The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger’s Apprentice Book 1)

August 13, 2024 8:02 AM

“The sheet of paper, bright white with the reflected moonlight, was within reach. Just look at it, read it, and go, he told himself. That was all he had to do. He stretched out a hand for it. His fingers touched it. And a hand shot out of nowhere and seized him by the wrist.”

This piece of paper begins the orphan Will’s adventure as a Ranger’s apprentice in John Flanagan’s medieval fantasy novel. While Will trains to be in intelligence gathering (with a side helping of chores, archery, and horseback riding), his former bully, Horace, trains in the battle school to be a knight. This a story of two boys, essentially good at heart, learning how to tap into their courage, kindness, and honor. If you like Arthurian legends, this book is for you.

posted by CMcG (2 comments total)

I finally made an account just to comment on this post because omg this was me and my sister's favorite series when we were in elementary/middle school! Our dad drove us 45 minutes to school, so a lot of the time we would take turns reading these books out loud on the way. Those are some of my favorite memories of the three of us.

There's a million things I could say about how the series progresses or Flanagan's writing in general, but I'll stick to this book so as to avoid spoilers. I guess it's probably safe to say that like most series, the first installment has some stuff that doesn't quite line up with what the rest of the series ends up being. Also, I think one of Flanagan's strengths is exciting, satisfying plots, which I didn't realize until later when I read books that were bad at it. There's the right amount of twists, enough so that it's interesting but not so much that it feels like I'm being yanked back and forth.

Horace is one of my favorite characters in anything ever (which is probably due to nostalgia but STILL). His arc in this book is the perfect comforting, relatively low-stakes redemption arc fantasy. He gets a taste of his own medicine, realizes the error of his ways, and his bullies get punished, because it turns out the adults in charge actually care (sort of an antidote to A Series of Unfortunate Events).

I love how the rangers' abilities are so remarkable that they seem like magic, but an explanation is provided for everything they can do, and most of it is "hard work and a ridiculous amount of practice".

Ahhh I love these books. Maybe it's time for a reread.
posted by extramachine at 7:26 AM on August 14 [5 favorites]

extramachine, love your thoughts! This book was given to me by a friend’s ten year old child and the kid told me I was going to love it and he was right! I’m dying to talk with him about it. I’m definitely going to continue with the series so it’s good to have your opinions to keep in mind. Thanks!
posted by CMcG at 9:10 AM on August 14