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mackle13 's review for:
Arazan's Wolves
by John Flanagan
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'd like to say that any Ranger's Apprentice book is a good book, even though the Royal Ranger books haven't hit me quite like the original.
But his book made some odd choices that I'm not sure how I feel about.
There was a little magic in the first book, though mostly just a form of mind control that Morgorath had over the Wargals. After that first story, Flanagan mostly got away from magic, and even Sorcerer of the North, while having a wild form of hypnosis, pointed out that most were just tricks.
Though it did leave open a 1% possibility of real magic out in the world.
Where, enter the 1%.
But, like, a lot of it. A good witch, a bad witch, and an actual demon summoning? In a world where magic has been pretty scant on the ground for most of the series?
And while I often get annoyed with the whole "protagonist refuses to accept the possibility of magic when literally confronted with it", with this book it went the other route where they seemed a little too ready to believe in something which, until now, has been considered a myth.
Beyond that, though...
I felt like some of the characterization was missing. Maddie seemed a little too "Mary Sue"ish in this book. Like, Will talks about how terrified he was when he first encountered a Wargal, but Maddie is like, "this is scary and sucks", but then doesn't ever really seem effected by her fear in any real way.
Will, too, has some trauma from having to go back to where Morgorath was, and the bridge where he was captured, but it's mentioned but never really dwelt on or dealt with in any real way.
Also, the two witches were literally just plot devices, and didn't seem to have any real personalities. The villain is just a villain because she wants to rule things, but is never given any kind of personality beyond that. Even Morgorath was given a little bit of backstory to make you understand why he did the things he did.
And the good witch is just there to provide our heroes with a way of dealing with the bad magic, and offers no personality beyond that role.
Lastly, for all the build-up of the villain using black magic and summoning an actual demon, the final battle seemed a little anti-climactic, which I think was the most disappointing thing for me, tbh. At least give me a good confrontation scene!
But his book made some odd choices that I'm not sure how I feel about.
There was a little magic in the first book, though mostly just a form of mind control that Morgorath had over the Wargals. After that first story, Flanagan mostly got away from magic, and even Sorcerer of the North, while having a wild form of hypnosis, pointed out that most were just tricks.
Though it did leave open a 1% possibility of real magic out in the world.
Where, enter the 1%.
But, like, a lot of it. A good witch, a bad witch, and an actual demon summoning? In a world where magic has been pretty scant on the ground for most of the series?
And while I often get annoyed with the whole "protagonist refuses to accept the possibility of magic when literally confronted with it", with this book it went the other route where they seemed a little too ready to believe in something which, until now, has been considered a myth.
Beyond that, though...
I felt like some of the characterization was missing. Maddie seemed a little too "Mary Sue"ish in this book. Like, Will talks about how terrified he was when he first encountered a Wargal, but Maddie is like, "this is scary and sucks", but then doesn't ever really seem effected by her fear in any real way.
Will, too, has some trauma from having to go back to where Morgorath was, and the bridge where he was captured, but it's mentioned but never really dwelt on or dealt with in any real way.
Also, the two witches were literally just plot devices, and didn't seem to have any real personalities. The villain is just a villain because she wants to rule things, but is never given any kind of personality beyond that. Even Morgorath was given a little bit of backstory to make you understand why he did the things he did.
And the good witch is just there to provide our heroes with a way of dealing with the bad magic, and offers no personality beyond that role.
Lastly, for all the build-up of the villain using black magic and summoning an actual demon, the final battle seemed a little anti-climactic, which I think was the most disappointing thing for me, tbh. At least give me a good confrontation scene!