Ranger's Apprentice 1: The Ruins of Gorlan

The Ruins of Gorlan was the book that kicked off John Flanagan's career. It showed off his talent as a writer. The book is absolutely legendary, and has kept me hooked to the series. I have recently finished reading book 10. This book introduces to the reader the world of Will, an orphan boy who lives in the castle ward of Baron Arald, an extremely honourable knight who is in control of Castle Redmont. One of the most prominent figures in Ara-Luen, second only to the King and his closest associates, his fief is one of the mightiest of the 50 fiefs spread throughout Ara-Luen. The book describes Will as an easy-going, cheery, aspiring, courageous and hearty 15 year old, living in medieval times. The book is one of the very few books that can make a character seem like a real life human. Will wants to be a Knight, in Sir Rodney's Battleschool. But Will's skills lie elsewhere. Will isn't particularly muscly, tall or strong. Rather he's quite short. Though he isn't very muscly, he is quite strong. Soon, comes the time of the Choosing, I think it is called. That is when all the castle ward's orphan children are selected by the Craftmasters to go in their schools. Will has a few friends in the ward, such as muscly, strong and tall Horace, who fights with Will very often, Sweet and elegant Alyss, who Will is quite fond of, Overwhelmingly smart George, who always gets into debates with his different points of views, and Jenny, who is extremely skilled in the field of cooking. So many things happen in the book, its hard to put it all into a single review. Anyway, I loved the book and I still do. I have moved on to other series, but the Ranger's Apprentice series remains in my heart. Show more Show less