The Ruins of Gorlan

Practical info

Author: John Flanagan
Series: Ranger's Apprentice PART 1
Genres: Fiction, fantasy/adventure
Sub-genres: high-fantasy/YA
Publication year: 2004
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 9789025742843
Blurb: They have always scared him in the past – the Rangers, with their dark cloaks and shadowy ways. The villagers believe the Rangers practise magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And now 15-year-old Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger’s apprentice.
What he doesn’t yet realize is that the Rangers are the protectors of the kingdom. Highly trained in the skills of battle and surveillance, they fight the battles before the battles reach the people. And as Will is about to learn, there is a large battle brewing. The exiled Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, is gathering his forces for an attack on the kingdom. This time, he will not be denied . . .

Personal info

Why I picked it up: My brother read this series as a young teen, and at some point, he gave the books to me, because he doesn't read anymore. I read this several times as a kid and teen, because I often took it as the novel we always had to have in our bag at school. (Which is why I have the Dutch editions) Then I started reading it again when I wanted to read something light and easy.
Status: Finished
Progress: 286/286 pages
Started: 5-3-2023
Finished: 17-3-2023
Rating: 5/5 stars
Reread count: 3, maybe? Including the school times.
Overall opinion: I have no complaints, really. It’s fun, it’s fast-paced, it’s easy to read, the characters are fun. I love Will and Halt’s relationship. I really like the story of Will’s dad. I like his friendship with Arnaut. His little romance with Alyss kinda came out of nowhere, but there wasn’t much time for it with everything that was going on. All the characters feel so alive, the world is well fleshed out, all the lore around the rangers is so cool. It’s like, you wouldn’t think of it, but when it’s mentioned, it makes sense, you know?
For some reason, I thought Gilan only came in book two. Now I have no idea how book two is gonna start.
It’s not a series I would read if I wanna read something thought provoking or complicated, more just as a fun break between more complicated books, like I did with this one. And I’ve got like 17 books in this series to go, so I have a lot of break-books left over.
It might just be because this is technically more of a kids series (although I’d classify is more in between middle-grade and YA(The store considers it YA, so I’ll classify it as that too)) that there isn’t much to complain about. There isn’t much complicated stuff going on that I could complain about. It promises a certain story and delivers. What could I complain about?