This book is the fifth in the series of the Ranger's apprentice. It is a humorous account of all things truly medieval, or should I suggest, mid-evil? The story is set in a far away, hard to reach place in the North, somehow too far to be easily accessible by the king's troops and yet close enough that there are plenty of creatures to make this a fascinating account. There is treachery in an impassable fortress where a beautiful lady is sure to be entrapped just so that a romantic bard/ranger can show his ability at signaling the beauty and finding a way to liberate her from the clutches of the mid-evil tyrant; all the while we feel surrounded by a circus of intriguing half humans and their magic ways lead by a good-hearted and cunning sage. I too wished to have participated in this escapade, if only to make more vivid my imagination while doing the yearly pilgrimage to the Renaissance Fair. Hey, I take it where I can get it! Medieval Stories have always been my weakness, and I am the lady in waiting for the next troubadour's recounting...