There are books that pop up in life at the right time — not necessarily because of their depth or complexity, but because they hit the reader’s emotional need. This is exactly what I unexpectedly found in «The Ruins of Gorlan», the first book in the «Ranger’s Apprentice» series by the little-known Australian writer John Flanagan. The novel, and the series as a whole, works at the intersection of two waves: interest in fantasy with a medieval setting and the need for «light», but not superficial teenage reading. Despite its focus on the school audience, this is the case when everyone will be interested. Of course, if you don’t expect complex politics or gray morality from the genre.
Author John Flanagan
Translator Viktor Vengrus
Publisher «Ass»
Language Ukrainian
Number of pages 288
Cover Solid
Year of publication 2025
Size 125×200 mm
Website acca.ua
Will is an orphan who has always dreamed of entering the Military School. But when it comes time to choose his future, his dream is shattered: he is rejected because of his short stature and thin build. Instead of a brilliant career with a sword in his hand, Will unexpectedly gets a chance to become an apprentice to Holt, a silent and stern ranger.
Rangers are not knights or wizards. They are observers, shooters, and scouts. They are not noticed until it is too late. And it is in this profession, which Will initially accepts without enthusiasm, that his true calling is revealed.
But studying is not the only challenge. An old threat is looming on the horizon: Morgarath, a former lord out for revenge. His powers are growing, and the kingdom is once again threatened by war. Will Will be able to master his new craft? Will he have enough intelligence, endurance, and courage to become the one who stops the enemy before the battle begins?
The events of the book «Ranger’s Apprentice. The Ruins of Gorlan» takes place in the kingdom of Araluen, and the local plot is a classic story of growing up, learning, overcoming inner fears, and the first real dangers. The point is that the author is not trying to be original for the sake of new ideas in the fantasy genre. On the contrary, he takes proven plot formulas — an orphan with a mysterious past, training under a strict mentor, gradual disclosure of the hero’s potential — and writes them out in an interesting and exciting way.
That’s why this book is «derivative» of all fantasy, it’s a classic, it’s everything that came before it in this genre, there’s nothing here that can be called «a unique concept». So at first, it seems that this lack of novelty might be my problem with reading it. And how wrong I was.
«The Ruins of Gorlan» — is not an epic fantasy in the style of Martin or Sanderson. You should forget about that right away. There is no complex magic system, bloody betrayals, or dozens of intertwined storylines. This is a story in the best sense «chamber», where the world is shown through the eyes of the hero, gradually, carefully, without too much information.
Araluen— a classic a la medieval kingdom with knights, rangers as scouts/secret service, and threats that seem fabulous only at first glance. In terms of atmosphere, it’s a cross between «Robin Hood» and «The Lord of the Rings», but without magic in the classical sense of the word. And this absence of it makes the fantasy reading refreshingly different, unusual, but so understandable and familiar.
And in general, this world is not much different from real medieval history. There are equivalents of England, Japan, France, the Viking countries, and a number of other proto-historical lands. And that’s just what I recognized.
Flanagan understands well how the «student-mentor» dynamic works and presents it without being overly moralistic. Holt doesn’t annoy with his preaching, but he teaches adequately, interestingly, and even entertainingly. At the same time, Will does not idealize his mentor, but learns to trust him and the world in general. This process is subtle and nuanced. The moment when the protagonist first truly realizes that his mentor cares about him feels not like a banal plot device, but like something deserved and critical to the reader.
The plot of the novel «Ranger’s Apprentice. Ruins of Gorlan» unfolds gradually. The first part of the book — Will’s training, his adaptation to his new life as a ranger. It is only towards the end that a serious threat in the form of Morgarath appears on the horizon. It’s still far away, more like a hint of bigger things to come in the next volumes, but it adds the necessary tension. At the same time, we don’t have a real enemy, a real Evil, in the first book, which may seem like a disadvantage to some.
The strength of the book is the main character, Will, who is not a perfect boy with his own pranks, but also the secondary characters. Horace — the boy who first mocks Will but later becomes his friend, is particularly interesting. The story of this transformation is one of the most compelling in the book, with realistic psychological motivations. It is a great demonstration that life is not entirely black and white. The novel manages to capture this with such a simple but fascinating story.
The language of the work is simple, light, without overloading with descriptions. The sentences are short, the dialogues are lively, the humor is subtle, but there is not much of it. All of this is quite appropriate for a teenage format, but other age groups will also be interested, as I was. However, one must understand that this is still teenage literature, so one should not expect extensive descriptions, deep meanings, and layers.
«The Ruins of Gorlan» works well as the first book in a series. It has a complete story — the ending is satisfying, although it leaves room for a sequel, which is definitely there, so you shouldn’t worry about it. This is not the case when the first volume — only «preface» to the real story.
As always, I’ll talk about the book itself. I liked the book by «Assa». It has an easy-to-read font and soft to the touch yellow paper. And most importantly, it has a stylish genre cover, which is so lacking in many other books. It immediately shows what genre it is, what the story is about, etc.
But in my opinion, the style of the picture itself was made a bit childish because the original covers of the Australian edition, as well as the American and English editions, have a more adult style. So it might scare off a certain number of older readers who will like the book, but will think it’s too childish. That’s exactly what I thought when I first saw the book.
