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Oakleaf Bearers
''Oakleaf Bearers'', or ''The Battle for Skandia'' in the United States, is the fourth novel in the ''Ranger's Apprentice'' book series, which was written by Australian author John Flanagan. Its story continues from where the previous book, ''The Icebound Land'', ended. This book was a finalist for the 2006 Aurealis Award for Best Children's Novel. The book continues to track Will on his adventures and includes such characters as Halt, his mentor, and Horace, his best friend. Plot summary In the previous book, ''The Icebound Land'', Cassandra (the Crown Princess of Araluen) and Will (an apprentice Ranger) had been captured and sold as slaves in Skandia. As time went on, Halt (Will’s mentor and a legendary Ranger) and Horace (a Battleschool apprentice and Will's best friend) travelled across Gallica, defeating knights, and ridding Gallica of the evil warlord Deparnieux. They are now in Gallica ready to travel through a pass into Skandia to save Will and Cassandra (known as E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Flanagan (author)
John Anthony Flanagan is an Australian fantasy author best known for his medieval fantasy series, the ''Ranger's Apprentice'' series, and its sister series, the '' Brotherband Chronicles.'' Some of his other works include his ''Storm Peak'' duology, as well as the adult novel ''The Grey Raider.'' Early life and careers John Flanagan was born in Sydney, Australia on 22 May 1944. He graduated from Waverley College with plans to become a writer. As he grew up, he changed careers and got a job at an advertising agency. He originally planned to become a trainee copywriter, but the agency instead assigned him to train as a media researcher. While working as a media researcher trainee, he wrote an offensive poem directed toward one of his senior executives. Eventually, the poem made it to the desk of one of the company's directors. Flanagan was called into the director's office where he complimented Flanagan's writing skills and offered him the job of trainee copywriter. After worki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the island of Great Britain. Existing on a dialect continuum with Scots, and then closest related to the Low Saxon and Frisian languages, English is genealogically West Germanic. However, its vocabulary is also distinctively influenced by dialects of France (about 29% of Modern English words) and Latin (also about 29%), plus some grammar and a small amount of core vocabulary influenced by Old Norse (a North Germanic language). Speakers of English are called Anglophones. The earliest forms of English, collectively known as Old English, evolved from a group of West Germanic (Ingvaeonic) dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century and further mutated by Norse-speaking Viking settlers starting in the 8th and 9th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ranger's Apprentice
''Ranger's Apprentice'' is a series written by Australian author John Flanagan. The first novel in the series, ''The Ruins of Gorlan'', was released in Australia on 1 November 2004. The books were initially released in Australia and New Zealand, though have since been released in 14 other countries. The series follows the adventures of Will, an orphan who is chosen as an apprentice Ranger, one of the skilled trackers, archers and warriors in the service of the King of Araluen. Will strives to keep the Kingdom of Araluen safe from invaders, traitors, and threats. He is joined on his adventures by his mentor Halt and his best friend Horace. The series originally consisted of twelve books, with the eleventh book being a collection of short stories and the twelfth being a follow-up novel set 16 years later. A prequel series, '' Ranger's Apprentice: The Early Years'', has released two titles, the first in 2015 and the second in 2016. A spin-off series, ''Brotherband'', which is set ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fantasy Literature
Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fantasy literature may be directed at both children and adults. Fantasy is a subgenre of speculative fiction and is distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the absence of scientific or macabre themes, respectively, though these genres overlap. Historically, most works of fantasy were written, however, since the 1960s, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music and art. Many fantasy novels originally written for children and adolescents also attract an adult audience. Examples include ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'', the ''Harry Potter'' series, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', and ''The Hobbit''. History Beginnings Stories involving ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adventure Novel
Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of romance fiction. History In the Introduction to the ''Encyclopedia of Adventure Fiction'', Critic Don D'Ammassa defines the genre as follows: D'Ammassa argues that adventure stories make the element of danger the focus; hence he argues that Charles Dickens's novel ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is an adventure novel because the protagonists are in constant danger of being imprisoned or killed, whereas Dickens's ''Great Expectations'' is not because "Pip's encounter with the convict is an adventure, but that scene is only a device to advance the main plot, which is not truly an adventure." Adventure has been a common theme since the earliest days of written fiction. Indeed, the standard plot of Medieval romances was a series of adventures. Following a plot framework as old as Heliodorus, and so durable as t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. History Random House was founded in 1927 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer, two years after they acquired the Modern Library imprint from publisher Horace Liveright, which reprints classic works of literature. Cerf is quoted as saying, "We just said we were going to publish a few books on the side at random," which suggested the name Random House. In 1934 they published the first authorized edition of James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'' in the Anglophone world. ''Ulysses'' transformed Random House into a formidable publisher over the next two decades. In 1936, it absorbed the firm of Smith and Haas—Robert Haas became the third partner until retiring and selling his share back to Cerf and Klopfer in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Icebound Land
''The Icebound Land'' is the third book in the ''Ranger's Apprentice'' book series written by Australian author John Flanagan. The book was released on 30 November 2005 in Australia. Plot summary Will, the main character and a Ranger's apprentice, is captured by the Skandians along with his friend, Evanlyn (Araluen's Crown Princess Cassandra in disguise), in a big war in the previous book, ''The Burning Bridge''. The capturer, Jarl (war officer) Erak of the Skandians (mercenaries), takes them in as slaves. Meanwhile, Will's mentor, Halt (a legendary Ranger), has sworn to save him from the Skandians, but the Ranger Corps forces him to stay back. Halt, however, is so desperate, he insults the King of his country, Araluen. The King and Halt are good friends, so in Halt's trial, the King takes pity on Halt. Instead of the normal punishment, which is to ban the defendant from the borders of Araluen forever, he banishes Halt from the borders only for a twelvemonth. Halt is banished f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sorcerer In The North
''The Sorcerer in the North'' (''The Sorcerer of the North'' in the United States) is the fifth book in the ''Ranger's Apprentice'' series by Australian author John Flanagan. It was released in Australia on 4 November 2006 and in the United States on 4 November 2008. Plot summary The book starts off with Will rescuing a dog with a spear wound that he finds on the side of the road. Will then goes on to Castle Seacliff of the fief he has been assigned to and has a meeting with the baron there. After the meeting, a group of Skandians attempt to raid the fief and Will makes a deal with them: if he gives them food and drink, the Skandians will leave. When the owner of the dog tracks it and Will down, he is captured and handed over to the Skandians to become a slave before they leave. Will is soon assigned to a mission to determine the identity of a mysterious sorcerer in Grimsdell Wood, and to stop him from terrorising the castle of Macindaw. Will goes under disguise as a jon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City. Paleo-Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aurealis Award
The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award. History The Aurealis Award was established in 1995 by '' Chimaera Publications'', the publishers of ''Aurealis Magazine''. Unlike the other major Australian speculative fiction award, the Ditmar Award, it divides work into subgenre and age categories, and is judged as such. The award was originally given out in the following divisions: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Young Adult. Two separate awards are given in each of those divisions, one for novels and one for short stories. A fifth division for Children's books was added in 2001 for fiction for 8-12 year olds, with separate awards for "Short Fiction" and "Long Fiction". With the 2008 Awards the "Short Fiction" children's fiction category became a category for "Illustrated Work/Picture Book". For the 2010 Awards, the two categories ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penguin Group (USA)
Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initially owning 53% of the joint venture, and Pearson PLC initially owning the remaining 47%. Since 18 December 2019, Penguin Random House has been wholly owned by Bertelsmann. Penguin Books has its registered office in City of Westminster, London.Maps ." . Retrieved 28 August 2009. Its British division is Penguin Books Ltd. Other separate divisions are located in the |
