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Monday, July 4, 2011

The Icebound Land by John Flanagan

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

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


So this series is great for a couple of reasons. First, the books are short and easily digestible, which is perfect for my situation (I don't have much free time.) Second, the characters are all maturing, and we get to follow along as the author confronts the inherent conflicts of adolescents and grows his characters to overcome them. Finally, the plot is just a classic fun-to-read fantasy story.

The room for improvement remains in the same areas. This is a fantasy story that lacks magic. A painful omission in my book. While the characters are growing, and the plot is enjoyable, some of the developments in the story line seem overly obvious. I suppose that that is what I get for reading juvenile fiction, but still. My hope is that the tone of these books "grows up" over time, like the Harry Potter books did. (Although, ironically, I was not a fan of that maturing in the HP series, but that is a discussion for a different time...)

I'm looking forward to carving out some more time to keep reading this series...


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