Ranger’s Apprentice

Ranger’s Apprentice is my favorite book series of all time. I’ve read all 11 books including the two prequels and three sequels, twice! I recommend it to everyone. It’s the book that inspired parts of my own book and willed me to continue.

The first Ranger’s Apprentice book, The Ruins of Gorlan, takes place in the kingdom of Araluen in the medieval ages. Will, a small, 15-year-old orphan boy living in the castle ward has a dream to become a dashing knight. But on the day of the choosing ceremony, where wards get the chance to be accepted in the craft of their dreams, he’s rejected.

Instead, his whole life turns upside down when he’s accepted into the ranger corp, a group of highly skilled archers who are masters at unseen movement who act as the eyes and ears of the kingdom. Halt, a ranger famed for his achievements in battle, agrees to train him.

As the series plays out, Will learns more about the ranger way, battles Skandians (the vikings of this world) encounters warlords, cults, healers, nomads, and warriors. He travels across snowy mountains, thick forests, dangerous waters and hot deserts (kind of like me). It’s action packed.

Failure is only seconds away from success.

John Flanagan

The author, John Flanagan, was born in Sydney, Australia. He’s always wanted to be a writer. After college, Flanagan got a job at an advertisement agency as a media researcher. During his time there, he wrote an offensive poem about one of his senior executives which was later seen by one of company directors. His writing made an impression and he got the job of a trainee copywriter.

Flanagan is father to his son Micheal and he wrote a series of short stories for his son that would later become the first in the Ranger Apprentice series. Not only did he want to encourage Micheal to read, but to show him that small people can do big things.

Flanagan later decided to put the stories together into a novel. In 2004, Ranger’s Apprentice was released, selling over 5 million copies and becoming an international bestseller. On top of all 16 Ranger’s Apprentice books, Flanagan released Outcast, the first of a companion series called The Brotherband Chronicles, in 2011.

I’m a bigger reader, so if you have any favorite book titles, be sure to leave them in the comments below.

Coming soon… Rangers Apprentice, The Movie, starting production.

Featured image by DevianArt