The Emperor of Nihon-Ja by John Flanagan

Horace is sent by King Duncan to travel to other regions and learn different styles of fighting. In this book, he is in Nihon-Ja. Suddenly, the emperor Shigeru, is being overthrown. Horace stays with Shigeru, hoping to stop Arisaka from taking the throne. They head to the mythical fortress called Ran-Koshi, and during this time, they meet the Kikori, a bunch of woodcutters in the mountain that are willing to fight for Shigeru  Meanwhile, Will, Halt, and Alyss are in Toscana overlooking some treaties and etc. Evanlyn, otherwise known as Princess Cassandra, receives a message from George, who was with Horace at that time. So, Will, Halt, Alyss, Evanlyn, and Selethen (who was with them in Toscana) travel to Nihon-Ja with the Gundar and his crew on his ship called the Wolfwill. They eventually reach Nihon-Ja, and follow Horace and the emperor to Ran-Koshi. Since the Kikori don't know how to use a katanna, or a Japanese sword, they decide to use a certain formation similar to the phalanx stategy that Alexander the Great himself used. During this training, Evanlyn and Alyss go to an island by traveling on the rivers. There, they meet Lord Nimatsu to ask for his aid in the battle. Lord Nimatsu refuses because in the forest, there is a supposedly demon killing his soldiers. Evanlyn and Alyss find out it is an abnormally large snow tiger. They kill it together, and Lord Nimatsu agrees to help them. In the final battle, they defeat Arisaka using different strategies. Shigeru wins, of course. Horace, Evanlyn, Halt, Will, and Alyss head back to Araluen, and  Selethen returns to Toscana. At the end, Horace proposes to Evanlyn, and they are soon to be married. Will also kind of proposes to Alyss as well.

AHH, do you know how long I've waited for this book?! Finally! I loved all the humor and all the action. It was so fun to read this book. I missed reading from John Flanagan. I loved the 'great terms of respect'. I liked how George and Jenny are also mentioned in this book. I didn't like how he made Alyss not friendly towards Evanlyn. Also, I loved the ending where Horace proposes to Evanlyn. OTP. Though I ship Will and Alyss more, HAHA. I have no idea whether Will proposed or not, AHH. I hope there's a sequel, there is said to be ten or twelve books in Ranger's Apprentice, and this book is the 10th book...HAHA, anyway yeah, I'm done ranting.