The Kings of Clonmel
Fiction
By John Flanagan
Reviewed by Philip L.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
A Ranger’s work is never done. Whether he is dealing with international affairs or simply a small band of marauders in his own fief, the Rangers work from dawn until dusk. There are fifty fiefs in the kingdom of Araluen and each one has its own Ranger. The time setting is more of a medieval period. Will’s a Ranger; has been for about 4 years. Will grew up in castle Redmont as an orphan. When job time came, he was chosen to join the Ranger Corps. He apprenticed under Halt, Redmont’s Ranger, for 5 years and graduated to a full Ranger, but that’s part of the past. Will heads to his fourth Gathering of the Rangers. He meets others and they celebrate the graduation of some apprentices along with discussing the reassignments for the coming year. Afterwards, Crowley, the head ranger, pulls Will aside and tells Will of a special assignment in which he will be reassigned at Redmont and will take half of the fief and Halt the other. Once Halt gets back to Redmont from Hibernia, a country in the east, Halt, Will, and Horace, a knight who is also Will’s childhood friend, agree on the assignment and head off back to Hibernia to help with the problem Halt had found there. They are needed to stop a power-hungry religious cult that threatens the last free kingdom of Hibernia, Clonmel. Unfortunately, the king of Clonmel is weak. This weakness is allowing the cult to prey on the misgivings of the citizens and slowly gain enough power to topple the king. The false prophet of this cult, Tennyson, appeases to their ears and tells them what they want to hear. Will the trio make it in time to convince the king to help them? Can they prevail over the cult in the final confrontation or will the cult finish Hibernia for good?
The Kings of Clonmel is part of the blockbuster series Ranger’s apprentice which has ten novels. The Kings of Clonmel is number eight of the series. John Flanagan has an active style of writing that consists of many adverbs to keep the book moving with action. I would recommend this book to any teen who likes a short but intense story full of action and constant fighting thanks to the medieval setting of the story.
