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Spoiler Alert!
Warning! This page contains spoilers for Erak's Ransom. |
Erak's Ransom (officially Ranger's Apprentice: Erak's Ransom is the seventh book in the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan. It was released November 1, 2007.
Blurb[]
What does it mean to earn the Silver Oakleaf of a Ranger? If Will is to find out, he must first survive brutalizing heat, blinding sandstorms, and a land where betrayal is the norm. His every skill--along with his loyalty--will be tested. And failure will mean one thing only: death.
Plot Overview[]
The story starts off with Kings Duncan's daughter, Cassandra, sneaking around the courtyard trying to practice her stealth on a sleepy sentry guard. She uses her sling to hit the head of his spear, and when he goes to draw his sword, she reveals her identity. In the next chapter, she is later in King Duncan's office protesting because her father thinks she should not be sneaking around scaring his sentries. She counters with the fact that as Duncan's only child, she will someday inherit the throne and wants to be a capable queen, able to rule Araluen confidently and well, and she wants to be able to help him in the ways that a son would have to. Duncan tells her that if she wants to help, she can plan everything for a big trip to Redmont. When she asks why they are going to Redmont, the King tell her that they are going to a wedding. The chapter ends after Cassandra asks who the wedding is for.
Planning For A Wedding[]
The chapter starts off with Halt and Pauline planning their wedding. He is complaining that there will be 203 people attending and that there doesn't have to be so many people. She agrees to pare it down and then removes the three. Halt relents somewhat and agrees that some people have to come, like the king and his daughter, but then asks why there are so many people coming with them. Pauline explains that there's a sense of protocol with these types of things. Halt has a certain disregard for such things and calls it a load of trash. Pauline asks him if that when he asked her to marry him, did he think that "we could just sneak off to a glade in the woods with a couple of close friends and get it done?" Halt awkwardly lies that no, he did not. He randomly picks out a name, Lady Georgina of Sandlehurst, and asks why they are inviting her. Pauline reveals that Lady Georgina is her aunt and that she's a stick in the mud. She explains that her aunt has been complaining to everyone and his uncle that Pauline was married to her job. Halt agrees that yes, they must rub in in her face and tells Pauline that they should put her with the most boring people there. Pauline promptly makes her the first person on the Bores Table. Halt is not familiar with this term, and Pauline explains that every wedding has a Bores Table, and they take all the most annoying, pompous, and boring people and sit them together so they don't bother the normal people they have asked.
The Journey[]
When the crew arrives in Arridi, they are greeted by a false Wakir, but soon Selethen the real Wakir shows up. He tells them about Erak and they Negotiate the total. Soon, they get the news that Erak has been taken to a different city. The crew crosses the desert to go to the city. A huge sandstorm occurs and Will and Tug are separated. Will then goes out to find Tug. Will uses his northseeker to help him. But he is crossing iron filled hills, but he doesn't know that. He eventually finds his borrowed horse, Arrow, is killed protecting him from a lion. He soon is awoken to a man giving him water. The man is Umar, the Askeith of the Bedullin. Will finds Tug, but they don't allow him to take him. So Will challenges them to a race. At the start of the race, Tug is behind, but later on in the race Tug catches up. Near the end of the race, Sandstorm (the horse Will was racing) starts the take the lead. Tug falters, but then suddenly bursts into a very fast gallop and wins. A messenger comes and tells them about how Will's friends have been captured. So Umar and his Army Go to the city to free Will's friend. Will's friends are going to be executed.
The Execution[]
The executioner, Massuan, comes forward and starts showing off, to the audience and the prisoners. Erak and Svengal make jokes about him. Massaun pretends to be going to chop Horace down, but he senses it's a trick and doesn't move. Angry, He tries it on the Skandians and they don't move either. He then tries Evanlyn, being the only girl and stereotypically the weak one, but again she doesn't move, detremined to be just as brave as her companions. Someone starts up a chant of "release her!" but this doesn't work as Yusal steps in and orders the execution to proceed immediately.
At last Halt is pulled forward to the chopping block, hoping that Will is somewhere. As Massaun bring his sword up, Will, from one of the towers on the town wall, shoots him with a well placed arrow so he keels over dead. Halt whispers a prayer of thanks and breathes a sigh of relief.
The Fight[]
Mayhem ensues, with the Arridi and Bedullins revealing themselves and fighting the Taulaghi. Once the Araluans and Skandians get their hands on various Taulaghi weapons they lend a hand too.
Will shoots through Horace's bonds and the warrior grabs the execution sword and leaps into the fight. Gilan picks up one of the Arridi curved sabres and starts to plough his way through the mass.
Toshak, the Skandian who betrayed Erak, tries to escape, but Evanlyn, using her sling which she had hidden in her belt and marble stones from her necklace, hits Toshak's horse, causing him to fall off. Erak challenges him to a fight, and by pretending to be exhausted, then stabs Toshak with Massuan's sword, borrowed from Horace, into reach past Toshak's heavy axe.
Ransomed[]
Afterwards, the ransom is split between Erak's rescuers, with eighty thousand reels going to Umar, leader of the Bedullin, and Wakir Selethen (who also received the captured Yusal [Evanlyn captured him by knocking him down with her sling], who has a hefty reward on him of more than twenty thousand reels.)
Notable Characters[]
- For a full list of characters, see Category:Erak's Ransom Characters.
Gallery[]
In Other Languages[]
| Title Comparisons | ||
|---|---|---|
| Language | Title | Meaning |
| Czech | Výkupné za Eraka | "Ransom for Erak" |
| Danish | Løsepenge | "Ransom" |
| Dutch | Losgeld voor Erak | "Ransom for Erak" |
| French | La Rançon | "The Ransom" |
| German | Der Gefangene des Wüstenvolks | "The Prisoner of the Desert People" |
- In Korea, Erak's Ransom is split into two books.
- No Greek, Romanian, or Thai translations were made past The Ruins of Gorlan.
- No Norwegian translations were made past The Burning Bridge.
- No Indonesian or Italian translations were made past The Icebound Land.
| Books in the Ranger's Apprentice Series | |
|---|---|
 The Ruins of Gorlan  The Burning Bridge  The Icebound Land  Oakleaf Bearers (The Battle for Skandia)  The Sorcerer in the North  The Siege of Macindaw  Erak's Ransom  The Kings of Clonmel  Halt's Peril  The Emperor of Nihon-Ja  The Lost Stories  A New Beginning | |