The Emperor of Nihon-Ja (Ranger's Apprentice Book 10)

oh alyss. Really girl really smh

[review from 2012] I finished The Emperor of Nihon-Ja by John Flanagan a few days ago, and I’m starting to get really sad this series is ending. This book was longer than the others, which was great, but it had one of Will, Horace and Halt’s adventures in one book, which makes me think that it was actually shorter than most. This book series has made me laugh so much, and it’s great, unless you’re in class trying to muffle your snickers after a test. I love the witty banter between all the characters. I love that Alyss and Evanlyn finally solved their conflicts between Will, and that they’re both flawed. And at the end (not giving away the ending), I screamed and danced around my room for about five minutes at 3:00 am. This book series is fantastic and I’ll be sure to read The Lost Stories as well, though I hate that it has to end. It’s just so good. The part where Will muses over the fact that some people have never been away from Castle Redmont, and he’s been to Toscana (Italy), Picta (Scotland), Hibernia (Ireland), Skandia (Scandinavia), Arrida (Egypt) and now he’s in Nihon-Ja (Japan) gave me chills. I’ve become so fond of the characters over the ten books that in this one I’ve actually curled up and began muttering “my babies” over and over again, even with Halt. I cannot even express my sheer love for this book series and will send a letter to John Flanagan requesting he write more. (Okay, not really, but you get what I mean.)

This was far from my favorite book in this series. Alyss and Evanlyn were petty and unrealistic. Each one of them has been portrayed throughout the series as intelligent and reasoning individuals. Yet, they verbally spar and even physically fight over childish things. I still gave the book a high rating due to the great writing in this series, but Flanagan wrote very tropishly in this book, especially in regards to the women. The development of Horace was neat to see. Also, Flanagan does a wonderful job in teasing out cultures, even if those cultures are unoriginal.

One of my favorites in the series. A little confusion over if this is the last one, my copy is from Australia and has a Ranger's Apprentice 11-coming in 2011 tag on the back, the US version says it is the last in the series. If it is the final book, I am disapointed in the conclusion. Flanagan left loose ends and a set up for another book.

Honestly, I just wanted more Will and ranger's being ranger's. This being the last book (not counting the short stories) didn't make me think it would be mainly about Horace since he has been more of a sidecharacter so far. The book itself is enjoyable enough though, I just expected something else.

Loved rereading this!