A review by sarcasmink
The Royal Ranger: A New Beginning by John Flanagan

5.0

When I found out John Flanagan was going to be publishing a 12th Ranger book, I was thrilled. I eagerly counted down the days till the release. But I unfortunately have to say that I was slightly disappointed with this book.

One of the things I loved and hated about this book was Will's apprentice. Can I just say finally a girl ranger! This was one of the things I was really looking forward about this book. The fact that she was Horace and Cassandra's daughter was also pretty cool. I love the idea of her, but the character herself I didn't like very much. Princess Madelyn of Araluen is a typical rebellious teen. She longs for adventure and does dangerous things that end in her arguing with her parents. To solve this problem she's sent away to learn how to become a better person. And by the end of the story she's a completely new and better person. Maddie just didn't seem real to me, she was way to predictable a character.

As for the new future setting? I actually really liked it. It was neat to see where all the characters had ended up. I think Gilan makes a fantastic commandant. But it was sad to see Halt retired. Saddest of all is Will. I felt really bad for him, he's been through so much! One of the things I really missed in this book was the lack of Halt. In all the previous books he's been there grim and unsmiling, with his dead-pan sense of humour. And I really missed that in this book, all the other books have had me laughing, but this one unfortunately didn't.

Just to end this review right, I wanted to talk about the Ranger fascination with coffee. I myself am a coffee hater. So all these Rangers extolling the wonders of coffee can get pretty annoying. Which is another reason I was quite happy with Maddie. Finally a ranger who doesn't drink coffee. It was like a dream come true. Then the author had to make her into a coffee lover. Can I just say how mad I was? Argh! I just wanted to yell at Maddie not to turn to the dark side! But anyway, really trivial, but still a horrible thing for a coffee hater. :)