Farnsworth House Blog

Rangers Apprentice Book 1: The Ruins of Gorland by John Flanagan is an exciting, suspenseful, and funny fantasy book. It is about a boy named Will whose parents died and he is living in a Ward (Orphanage). Every child in the Ward goes through the process of Choosing Day. It is where each craftmaster with an available slot for an apprentice will choose whether or not that ward will be their apprentice. Will has four yearmates in the Ward: Horace, George, Alyss, and Jenny. He eventually gets chosen by Halt the Ranger. Halt is one of the senior members of the mysterious, exclusive group of Rangers. Will was chosen because he was curious and courageous. He goes through many dangers with Halt to save the Araluen people from Morgarath, the evil exiled Baron of Gorlan.

John Flanagan is a very passionate and imaginative writer. He’s written seven books in the series and plans to write even more. The author makes the series realistic by including details such as the Skandians, who live up north with helmets that have horns, just like the Vikings. But enough about the series. In this book, John Flanagan does a great job of creating magical creatures and yet gives the book the essence of real life. One example is of the Wargals, who are part dog and bear but walk on two legs. They are very strange creatures. Yet the people in the book still live normal lives.

I would highly recommend this book because it makes the reader feel like they are there looking at the scene. For example on page 138, the author writes, The noise from the thicket was indescribable. The furious baying of the dogs was joined by the blood-chilling screams of the angry boar. There was a crashing and snapping of bushes and young saplings. The very thicket seemed to shake. Then, suddenly, the boar was in the clear. This book would be great for people who like fantasy, fighting, even mystery. I loved this book. I hope that if you read it, you will love it, too.

MG