What does it mean to earn the Silver Oakleaf? So few men have done so. For Will, a mere boy, that symbol of honor has long felt out of reach. Now, in the wake of Araluen's uneasy truce with the raiding Skandians comes word that the Skandian leader has been captured by a dangerous desert tribe. The Rangers are sent to free him. But the desert is like nothing these warriors have seen before. Strangers in a strange land, they are brutalized by sandstorms, beaten by the unrelenting heat, tricked by one tribe that plays by its own rules, and surprisingly befriended by another. Like a desert mirage, nothing is as it seems. Yet one thing is constant: the bravery of the Rangers.
In this red-hot adventure, winner of the Australian Book of the Year Award for Older Children, John Flanagan raises the stakes on the series that has already sold millions of books worldwide.
Perfect for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, T.H. White’s The Sword in the Stone, Christopher Paolini’s Eragon series, and George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series.
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"The events in this book take place between 4 and 5. Will is a few months away from earning his silver leaf and his own post. Halt marries Lady Pauline but is immidiately sent out on another mission when word comes that Erak is being held ransom in Arrida. Princess Cassandra is sent out on her first royal mission to negotiate the trade and is joined by Gilan, Halt, Will, Svengal, Horace and the crew of Erak's boat. They meet with the Wakir, Selethen, lord of the area and they discuss the ransom but when it comes time to release Erak they find out he has been sent to another town to be held. So the party and Selethen go to release Erak. During a sandstorm, Will loses Tug and leaves the party to search for him. Traveling alone in the unfamiliar desert he gets lost and is on deaths door when he is found by a group of nomads who restores him to health. They also find Tug wandering around the desert but refuse to give Tug back to Will, as the law of the desert says that if a horse is released, anyone who finds that horse can claim it as their own. But the nomads love a good gamble and Will wins him back in a horse race. Meanwhile, the others have been taken prisoner by the Tualaghi, and are about to be executed by order of their leader Yusal. The nomads offer to help rescue Will's friends and slip into the city. Halt is pulled forward to the chopping block, as the executioner bring his sword up, Will, from one of the towers on the town wall, shoots him with a well placed arrow. Fighting breaks out and while trying to escape Toshak, the Skandian who betrayed Erak, is challenged and dies in a fight with Erak. Back in Araluen, Will recieves his silver leaf and is renamed Will Treaty. And the book closes on his graduation party."
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Shannon (4 out of 5 stars)