Series: Path of the Ranger, Book 1
Author: Pedro Urvi
Genre: YA Fantasy / Adventure
Publication Date: 26th September 2019
Book Description:
A kingdom in danger, a great betrayal, a boy seeking to redeem his father's honor. Will he succeed in exonerating him and saving the realm from an enemy in the shadows before it is too late for the whole North?
By the age of fifteen, Lasgol has endured a hard childhood and lives, cornered and hated, in a small village in the North. He is the son of the traitor, the man who betrayed the kingdom and tried to kill the King. His only companions are the mountains and the snow, ever-present in the region. Yet he refuses to believe that his father is guilty, in spite of all the evidence that points to the fact, even though the King himself was a witness to the betrayal.
Lasgol is determined to clear his father's name, and to do this he has only a single option: the School of Rangers, a secret place where the respected and feared defenders of the lands of the kingdom are trained for four years. Going there is insane, hate and death await him. But as the son of a Ranger, he is entitled to attend.
At the Camp he will find himself involved in political intrigues, disloyalties and murder. He will encounter hatred and fearsome enemies, but also a handful of friends, novices as much out of place as he is himself, determined to do whatever is necessary to pass the first year... without dying in the attempt.
Will Lasgol survive the first year of instruction at the Rangers' Camp? Will he find out what happened to his father? Will he be able to clear his name?
Find out while you follow fascinating adventures with a group of characters you will fall in love with.
The adventure begins right now!
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MY REVIEW
The book cover. That's what gravitated me towards this book. Then I saw the number of reviews, so I decided to read the blurb, which sounded interested. Then I saw that the book was available on prime, so I was sold. I put aside every other book in favour of this one as I had great expectations. I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately, we can't always get what we want.
Some years after the death of his father, who was First Ranger of the Realm of Norghana and branded a traitor for betraying the kingdom and trying to kill the king, fifteen-year-old Lasgol Eklund is living as a servant boy of Ulf, a former soldier of the king's army. Always being reminded that he's the son of a traitor, Lasgol's life hasn't been easy. He's constantly picked on and has no friends. Despite the facts, Lasgol refuses to accept that his father was a traitor. When a stranger comes to the north village and grants Lasgol an opportunity to join the Corps of the Rangers of Norghana, he sees it as his only chance to prove everyone wrong and finally clear his father's name. The only problem is that everyone will know who he is and his life as a recruit would be even less favourable than it has been living with Ulf. With enemies on every corner, he might not even live long enough to accomplish his goal.
WHAT I LIKED
I'm always rooting for the underdog, so I formed an instant liking to Lasgol from the get-go. He's a trier. No matter how hard life gets, he brushes himself off and keeps pushing forward. He's a fighter. I liked his spirit and his determination. No matter what anyone said about his father or what the facts showcased, he knew his father and the person he was and nothing was ever going to change his mind. His father was always innocent in his mind, and he was going to do everything he could to prove it. Lasgol is a likeable character. He's been through a lot, and he still manages to keep his head up. It's hard to dislike a character with such determination and drive. I honestly think it's Lasgol that made me continue reading this book even when I felt like putting it down. I wanted to see how things would turn out in the end.
The world building was lovely. I felt as though I was on the journey with Lasgol. I could picture the surroundings clearly. I liked the descriptive fight scenes also. I got a real Percy Jackson vibe, especially when Lasgol got to Ranger camp.
While the plot was a little simplistic, I liked it for that reason. It was straightforward and to the point. Nothing complicated, just a young lad trying to find his place in the world and giving himself a fighting chance by clearing the misconception everyone has about his father.
Lasgol's misfit group of friends were interesting and entertaining. They were somewhat underdeveloped and at times hard to relate to, but they played a part in making him feel as though he was a part of something. For someone who had no friends prior to joining Ranger camp, it was nice to see him bonding with like-minded individuals who were willing to stand by his side. I like that it wasn't an instant bond between the group and that the Snow Panthers had to go through many challenges and learn to work together to achieve their goal, one of which being to learn how to trust one another.
WHAT I DISLIKED
There were a lot of things that frustrated me as I read along and a lot of the times I contemplated putting the book down, but I'll keep the rant to a minimum. I understand that Lasgol's father was a traitor and because of that people might be untrusting of his son, but it was a little much to have to deal with everyone hating Lasgol merely for the reason that his father was a traitor. No one blamed him for his father's actions, but they used his father's action against him and hated him for what his father did. It would have been nice to have seen a variation of some sort rather than have everyone just hating Lasgol for the same reason. It just became a little predictable and tedious.
It was never really explained why Lasgol believed joining the Rangers would help him clear his father's name. What was the plan? How does joining the Rangers get him any closer to the truth? Honestly, I found Ranger camp went on far too long and didn't accomplish much in the way of Lasgol clearing his father's name since he didn't really do all that much when it came to the events that led to clearing his father's name. There was a lot of training to get through camp that I forgot the reason Lasgol joined Ranger camp in the first place. I'm uncertain as to why Lasgol thought he would be able to uncover the truth, especially when there had been no indication that he had any clues as to what he was dealing with. There wasn't much data collecting or planning conducted prior to Lasgol joining Ranger camp, so he didn't have much to work with. I understood his drive and reason, I just didn't get the means by which he planned to accomplish his mission.
What happened with the egg? I needed a little more to go on with this mysterious object. I get there are other books, but give me something to work with to satisfy my curiosity. Things became repetitive. I lost count of how many times we were told that Lasgol's father was a traitor in the first chapter alone. The cliched bullies was a little underwhelming, but then again, everyone hated Lasgol for the same reason, so it's expected that it would become difficult to differentiate one character from the other.
Okay, I'll stop there. The point is a lot of little things bothered me and made the reading experience not as enjoyable as I would have liked it to have been.
VERDICT
I had a lot of expectations for this one due to the great reviews, and while it was an interesting premise with a likeable character, it was just an okay read for me. I did like it. I just didn't love it.
RATING
Source: Amazon Prime
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