Common Sense Media Review
By Carrie R. Wheadon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
More excitement and battle violence as series hits stride.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
In THE BATTLE OF HACKHAM HEATH, Halt leaves the Araluen Castle after a festive party celebrating King Duncan's marriage to investigate rumors about the rogue baron Morgarath. After Morgarath suffered defeat at the end of the Tournament at Gorlan, he fled to a nearly impenetrable mountain pass with his followers. An outpost near the pass reported that Morgarath had more than his loyal followers with him: Spotted near the pass were creatures called Wargals that looked like a cross between a bear and an ape. Which wasn't so strange -- they lived in those mountains -- except the normally reclusive and dim-witted creatures were carrying weapons and marching in formation. So Halt goes to check it out in usual stealth-like Ranger fashion. Scaling the side of a cliff, he sees hundreds of Wargals being trained for war. It's a startling discovery backed up by reports coming in from neighboring fiefs about raids by the creatures. Suddenly Morgarath's Wargals are all over Araluen wreaking havoc, and there's no way for Duncan, the new king, to ward off all of them.
Is It Any Good?
After a slow-moving setup in Book 1 watching the fearless band of Rangers reunite, this sequel gets out the armor, the longbows, and the cavalry for a much livelier, bloodier outing. There's still plenty of careful planning and explanations of battle strategy -- author John Flanagan is a meticulous storyteller who lays out every plan of attack down to exactly where each group of archers will stand -- but this time the payoff is there. The stakes are incredibly high for the soldiers on the good side with far too few to fight the crazy ape-bear beasts set upon them. And the bad guy is pretty darn bad. Morgarath competes with Zavac, the pirate from the Brotherband Chronicles series -- in sheer ruthlessness. With The Battle of Hackham Heath, the Early Years series feels well and truly underway.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about battle violence in The Battle of Hackham Heath. Was it better or worse to read about so many Wargals falling? How was it different from reading about human casualties?
What did you learn about armor and battle tactics from this book? How do they differ from modern warfare? How is some of the strategizing the same?
If you're a fan of the main Rangers Apprentice series, how do you think this prequel series is stacking up?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Adventures , Animals , Fantasy
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Philomel
- Publication date : November 29, 2016
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 10 - 17
- Number of pages : 352
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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