Rangers Apprentice: What do you think?

[Whitefur]

Whilst I'm sure you are joking, I think it does serve to emphasize the detrimental effect other peoples criticism can have on a books reputation. I think you should read one yourself and form your own judgement rather than take other peoples gospel and swallow it. I took the books for what they were - simple, uncomplicated, easy to read.

You're right... and wrong, at the same time . While there was a mix of silliness in my bowl of stew, I didn't jump far from the truth. It all relates to one... well, two facts, actually. One of them is that I'm not a big reader, and two is that Sinitar is my brother so I always tend to question him about things whenever he gets ahead of me with reading.
And that's how it happened with Ranger's apprentice. I kindly asked my brother to provide me a summary for the book, and he did. Me, having read and outgrown the three books of the Inheritance Cycle I read previously ( which were also the first ones I've read in years besides ones I had to read for school) did not find it that interesting, so I took his word for it.

Was I at fault? Definitely. I admit that I'm too lazy for my own good sometimes. Have I done injustice to the books by not reading them? I plead guilty as well, but since there are so many books out there I'm always thinking "meh, there has to be something better than this" before reading something I find uninteresting. For me, the first opinion matters quite a lot, especially when it comes to books. Reading anything on this old wreck of a cathode ray tube monitor is a real pain.

 

[flyboy]

Rangers apprentice

I think I also need to step back, if one of my family - one who new my taste - said I dont think youll like it because of xyz, I'd follow that advice.

Regards: To you and yours

 

[Tamwen]

I think the books are wonderful, personally. I find that the quality of writing gets way better from... Oh, I'd say book seven or eight onward. The dialogue in particular is my favorite part of it all; I'm a sucker for some good old fashioned sarcasm.

He is going to write another book, btw. The Lost Tales, which I assume will be a collection of short stories, is coming out in Europe/Australia this autumn.

 

[Argentum]

I'd agree with Tamwen. The sarcasm, wit, and playful proding was the one thing I think I loved most about the series. The comradery. The story, to me, was fresh and new territory. I never read a story before that had rangers as main characters and archery as the main weaponry. In other books, they're usually the side-kicks and archery is more of a secondary weapon. But it was the way the characters acted around each other and reacted to each other that really got me hooked. Was it the next Lord of the Rings? No. And I didn't get the warm fuzzies, but I was definitely warm and content when I read those books.

Yeah, they were simple books too. But sometimes the idea of reading a book with many characters, plots, subplots, and plot twists just makes me exhausted thinking about it. They're great, but it's nice to read simple books too.