only ones standing in the way of the dark lord's plans. They have shown great skill and courage in their training, but how will they fare in the face of true evil?

My Review:

4.5/5 stars. I enjoyed this second installment more than the first one. It was the same lovable characters, but their dynamics were expanded on. The stakes were also much higher, which made it more exciting to read and faster to get through. I'm looking forward to continuing the series, especially after the ending of this one.

It's so adorable how much Halt and Will love each other. This was a relationship I already loved from the first one, but we saw more of it in this book. Seeing how much Halt missed Will while he was off on another mission was cute. Both of them are so loyal to each other. Another relationship I'm glad got fleshed out more is Will and Horace's friendship. They didn't have any standout moments, but it's nice to see it slowly developing as the spend more time together.

I'm intrigued by Evanlyn, the new character. It's too early to form a strong opinion about her, but I like her so far. I'm curious to see how her story plays out and what her role in the overall plot will be.

This book had much higher stakes than the first one. The first one got intense toward the end, but it was mostly pretty chill, just Will and Horace learning their new crafts. This one, however, had a strong plot from the start. The characters had a goal in mind, and they faced many setbacks. Also, while the conflict in the first book mostly only affected a few characters, there was actively a war brewing in this one and more people were involved.

I loved the ending. It made me like Horace a lot more than I already did. I liked him before, but I still didn't feel like I knew enough about him, but what he did in this book really boosted my opinion. The ending also wasn't very predictable, which I liked. I did expect it to end on a cliffhanger, though, but it was still good.

Content:

Language: d*mn, h*ll, God's name taken in vain

Sexual Content: none

Violence/Gore: people are kept as slaves and beaten, sometimes to death; blood and wounds, but nothing gory

Drugs/Alcohol: None