Story again takes a twist and Halt is once again out of the league, Horace is the one to start the story when he goes to Nihon-Ja. Mission to that beautiful land was not of serious type thus none of the Rangers accompanied Horace on his tour. Then the wait for the mighty Ranger was prolonged because his friend lost all sort of connections with him and they failed to guess what has gone wrong with Horace. Will along with Alyss and Evanlyn thought that waiting for one more second could be deadly for their friend who could be in serious danger at Nihon-Ja.
So the three also start toward the charming land of warriors and after a hard search they finally meet their friend who is in no mode of returning back. Horace a hero in Halt’s Peril and Ranger’s Apprentice, Book 8: Kings of Clonmel want to fight for a different king this time. Senji warriors are coming for Nihon-Ja and Horace cannot leave until the emperor is saved and the warriors are beaten down for good.
Will and the rest of the team instead of returning back to their country plan to stay with their fellow Ranger so that they can help him in winning the war after which he can return back with them. Different tactics of war are described by John Flanagan, the author wanted the listener to feel that the Rangers are in different region altogether. John Keating too uses a different accent for the locals of Nihon-Ja. Finishing is better and full of details that was lacking in the last four to five books.
