The Sorcerer of the North

Book Five

By: John Flanagan

Narrated by: Stuart Blinder

The international bestselling series with over 5 million copies sold in the U.S. alone!

Several years have passed since the apprentice and his master, Will and Halt, first met, and Will is finally a full-fledged Ranger with his own fief to look after. The fief seems sleepy—boring, even—until Lord Syron, master of a castle far in the north, is struck down by a mysterious illness. Joined by his friend Alyss, Will is suddenly thrown headfirst into an extraordinary adventure, investigating fears of sorcery and trying to determine who is loyal to Lord Syron. As Will battles growing hysteria, traitors, and most of all, time, Alyss is taken hostage, and Will is forced to make a desperate choice between his mission and his friend.

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.

Critic reviews

The last few years have seen the publication of many fantasies, but few have the appeal of this original story. -Booklist, starred review, for The Ruins of Gorlan

Love the series, hated the narrator

The only way to get through his “hissing” sss and his inability to hold a character’s voice was to listen at 1.25 x speed. No one speaks the way he does. It is unrealistic and it gets in the way of the quick whit and banter that commonly occurs in the books. I read the books many years ago and now I am enjoying listening to them. This book was not available in another narrator and I thought I’d give it a try. It was very difficult to listen to.

If another narrator is available give them a try.

Great First Half of Story, Narration is Different

I like this book - it is really a "part 1 of 2" as Book 6 "The Siege of Macindaw" is a direct continuation of the story. If you are reading the series in order, in book 4 Will and Horace still had a few years left as Apprentices. They are now around 4 years in the future and Will is now a full Ranger, newly assigned to quiet Seacliff Fief. He acquires a dog, we learn he plays the Mandola, and he is sent on an undercover mission to Northgate Fief, more than a week's ride from Redmont or Seacliff on the Pictish Border, to investigate a mysterious death and alleged sorcery. The 'good guys' and 'bad guys' in this story aren't who you might initially think they are, and nothing is as it seems in this winding tale.
The narration is a bit off-kilter for this one, but it's not intolerable. Blinder makes some odd pronunciation choices in his narration, but overall it wasn't enough to take away from the story. For book 6, the remainder of this story, and the rest of the series going forward, John Keating returns and narrates in the same fashion as we are used to from books 1-4.

Different Narrator - Didn't enjoy

if the next books didn't return to the original narrator, I would have stopped listening

Good Book, Poor Readin

This is a fantastic book that I have read myself many times. Unfortunately the reading is very bad. Multiple mis-pronounced words. Also the accents are way off (using an Italian accent for the Skandians) making it clear that the reader has no idea what geographical locations and culture John Flanagan is referencing.

enjoyable

not a fan of switching narrators for this book, but it is ok. story is on par with the rest of the series.