A Rave for "Ranger's Apprentice: Ruins of Gorlan"

"Ranger’s Apprentice: Ruins of Gorlan"
By John Flanagan

6

After the death of Will’s parents when he was just a baby, he was left in the care of Lord Arland. He never knew anything about his parents other than the fact that his father was a soldier who died in battle. Will wants to follow in his father’s footsteps and dreams of becoming a knight. This leaves Will desperate to go to Battleschool even though he is too small to be an effective warrior. When he is rejected from Battleschool, Will finds himself being offered a position as a Ranger’s Apprentice. Will is wary of becoming a Ranger because of the rumors spreading around the castle about them. The fact that Halt, the Ranger training him, makes him nervous because of his mysterious behavior doesn’t make his decision any easier.

I really loved this book. It had a great blend of action and character development. I enjoyed learning about all the different characters in this book and can’t wait to see where the rest of the books take them. Another aspect I liked was that at one point I thought I figured out what was going to happen, but Flanagan did the complete opposite. It was like Flanagan was throwing it in my face that I don’t quite know his characters well enough to make such assumptions. I know this is a vague comment, but it would be a spoiler if I added any more information. Flanagan also does a great job at describing what is going on around you without letting it bog down the story. I felt that when description was necessary it was there.

I was really surprised that I loved "Ranger's Apprentice" so much because it is intended for younger audiences; however, I didn’t really notice this while reading. I feel like anyone looking for a good fantasy series will enjoy this book no matter if you are 10 or 110. I guess the only thing that it is missing is romance, but in this instance I didn’t care. If the only bad thing I can say about a book is that it doesn’t have enough romance, then I consider it a winner.