The Kings of Clonmel (Ranger's Apprentice #8) by John Flanagan - Starting 4th December

[Natalie]

When a cult springs up in neighboring Clonmel, promising to quell the recent attacks by lawless marauders, people flock from all over to offer gold in exchange for protection. But Halt is all too familiar with this particular group, and he knows they have a less than charitable agenda. Secrets will be unveiled and battles fought to the death as Will and Horace help Halt in ridding the land of a dangerous enemy.

[Natalie]

Finally started reading this... oops.

Anywaysss...

Chapter 3: (view spoiler)[I love that Will is overseeing new apprentices (and I think this might be the first time that other apprentices have been mentioned?) and especially that they all seem to see him with the same awe that he sees Halt. And the fact that his Siege of Castle Macindaw is being used now for tactical exercises and theory is amazing XD (hide spoiler)]

[Natalie]

Chapter 11: (view spoiler)[I love the idea of this task force, especially as it means we should see so much more adventures with both Halt AND Will present in them. Really bodes well for the remaining books in the series!

Plus, Will and Alyss get to be around each other more, and Will is back in the fief he calls home. Love how Alyss knew about the idea in advance and was ready to drag him back if he didn’t immediately pounce on the idea ;D (hide spoiler)]

[Natalie]

Chapter 25: (view spoiler)[Starting to learn a little more about this “religious cult”/conmen. A very interesting performance with the raid from Balsennis’ men, and the rebuttal from Alseiass’ priest and followers.

They really do have this con down to an art... and I suppose this performance also explains why only a few men were needed (as per what Will overheard at the tents). Only need ACTUAL numbers for an ACTUAL attack. Otherwise you just need the appearance of a lot of men. (hide spoiler)]

[Natalie]

Chapter 30: (view spoiler)[First true blow against these guys, and Horace has been co-opted by Halt into becoming some figure of myth to oppose the the ‘prophet’ And his followers.

Wonder how many (from the original 80) they were able to take out of the running... (hide spoiler)]

[Natalie]

Chapter 41: (view spoiler)[Whoot! Horace once again proving how effective a fighter he is, by taking down Killeen despite the apparent disadvantage of sword vs. mace.

Super keen to see how this all plays out, especially with the sworn oaths from both sides that the winner of the battles is the winner overall - Horace vs. giants, King vs. prophet. (hide spoiler)]

[Natalie]

Finished! (view spoiler)[And it looks like I remembered correctly from the first time I read this years ago... Ferris was assassinated and Tennyson ran off, then Sean (Halt’s nephew) became king. Honestly very well done, even when it’s not a surprise having already read the book ;D

I don’t remember whether or not Will got Tennyson properly though... and it wasn’t revealed in the epilogue. Maybe it’ll be mentioned in a later book? (hide spoiler)]

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

Hi Natalie! Seems like forever since I've talked to you. ^_^

[Natalie]

Oh jeez, it definitely has! How have things been going?

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

Good! I'm making good progress training Ruby. She now is beginning to learn some trained commands for her service dog training. :)

[Natalie]

Oh wow, that's incredible! And it should be a huge help to have her as a service dog :)

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

Natalie wrote: "Oh wow, that's incredible! And it should be a huge help to have her as a service dog :)"

It does!