3.5 stars
it was a bit boring, but i enjoyed it nonetheless ( )

My friend and I are reading this series together and we were both happy to have guessed the ending of this book. We actually were looking forward to the final fight! I love Maddie and I was glad to see the Herons again in this book.
I am certainly looking forward to reading the next book in Maddie's story. ( )

A satisfying end to the conflict begun in the previous book of the series. Fight scenes were particularly well written in this story ( )

Picking up exactly where The Red Fox Clan ended, Regent Cassandra and King Duncan are besieged on the 8th/9th floor of a tower at Castle Araluen by the treacherous Dimon while Ranger Gilan and Knight Horace are besieged in a fort elsewhere by a much larger force. Only Princess Maddie, a fourth year Ranger apprentice, seems to be able to accomplish anything by sneaking out of the Castle to enlist the help of ... the Heron brotherband; by spying on the enemy to learn their attack plans; and by passing along those plans to Gilan and Horace with a message arrow. Good action, I liked Cassandra's unwavering leadership under attack (with Duncan's help when needed), the camaraderie of the brotherband, and the unwavering Skandian support for their allies. Maddie seems a bit overdeveloped, at least to me. ( )

This book is ridiculous, like most his books, but I don't really care that much. ( )