The Icebound Land (Ranger's Apprentice #3) by John Flanagan

Book Synopsis:

Kidnapped after the fierce battle with Lord Morgarath, Will and Evanlyn are bound for Skandia as captives aboard a fearsome wolfship. Halt has sworn to rescue Will, and he will do anything to keep his promise–even defy his King. Expelled from the Rangers he has served so loyally, Halt is joined by Will's friend Horace as he travels toward Skandia. On their way, they are challenged constantly by freelance knights–but Horace knows a thing or two about combat. Soon he begins to attract the attention of knights and warlords for miles around with his uncanny skill. Even so, will they be in time to rescue Will from a horrific life of slavery?

My Review:

5/5 stars. I loved this book; it's my favorite of the series so far! The plot was so engaging the whole time, and the characters and their dynamics were amazing as always. I read it in big chunks in just a few days. The ending also made me very excited to start reading book four. While I do have some qualms with the worldbuilding, that wasn't enough to lower my rating.

The plot of these books just keeps getting better and better. This time around, the stakes felt higher, it was more intense and personal for the characters, and it never failed to hold my interest. There were two main plotlines happening—one with Halt and Horace, and the other with Will and Evanlyn. They were both very different, but I enjoyed them equally. Depending on the moment, I went back and forth between which plot I was more invested in, but they were both consistently engaging.

There were a lot darker elements than I would have expected for a middle grade. SPOILER: Will getting addicted to drugs was so sad to see. He had it rough this book, and I felt so bad for him. END OF SPOILER. It seems like this is a series where things like that increase as the characters get older, at least to an extent.

Just like in the previous two, the characters were the heart of the story. Halt got lots of laughs from me with his sass and sarcasm. This book made me LOVE Horace. I already liked him more after the ending of the last one, but now he's my current favorite character. He's just so sweet and humble, yet also a super strong warrior character. That's a combo I feel like you don't see often. Evanlyn got a bit more depth in this book, too, although she's still not as fleshed out as the boys. Erak is an interesting character. He's a villain, but he had some heart in this book. I sense a redemption arc for him in the future.

I liked that this book expanded the world more, as we saw places like Skandia and Gallica. However, I thought the worldbuilding was a bit uncreative. Instead of creating his own new cultures, the author just borrowed from a lot of real-world places. Gallica is basically just France, where they speak French and eat baguettes. I don't expect a Tolkien-level of language and worldbuilding, especially since this a low fantasy, but something more original would be nice.

Finally, the ending was great. It gave happy, hopeful conclusions to some aspects, while also not resolving every plot thread. There's a clear goal to still work toward in the next book. Everything was set up nicely, and I'm very excited to continue the series.

Content:

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

Sexual Content: some women wear very short skirts and are implied to be prostitutes, but this would go over younger readers' heads

Violence/Gore: fights, death, blood, wounds, mentions of human remains from people kept in cages, but nothing described in a lot of detail

Drugs/Alcohol: Characters get drunk; a character gets given a drug and becomes addicted. This is a huge plot point, but it's shown as a horrible thing and not glamorized.