The Sorcerer in the North

The Sorcerer in the North (The Sorcerer of the North in the U.S.) is the fifth book in the Ranger's Apprentice series by Australian author John Flanagan. It was released in Australia on 4 November 2006 and in the United States on 4 November 2008.

Plot summary

This novel starts with Will traveling to his first assignment as a fully fledged ranger. During his travel to his assigned fief, he finds a female dog bleeding to death from by the roadside. Will takes her home, heals her, and she becomes his pet. After spending a few weeks at Seacliff, the fief to which Will is assigned, Will realizes that this fief has grown slack in the training of its knights and a little lax in its responsibilities. Just before the month is up, a Skandian raiding party consisting of around thirty men arrive at this lazy town. The soldiers are unprepared from the lack of practice and would certainly not stand a chance against the raiding party. Will rides out alone to meet them and they come to an agreement. The Skandian party had little choice but to raid the town because they would have starved otherwise; however, if they attacked, Will would have killed at least half of them with his new longbow before they even reached the town. Will had a better idea and forced the baron and battlemaster to supply a certain number of animals and food for the Skandians. By this, Will did two things: he taught the baron and battlemaster a lesson and protected Seacliff from being raided.

After a few days, Alyss, Will's lifelong friend, arrived at Seacliff on a courier mission. While sitting in Will's cabin, Alyss mentioned Halt, Will's former master, and Crowley, the Ranger Corp Commandant, had a task for him, unfortunately their conversation was overheard by John Buttle the brutal man who had injured Will's dog earlier and was connected to a string of murders in the area. Will knocked him out cold, but Alyss wanted him dead. Will had a better solution and gave him to the Skandian raiders as a slave.

Will traveled to Halt and Crowley as Alyss had instructed him. His master told him to go undercover as a jongleur (a sort of traveling jester or minstrel) and gather information in Norgate, a northern fief, at the castle Macindaw. Lord Syron, the master at castle Macindaw, had fallen sick from some strangely epitomic illness. Rumors had spread that a sorcerer was responsible for the illness and they wanted Will to investigate what was happening.

At Macindaw, Will met Orman, the temporary lord of the castle as he is the son of Lord Syron. An irate bibliophile, he is always wearing black. Orman is an unpopular ruler due to the fact of his lack of skill in battle. Will also met Keren, Orman's cousin and a more popular man among the subjects in the castle.

Will was immediately suspicious of Orman and so was Alyss, who just so happened to be his contact sent by Halt and Crowley. Alyss was undercover as Lady Gwendolyn, a pompous and superficial woman on her way to her fiance's castle in the next fief. Later as the plot unwrapped Orman summons Will to his quarters and it is revealed that the guise of a simple jongleaur failed and Orman knows Will to be a Ranger. Orman tells Will that Keren was planning a take over of the castle and that Keren had poisoned Lord Syron and has managed to do the same to him self. So Will escapes from the castle with Orman and his assistant to Grimsdell Woods where the "sorcerer" lived. Once there, they found Malcolm the "sorcerer" and asked him to heal Orman.

Alyss was puzzled seeing Will help Orman and fantasized many conclusions none of which were right. Then Keren entered her room to tell her about the recent events, but as they were talking, John Buttle walks in. He recognises Alyss and she is captured. Will later went back to Macindaw in an attempt to save her. He climbed the tower wall and attempted to dissolve the bars protecting the window with a special acid he received from Malcolm. Will fails in rescue attempt and just barely escapes from the castle with his life. He is determined to get Alyss back.

Characters Will Halt Alyss Horace Orman John Buttle Keren Malcolm

References

External links

• The Sorcerer in the North at Random House Australia
• The Sorcerer of the North at Penguin Group (USA)
• The Sorcerer in the North at Random House UK
• The Sorcerer in the North at Random House NZ