The Rule of Ranging 2: Into the Valley of Quietus (Volume 2)

MWSA Review

The second book in Timothy M. Kestrel’s series, The Rule of Ranging picks up in an active time in the main character’s life. The reader is thrust into the chaos of battle and given the opportunity to experience life as a Ranger.

The book gives life to those who fought for their country as well as those who loved them. This allows readers to feel a connection to history in a manner not possible through textbooks alone. The similarities and differences between historical and present day soldiers and battles can be felt through the characters, thus creating a link between them.

Kestrel unabashedly writes of the humanity and depravity of these soldiers and their enemies. From attempts to rescue a child kidnap victim to the scalping of other children, the best and worst of human nature is featured. Yet Kestrel successfully imparts the brutality in a manner that does not glorify it.

The Rule of Ranging will appeal to readers who enjoy incorporating historical context with pleasure reading. Military personnel will relate to the bond formed between soldiers, and military family members will relate to the difficulty attached to their soldier’s frequent absences and the ever-present fear he will not return.

Reviewed by: Barbara Allen (2014)

Author's Summary

When Finn is orphaned by Johan Kopf, the infamous Totenkopf and Hessian mercenary, he soon finds himself in the frontier wilds that range from Pennsylvania to Nova Scotia in the late 1750s. There, he is caught up in a bloody conflict that is raging between Great Britain and France, and he joins the first special operations unit in history, the notorious Rogers Rangers in Fort Edward, New York. Under the command of Major Robert Rogers, Finn is set on countless daring raids and covert missions against the French. Throughout numerous conflicts, battles, and skirmishes, Finn not only struggles for survival with his family of battle brothers, but also his own loneliness that has resulted from losing the love of his life, Rosie. He finds out that the whole borderland is in turmoil as growing numbers of settlers, transportees and profiteers arrive, increasing pressure on the mighty Iroquois nation. Fortunately, Finn has help from his band of underdog friends, Olaudah “Gus” Equiano, a freed slave; Marcus Fronto, an eccentric wanderer turned Finn's mentor; and Daniel Nimham, a fierce Wappinger warrior; and beautiful, but perplexing Catherina Brett. Ultimately, however, Finn realizes that if he is to survive this war and keep his sanity intact, he is going to have to learn to grow both on and off the field in a world gone mad. And that’s a journey that only he can make