The Red Fox Clan

Book 2 of the royal ranger is not interesting as the other books written by JF. It's predictable except the last part that is to be continued... <br /><br />3/4 of the book is boring and then the last quarter of the book becomes exciting and I'm hoping it is going somewhere but all it says is to be continued... <br /><br />So can I continue in the next issue??? Just disappointed with this one... <br /><br />2stars for the author to realize that we read and buy books because we appreciate the story and we love the characters that he created. And we are not just money mill. Please make something our money's worth and not something like to be continued...<br /><br />The month of May is a long wait but I'm hoping I can't read something like to be continued...

It wasn't perfect and one major thing bugged me through the whole book, but I still really, really, really loved it, and I think I'm going to love it more when the sequel comes out (if the sequel lives up to the set up of this book). <br /><br />After the disappointment of the last two Brotherband books, I was really hoping this book wouldn't continue the trend. I'm happy to say it didn't, at least for me. <br /><br />The plot was really unique and, while similar to other Ranger's Apprentice books, was still different enough to have me on the edge of my seat. While I did guess who the bad guy was right away, I didn't guess a lot of the twists and turns of the plot. Not since Morgarath and the first few books in this series have the Rangers faced a challenge that stood to shake the very foundations of Araluen the way the threat in this book does. The stakes in this book are INCREDIBLY high, and the author pulls off the tension really well. There is a lot of set up in the beginning of the book, but the set up delivers, using almost everything (even minor things) that were planted in the beginning. <br /><br />MINOR SPOILER ALERT: This book does end in a cliffhanger and thus doesn't have much of a climax. BUT, I honestly didn't mind. Because it means there has to be a sequel coming and I'm genuinely excited for that sequel. <br /><br />My biggest disappointment with the book was that Will and Halt are barely in it. They are sent off on a mission in the beginning of the book then NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN. I got all excited when they went off on a mission, thinking I was going to get a few scenes of them traveling and doing Ranger stuff again. Nope. Never happened in this book. It also got a little weird that they were never mentioned. Horace, Gilan, Cassandra, and Maddie all end up in harrowing situations where you'd think they would at least think that maybe they should get Will and Halt who would be able to help? But they don't even think about it? Not even to think that "Oh, they are too far away to arrive in time" or something like that. <br /><br />Also, with all the traps and plots going on, the set up seemed to indicate that Will and Halt possibly walked into a trap, but the other characters never think "Oh, they are probably delayed because those rumors we sent them off to investigate were a trap just like the rumors we were investigating were a trap." Nothing. If the author was going to set up for them to be in some sort of trouble in the next book, the characters should have at least wondered about it in this book. <br /><br />I'm really, really hoping that when the sequel comes out that Will and Halt play a bigger role in it than they do in this one. It would spoil both books for me if after all the danger of this book, Will and Halt return from a fruitless mission only to find out the whole kingdom nearly fell apart in their absence. They are too good of Rangers to have that happen to them. <br /><br />Still, that was a minor disappointment that (if the sequel lives up to this one and perhaps even surpasses it) will probably fade. <br /><br />Overall, I was too busy enjoying this one to feel too disappointed. There is set up for a Brotherband crossover in the next book that I'm really looking forward too. <br /><br />Basically, I want the next book now!

As a dedicated Ranger Apprentice fan I couldn’t help approach this book with a bit of hesitation. I was comfortable with how the series had ended, well mostly, and did not know what to think of the idea of a new series with its central focus on Maddie as a ranger and princess. (Especially seeing as I’ve always had the stance that Rangers and royalty shouldn’t mix.) But it was as if John Flanagan knew that and gave his all to win me over from the very beginning. <br /><br />While not a perfect book, <i>The Red Fox Clan</i> made me fall in love with this series all over again, being a perfect blend of the old and familiar with the new. All the elements that really make a solid Ranger Apprentice book for me were there—the dry humor, the characters, the tension (and, boy, did this book have some), and just stepping back into the Ranger world at their assessments and hearing their banter—all done superbly, causing me to finish this book with a wail as I realized that I’d have to wait for the next.<br /><br />Another fun aspect of this thirteenth book was being able to share its release with my 12-year old younger brother and fellow fan of the series. <b>His thoughts~</b><br /><br />“For sure one of John Flanagan’s best books. Annoying because of all the double cliffhangers at the end, but good. Some of my favorite scenes were the ones with Maddie pretending she didn’t know anything about archery or hunting. I liked the tie-ins to previous books with the Skandians and to Horace’s lasting friendship with Emperor Shigeru, shown with Maikeru and the Heron Brotherband. Although, <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="fffae400-7be9-4998-86c1-b81aaba33851" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="fffae400-7be9-4998-86c1-b81aaba33851"> I didn’t like it when Maikeru died, although I loved his brave words he said as he was dying. </label><br /><br />“I didn’t like Dimon’s character from the beginning, and it frustrated me that the author never even MENTIONED Alyss (or George for that matter) after <i>The Royal Ranger</i> had been so centered around her. But, overall I loved the book. Now give me the next one!” <br /><br />One of my personal favorite reads of the year, this book has me wanting to pick up <i>The Ruins of Gorlan</i> and jump right back into the beginning of the story with Will. Well done, John Flanagan.

Maddie is in her 4th year as a Ranger's apprentice, but she is not a typical apprentice. She is the crown princess and her apprenticeship needs to be kept a secret. <br />At the same time, a dangerous group called the "Red Fox Clan" are trying to gain support and membership for their cause - which is to remove the law enabling females to succeed to the throne, thereby blocking Maddie and her mother from ruling Araluen.<br /><br />This wasn't my favourite from this series / spin off series. I think as most of the characters I really like were off to the side and the actual storyline was a little flimsy (sorry John Flanagan!). It also ends with a "to be continued" and no resolution which is not my kind of ending. In saying all that, I will continue because I really have enjoyed all the other books in this world so far and I still think the author's style of writing is lovely and perfect for this age group.<br /><br />As an aside.... The Ranger's apprentice series was fantastic. I loved the characters and the old style humour and good v evil themes. In 2013 book 12 of that series was released which took us forward in time and introduced a Royal Ranger. Now it seems book 12 has been rebranded as book 1 of this new series, The Royal Ranger, and so this becomes book 2 in that spin off series.

A group of insurgents in the kingdom of Araluen are stirring up trouble for Princess Cassandra as they seek to overturn the change in law made by her father, King Duncan, prior to her birth restricting ascendants to male heirs. Harald and Chief Ranger Gilan take half of the Castle's guard north to quell the disturbance, when they find themselves substantially overmatched. Meanwhile, Cassandra's daughter Maddie, who is secretly training to become a Ranger, has completed her third year trial and is home for a visit. Bored by palace life, Gilan asks her to keep an eye on things locally. Maddie makes some interesting discoveries, including eventually the identity of the treacherous chief of the Red Fox Clan. Good battles, but Will Treaty and Halt's disappearance is disappointing, offset to some extent by the visit of the Heron Brotherband. Probably only a 3.5 because of the <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="81cac08a-5857-4991-a0e7-47e17ee57306" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="81cac08a-5857-4991-a0e7-47e17ee57306">"To Be Continued"</label> ending.

So, I'd somehow let myself forget Flanagan's fondness for multi-book arcs, so, yes, this book is only the beginning of the story which will probably be wrapped up in the next book, and I'd gotten good at remembering this and waiting for awhile to get to them, but I forgot.<br /><br />And, yes, this does end in the middle of the story.<br /><br />Not a cliffhanger, per se, but it does end up being a lot of set-up for the story as a whole.<br /><br />Curse Flanagan and his whole "writing for TV" thing.<br /><br />Anyway - <br /><br />That aside, I did enjoy slipping back into this world with these characters. Maddie seems to be coming along nicely - both as a character and as a Ranger. And I liked seeing Horace and Gilan teaming up again, for their part of the story.<br /><br />That said - Will and Halt are pretty much absent for most of the story, which was a bummer. I'm hoping that we'll see what they've been getting up to in the next book, and that everyone will come together for the resolution, as per (sort of) usual.<br /><br /><br />I did have one question about the horses. In the past it sort of seemed to be a kind of quirky thing where the horses would react a certain way and the Rangers intuited a meaning, but this book seems almost straight up psychic chatting with the horses. I'm not sure if that was on purpose, or if it's just easier that way, but it seemed a bit much at times.<br /><br />I was also a little distracted by an incident with a boar. Readers of the series will remember that there was a boar incident in the first book - a moment of fraught tension which brought Will and Horace together as friends. In this book there's another boar incident, but it seemed resolved <i>a lot</i> easier from that first book.<br /><br />I was like - has boar hunting changed? Is this boar a lot smaller? Did Flanagan forget the import of the big boar thing from the first book?<br /><br />But, anyway, these are fairly minor quibbles, I suppose, and I will, of course, read the next book to find out what happens.<br /><br />***<br /><br />7/26/21<br /><br />Reread in prep for the next book. Sticking with the 3-star rating. Definitely some mid-book slump moments.

Will and Gilan against halt is just too hilarious. <br />I'm glad Maddie learned her lessons. Yay for the skandians visiting. I did miss Lydia. The cliffhanger made me think. I am wondering what happened to will and halt. Bumper's responses are cute. The tunnels are scary. The inverted flag was new to me. Sensei. Now I want learn how to use a practice katana.

Not as good as the previous books but not bad.

In het dertiende deel van de avonturen van De Grijze Jager heeft Maddie, oftewel prinses Madelyn, haar derde jaar als leerling Grijze Jager afgerond en gaat ze tussendoor eerst naar huis om tijd door te brengen met haar familie. Het lijkt een lange en saaie tijd te worden, maar gelukkig gaat het leven van bepaalde vijanden ook door. Maddie gaat op speurtocht naar gangenstelsels in het kasteel en haar vader Arnaut en Grijze Jager commandant Gilan gaan op weg om De Clan van de Rode Vos te verjagen. <br />De Clan van de Rode Vos heeft het gemunt op de troon van koninkrijk Araluen. Koning Duncan heeft jaren terug de wet gewijzigd waardoor ook vrouwen recht hebben op een plek op de troon. Hier zijn zij het niet mee eens en ze komen in opstand. Maddie komt oog in oog te staan met de leider van De Clan, maar weet hij wel van haar dubbelleven? En wie is deze leider?<br /><br />Na het boek ‘De koninklijke leerling’ wist ik niet of ik nog een deel kon verwachten in deze fantasierijke serie, maar ineens verscheen daar, gelukkig, toch een vervolgdeel. <br />Als vanouds kroop ik deze bekende wereld weer in en het was fijn om weer terug te zijn in het land van de Grijze Jagers en koninkrijk Araluen. Boek twaalf is alweer even geleden en hierdoor waren de verwijzingen naar eerdere avonturen erg fijn. Af en toe bevatte het stukken die iets langdradiger waren, maar verder leest het verhaal hetzelfde als de andere delen: met veel vaart. <br /><br />Een boek met nieuwe en oude personages, humor en spanning en weer een goed avontuur. Wel miste ik de aanwezigheid van oudere personages of komt dat omdat ik zo gehecht ben aan Halt en Will? De serie draaide om hen, maar misschien geven zij het stokje door aan een nieuwe generatie hoofdpersonen. Maddie leerde ik hierdoor steeds beter kennen, waardoor zij voor mij al echt bij de Grijze Jagers hoort. <br /><br />Het einde van het boek kan ik niet onopgemerkt voorbij laten gaan. Praktisch gezien was er eigenlijk geen einde, omdat dit deel één is van een tweeluik! Het viel mij tijdens het lezen op dat de spanning in het boek langzaam werd opgebouwd en eerst vond ik dat jammer, maar nu blijkt dat er op magnifieke wijze werd toegewerkt naar een enorme cliffhanger. Ik hoop maar dat de uitgeverij ons niet te lang laat wachten op het vervolgdeel… Kortom: het was als vanouds weer erg fijn om te lezen en door de cliffhanger kan ik niet wachten op het volgende deel!

THE RED FOX CLAN is another steadily-building plot towards a very climatic ending, with characters fans of the series have come to love with the addition of the new Ranger Apprentice, Maddie. With lessons ahead for Maddie to learn, she finds herself in a desperate position and in need of all her resources. Another exciting addition to the series and a story that readers will keep turning pages to finish.<br /><br />This story follows two years after the last book. Maddie is a little older with her skills more finely tuned as she's completed three years of training now under Will Treaty. She's supposed to be on break, visiting her parents, but things don't turn out quite as planned. She's mostly on her own and has to depend on what's she learned to save herself, her mother, and her kingdom. I did miss her and Will's interactions, which were quite entertaining in the last story, but I also appreciated seeing Maddie work on her own and developing more as a character. There are two storylines, one on Maddie and then one on her father and Gilan, as they both work separately against the Red Fox Clan. The ending is a huge cliffhanger. If I didn't have the third book in hand, I'd be upset, but instead I'm ready to drop back in to this fantasy world and find out what happens next.<br /><br />In the end, was it what I wished for? This was another engrossing story with great characters and a riveting plot. Highly recommended for fans of the series and fantasy fans in general. I'm happily looking forward to more from this series.<br /><br />Content: Some violence, but clean.<br />Source: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, which did not require a positive review nor affect my review in any way.