The Sorcerer in the North
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[edit] About the Book
The Oakleaf Bearers is a book written by John Flanagan. John Flanagan is an Australian author who currently lives in Sydney. Flanagan wrote the first book of the Ranger's Apprentice series to encourage his son to read. His son is now in his mid twenties and is a enthousiastic reader of his father's novels. The Oakleaf Bearers is the fourth book of the series and carries on from The Icebound Land and continues to track Will. It also includes such characters as Halt, his mentor and Horace.
[edit] Summary
Five years have gone by since the last book, Oakleaf Bearers, and Will has just become a fully fledged ranger and is given his first fiefdom to look after. However even such a small, isolated island fief offers challenges that Will needs to overcome and prove his Ranger skill.
After solving a problem with Skandian raiders on the island shores, Will meets up with his old friend Alyss and recieves a message from his mentor Halt. Leaving his small fief he sets out to meet Halt and is told of problems in a northern fief. Disguised as a travelling Bard he moves through the fief picking out pieces of information about the strange happenings that have occurred. After a trip into the woods and an encounter with the Night Warrior, Will is severly shaken. Does magic really exist?
[edit] Characters
Will - the protagonist of the series. He is a young man who has been studying with Halt a legendary ranger. He has learnt much over the years and is very accomplished in all facets of the ranger skills. He has just been awarded an Oakleaf badge and is assigned is first fief. He has been part of numerous wars and conflicts. He recently escaped from Skandia and managed to succesfully overcome a fireweed addiction. He original was concious of his small height and thin, wiry frame (because he wanted to be a knight before becoming Halt's apprentice) but has come to be proud of them as they suit his ranger profession.
Halt - Is Will's teacher and mentor. He has done many things for the Kingdom over his years of service and is regarded as one of the best Ranger's of the time. He appears grim and silent embodying the Ranger stereotype that appears throughout the book but he does have a caring side.
Alyss - Is a long time friend of Will's and has been with him since he was an orphan at the castle. She became went to the diplomats school and is an important character in this book. This is also the first time she plays a major role since the first book since she has only appeared or been mentioned rarely since then. She is tall and elegant.
Horace - Horace was a one time enemy of Will picking on him incessently for his dream of being a Knight. Since he went to the Knight academy he has learned many things and since then has become a close friend of Will's accompanying him on some missions and attempting to save him when he and the King's Daughter, Evalyn were taken captive by the Skandians.
[edit] Detailed Plot
Along the way to his first assignment, the Fief of Seacliff, Will comes across and injured dog lying among the grass. He succesfully bandages all of its wounds and attempts to find out who would have done such a thing. He manages to find out that Buttle is the most probable suspect but before he can act on that information a Skandian raiding party comes ashore.
He manages to succefully avoid a confrontation by using his contacts with the Skandian Emperor and his friend, Erak. When he first arrived there was a slight power struggle as the Baron of the fief, Ergell, seeks to twist his loyalties but Will has a fierce loyalty to the king and his work at stopping a Skandian invasion made them realise he was not as inexperienced and naive as they believed. Will had also noticed that the Battlemaster Norris had let the training of the men slip in the fief but after near disaster with the Skandians and Will's earlier reminder the Battlemaster stepped up the training and defence.
His friend Alyss, working as a diplomat, came to give him news that Halt wanted to meet him regarding an assignment in a remote Northern Fief. He leaves Alyss and travels to meet Halt and Crowely and is given detailed instructions. Will, who has some skill with a mandola, is to become a travelling jongeleur and attempt to gather all the information he needs to find if the rumours of magic are true.
Along the way he learns a few interesting facts, the most important being that a person called Malak was supposedly behind the strange occurences, before finally reaching Castle Macindaw which located in the Norgate fief. He learns that the Night Warrior appears in the forest and sets out to investigate. After one terrifying night when he sees the Night Warrior he begins to wonder if the magic is real. Then Alyss arrives in the disguise of a noble woman and together they set out to solve the mystery.
Alyss and Will soon discover that what Will had seen previously was no more than an elaborately concuted scheme to keep people out of the forest. Before they can dig deeper and discover what the Night Warrior is trying to keep people away from the Baron's brother.
