The Burning Bridge (The Ranger’s Apprentice, Book 2) is the second book by John Flanagan featuring young Will and Horace. You can read my review of the first book, The Ruins of Gorlan, here:
Review: Ranger’s Apprentice Book One: The Ruins of Gorlan John Flanagan
Book 1 was fast moving with extensive character development. The hero and his friends are all young teens but the book shouldn’t be considered YA fantasy as the characterization, setting, theme and plot are all more adult. This second book, The Burning Bridge has a stronger plot but the characters don’t exhibit as much interest or change during the story.
Will and Horace are sent on a mission to neighboring Celtica to request military assistance in the upcoming battle against the evil Morgarath. They discover Morgarath’s audacious plan to attack their kingdom from behind. For years their kingdom of Araluen has relied on the impassible cliffs and deep gorge called The Fissure, to protect them from Morgarath. There is only one pass and Araluen controls it.
In fact Morgarath has enslaved miners and workers from Celtica who have built a secret tunnel and bridge to get his troops across The Fissure and attack the king where he least expects it. Will, Horace and the young ranger Gilan realize that Celtica has been attacked and its forces have retreated to the south. The young Evanlyn meets up with them after having her entire party of armed guards and her mistress killed by the semi-human Wargals. Gilan leaves them and races to inform the king that Celtica is under attack.
Will, Evanlyn and Horace are supposed to make their way back to Araluen but on the way they foll a party of Wargals herding captive Celtica miners. They are horrified to discover that Morgarath has built an enormous bridge across the Fissure and decide to burn it to prevent the surprise attack from Araluen’s rear. Will and Evanlyn are captured by mercenary Skandians while Horace escapes to warn the king.
The Burning Bridge is fast moving and fun. In some ways it’s not as good as the first book was, but it was easy to finish and enjoyable. John Flanagan created a rich environment with interesting setting and political backdrop. It’s well-written and even without the character development we saw in Book 1, The Burning Bridge is well worth reading. There are a few scenes featuring Will’s friends Alyss that could have been eliminated to produce a tighter book, but presumably we will see more of Alyss in future stories.
I recommend it with 4 stars.
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