Brotherband Chronicles (Book 7) The Caldera by John Flanagan, author of Ranger’s Apprentice

Rating: Needs Stronger Parent Supervision

Reading Level: Middle School

More of that which appears in other books in the series, as well as some additonal prayers to Loki, the Norse god of mischief.

Prayer to and loyalty to pagan gods. In other books, the characters make the usual references to their Nordic gods (e.g. “Gorlog’s beard!”, or “by Loki’s staff!”) Those seemed like they wouldn’t be a threat to mature readers. But in this book, it goes deeper. The characters actually pretend to and then actually do pray to Loki, the god of mischief. The main character at one point is in trouble and says, “Where are you, Loki?” For me, this takes the treatment of Norse gods more serious because it models the personal relationship we should have with the one true god. In another instance, a boy yells something in a foreign language, and a man asks what he says and he prentends it was a prayer of thanks to Loki. The book adds: “The Skandian god of deception was, in fact, his faorite god, and and and his brother were two of Loki’s favorite disciples.
Peril. Sword fights, knife fights, raiders, women and children taken as slaves.
Father who abandoned his wife and child. A teenaged son is reunited with his father who abandoned the family years ago. The son seeks to build relationship or find redeeming qualities about his old man, who is very self-absorbed.
Volcanoes erupting. Probably ok for most families but mentioned it in case your family has some issue or fear of volcanoes.

Consider also reading The Ranger’s Apprentice first. Here are links to my reviews of Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, Book 5, Book 6, Book 7, Book 8, Book 9, Book 10, and Book 11 in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. Pay attention to concerns in Book 3 and Book 8.

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