Personally I’ve never been much of a reader. When I was in elementary school I was never really into reading. Whenever the teacher said it was reading time I was always frustrated, because I wasn’t interested in reading. I play a lot of sports, and thought reading was for nerds. But I was forced to read for school; therefore, I thought I mine as well try to find a book I like. I looked into sports books and just didn’t really enjoy them. Then one of my friends told me I might like this one series. This was the Ranger’s Apprentice Series. Man was he crazy I thought, I’m a big sports guy. I’m not going to read a book about some castle and kingdom. After awhile he finally convinced me to pick up the first book in the series. Next thing I know I couldn’t stop reading this book. The action in it was perfect for me. I needed something that was always keeping me guessing, always keeping me on my toes. Now I liked reading, and when the teacher said reading time I was first to pick up my book and last to set it down. I was even reading at home now, and my mom was in disbelief. The Ranger’s Apprentice Series is an electrifying and action packed series that will keep people reading for weeks. Character background, the struggles of the characters, and the success of the characters are three ways they put action into this series.

Will, Horace, and Halt are the three main characters I will be focusing on. These characters have all taken different paths to get to where they are know. Let’s start with Will. I would say Will is the real main character in this series. However his path to the top has not been easy. Will was an orphan and lived in an orphanage. He knew his dad to be a tough knight who died in battle. Will wanted to be exactly like his dad, and follow right in his footsteps. When the day came to get selected into battle school Will wasn’t chosen. Instead he was selected to become a ranger. Will was furious that he wasn’t going to be a knight like his dad. He had never even thought about becoming a ranger. There was nothing he could do about it, so that’s what he became. Will’s journey to becoming a ranger is a roller coaster ride. There is many shocking findings and things that happen on his path to becoming a ranger, that will leave people dumbfounded.  Horace had a little more simple path to where he is now, but also had some bumps. Horace was big and strong, he had no doubt in his mind that he would be going into battle school to become a knight. When the day came of course Horace was chosen for battle school. Training was hard, but that was the least of his worries. It is when these three other members find Horace alone that Horace is in a tough situation. Will he be able to defend himself, or will the other members beat the snot out of him? Halt is the old dog on the block. Unlike Will and Horace, he has been in the kingdom for a long time. Halt was a heroic ranger who was the greatest ranger in the kingdom. When Halt and Will are partnered up there is an interesting relationship that will blow your mind. These characters have all came from different backgrounds, and when entered into the kingdom they all have encountered obstacles or people that make their journey more difficult.

All of these characters have definitely had their fair share of struggles. One of Will’s biggest struggles was being small. There is nothing he could do about it.This is something he simply can’t control. When Will and Horace would get into a scuffle all Will could do was run. Horace always would call him a chicken and Will would be furious. Another situation where his size had affected him was not getting selected into battle school. One of his biggest goals was to be selected and now he couldn’t because he was too small. Will was devastated, but when given the chance to get out of the ranger corps and be a knight what will he do? Another one of Will’s struggles was when he found out what his dad really was. Once you’ve read this book you will find out that Will’s dad was not exactly who he thought he was. Horace has had his struggles as well. Getting into battle school was no trouble for Horace, but the members he trained with were. Horace was a young apprentice and already one of the best swordsman in the kingdom. A couple members who had been there years were jealous of his skills. Every time they would find Horace alone they would beat him down. Horace would have beaten any of them in an one on one fight, but when they went three on one Horace had no chance. Horace finally gets his chance to fight them all one at a time, and the beatdown he gives them is awesome. Although Halt is one of the best rangers ever he has still had some struggles. He doesn’t like to admit it, but he can get lonely in his isolated cabin in the forest. When he has an apprentice it brings the best out of Halt. When Will has to leave to go on a mission Halt becomes very lonely again. He doesn’t act like himself and does some things that he will regret. Everyone of these characters struggles, but their successes definitely outweigh their struggles.

Again we will start with some of Will’s successes. For being so young Will has had a lot of pressure put on his shoulders. On one trip right away in the series Will was leading Horace and another girl as they were following a group of wargals. Wargals are these creatures that are a part of Morgarath’s army. Will made a very smart choice to burn the bridge that were making, even though he knew there would be a price to pay for it. I think what he did outweighed the following consequences, which you will find out once you read this book. When Halt’s life is on the line, one of Will’s biggest successes will be prevailed. Horace has also had many successes. In the first war of the series Horace decides to challenge the other army’s captain in a dual. This was a very gutsy move on Horace’s part because their captain, Morgarath, is one of the best swordsman around. With his life and the war on the line the young apprentice does something stunning that you will not want to miss. Another one of Horace successes was when he helped Will burn the wargals plan to win the war. Even though they knew they would probably get captured, they knew it would be best for their kingdom. I think that would be very hard to do especially if you were young. Halt, being the oldest, has had the most successes of them all. Halt has always been a pain in Morgarath’s side. Last time they tried attacking their kingdom, Halt had led the cavalry that had killed his troops. Now Morgarath is trying to get revenge on Halt. Halt is always a step ahead of the game though. When Morgarath sends troops to flank their army Halt comes out of nowhere to ambush his troops. Once again Halt saved his kingdom from Morgarath. As the book goes on there's many more success that I did not tell you about.

John Flanagan is the incredible author who wrote this series. John grew up in Sydney, Australia and always wanted to be a writer. John is best known for this Ranger’s Apprentice series. He started working on it in the 1990’s and finally finished the twelve book series in 2013. Another notable work of Flanagan’s is The Brotherband Chronicles. I have never read this series, but may start it soon. Erak’s Ransom which is a book in this series won an award in 2008. This award was  Australian Book of the Year for “older children and international success”.  The Ranger’s Apprentice Series will electrify you and keep your face glued to the book. If you struggle to find interesting books, I highly recommend this series. Like I mentioned before this series is what got me to start reading. I think anyone can enjoy these books. The non-stop action, and all the sudden changes will throw you for a loop. All these missions and battles these characters are a part of make them into who they are. These three travel around the mountains, in the cold, and through the desert. As the series comes to an end they are still traveling together, arm in arm. Then in one of the final battles Halt is struck with a poisonous arrow. Will’s mentor is near death and is in killer need of an antibiotic. Time is not on Will’s side as he struggles to keep his mentor alive. Every second counts as Halt is fading away, and only has minutes to live. Will these three get to travel together into the sunset one last time, or have they already taken their last ride together?