Escape from Falaise by John Flanagan

John Flanagan is an amazing author, and his Ranger’s Apprentice and Brotherband series are loved universally by young readers. Escape from Falaise  is the next book in the off-shoot series, The Royal Ranger, and it again has action, drama and conflict as the Royal Rangers, or more particularly Will and his young apprentice Maddie must escape capture and rescue a young Prince from the Baron Lassigny. They use their amazing Ranger skills and expert thinking skills to outwit the Baron despite all opposition.

The start of this book launches into the drama with little or no pre-amble or recap, so it is assumed that readers will have come to Book 5 after reading the other books in the series. You could never say the story is dull. Conflict and commotion, action and arrows, wit and wisdom and overcoming the witless and woeful opponents of the young Araluen Rangers happens at great speed. This is a rollicking adventure and will be devoured by readers of the Ranger’s Apprentice series. As an adult reader, I was also impressed at the way that Flanagan maintains the plot progression and makes a story that even adults can enjoy, even though these books are aimed at younger readers. And although young male readers have always loved this series, Maddie the young Ranger’s apprentice connects this series to a female audience too. 

Themes: Adventure, Historical Fantasy, Rescue.

Carolyn Hull