The Sorcerer of the North

The Sorcerer of the North is a fantasy novel for young readers by the Australian writer John Flanagan, published in 2008. It is the fifth book of the Ranger's Apprentice series, and Will is now a full Ranger with a fief to look after.

The fief seems sleepy, and even boring, until the Skandians arrive and he has to deal with the threat they present. Not long afterwards he is given a mission that has to be kept secret, and Alyss, his friend, goes with him into a situation where the king is fading and somebody would like to take his place.

What he has to work out is which of the people around him are loyal to the crown and which are not, in a country where fears of sorcery have made everybody suspicious of everybody else. The book is one of a long series, and its events follow on from the battle the apprentice and his master had won in the volumes before it. Will and Alyss have to deal with growing hysteria and with traitors at court as well as with the fear of sorcery itself, and they are short of time.