John Flanagan

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 . . .

The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger's Apprentice Book 1)

Christine

rant incoming 
also I'm in the minority for o n c e lul
maybe I should've read this a couple years ago instead of n o w

(view spoiler)[Things I actually liked:
- HALT
- GILAN
- TUG AND ABELARD AND BLAZE
- WEAPONS alkdja;f;.leshwohgal
- the world
- rangers are flipping cool 
- i actually laughed a fair bit but i was sleep-deprived when i read it so
- beating up the bullies hehehehEHE THAT was glorious

Things I Do Not Like:
- W I L L .
- dude he's just a Gary Stu or maybe that's my 1am brain speaking but actually man wtflipppp 
- of cOURSE he's the one that doesn't get chosen by anybody else and then suddenly becomes a literal L E G E N D
- tmw this new fifteen year old manages to beat this huge beast like three very trained knights could barely beat
- tmw this kid. Manages to. GALLOP. A HORSE. FIRST TIME HE EVER RIDES ONE. 
- AND HE JUMPS THE GOSHDARN HORSE I'M SO SALTY XD.
- K look I ride horses I think I know what I'm talking about (at least a little lul)
- First time you ride (especially trot) a horse (and many, many times afterwards) it's gonna be PAINFUL AS HELLLLL FOR DAYS XD YOUR BODY HAS TO GET USED TO THE IDEA OF A MOVING ANIMAL UNDER YOU (. . spoken from experience)
- trotting makes you sore. also it's really hard to slide right into the rhythm of a trot as Will somehow manages to do first try??? ಠ_ಠ (or maybe that's just me lul)
- You have to,,, build up foundations for everything. I mean yeah I can give them the benefit of the doubt here with saying their horses - and even them - are mostly likely different than our horses and our bodies and all but also ajlfksdf;l;wsohgs'owhegdlass you don't just jump a horse first time you ever get on one
- biomechanics, man
- also a minor annoyance that was probably just something that wasn't addressed or I missed: do these people not have saddle pads, XD. And again, maybe their saddles are different than ours but ಠ_ಠ wut
- ok thank horse rant over
- i like how he's a natural at e v e r y t h i n g
- his only ""fault"" by this point is the fact that he's curious which isn't even bad wtheck xD
- Ok look I get it's just the first book but I seriously still don't have Any Idea why the bad guy is doing what he's doing aside from the fact that he got ousted from a coup lmao
- like they just mention a "twisted mind" but W UT DO THEY MEAN, XD
- it's alllll setting up for the next books I'm pretty sure and I'm still going to read them and hope to GOD Will doesn't remain so annoying to me and again it's most likely just mE being an idiot 
- the weird M creatures I forgot their name already help they remind me sm of Sanderson's koloss. which were flipping awesome. 
- oh also the girls
- what are they even doing aside from providing Will with a love interest
- w u t
- *Alyss highkey kisses Will out of nowhere* WAT. XD.
- (I mean I saw that coming just,,, wow fast much)
- help I seriously should've read this two years ago I'd have loved it a lot more than rn 
- I just pushed through cuz I wanted to see what would happen and.. -_- 
- also this KID and his boar, smh
- pleeaaseeee give me more character development in the next books I'm begging you Flanagan ಠ_ಠ (hide spoiler)]

Missie Burdick

I love this series.  This is probably my 3rd time reading them lol 

Clara

Ashley Wendt

I can honestly say that I don’t think I would’ve put this book/series on my TBR if it hadn’t ended up being one of our Battle book this year! I’m glad I did. The Rangers Apprentice The Ruins of Gorlan is great storytelling. It’s fantasy without the magic (so far). It does a great job of setting up characters and building the world without getting boring! I’ll be recommending this one for my students who want to dip their toes into fantasy and not feel overwhelmed.

kiara mckerron

the temptation to reread every book in this series is so high right now

jess

Reread Jan 4.

I forgot how much I love this series and I know from here it just gets better—Will, Horace and Halt are a complete delight to read about. I love the tactics, the stealth, the wit between them; I love the quick thinking and the camaraderie.

Also they're so tiny Will is so cute in this one I'm screaming

Allison Garrett

This book was given to me as a gift by one of my closest friends, so I was excited to get started with it even if it’s something I may not have chosen for myself. I actually really enjoyed it and was glad that I got out of my comfort zone enough to try something new. 

The Pros: 
•	Quick, easy reading- I read this pretty much all in one sitting because it was so easy to get into
•	Likeable characters- All of the main and side characters are very likeable, and the growth of the characters in such a short span of time was nice to see even if it felt a little rushed. 

Cons: 
•	Perfect- Because this book was geared towards a younger audience, I just felt like everything was always wrapped up a little too neatly. Will was the hero in almost every situation, and no one got seriously hurt/all the bad guys got what they deserved 
•	Long series- Although I would like to continue reading this story, I wish that they were in bigger installments I’m not particularly looking forward to having to read 10 books. 

Quotes: 
•	“People will think what they want to,” he said quietly. “Never take too much notice of it.” 

Rate: 3.75/5 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will continue the series it was a quick read and I would recommend it to anyone looking for something light.

Somya Verma

"The Ruins of Gorlan" by John Flanagan is about a group of kids - orphans - who must choose which path they would like to take, career wise. protagonist Will decides to take the path of a ranger. Ranger protect the kingdom. As the Rangers apprentice Will sets out to learn everything possible in order to prepare for the brewing war. I wouldn't recommend this series unless it were to a person who does not mind slow beginnings.

Will is klein voor zijn leeftijd, maar razendsnel en niet dom. Zijn hele leven heeft hij ervan gedroomd om ridder te worden, net als zijn vader, die hij nooit heeft gekend. Hij is dan ook hevig teleurgesteld als hij afgewezen wordt voor de krijgsschool van kasteel Redmont. In plaats daarvan wordt hij toegewezen aan Halt, de mysterieuze Grijze Jager wiens grootste talent lijkt te zijn dat hij zich onopvallend door het rijk kan verplaatsen. Met enige weerzin leert Will om de geheime wapens van de Grijze Jagers te gebruiken: pijl en boog, een onopvallende camouflagecape en een eigenwijze kleine pony. Ook al verlangt Will hevig naar een zwaard en een stoer strijdpaard, als hij samen met Halt op een geheime missie gaat om de moord op de koning te voorkomen, komt hij erachter dat de wapens van de Grijze Jagers zo slecht nog niet zijn De ruïnes van Gorlan is het eerste deel in de Grijze Jager-serie over Will en zijn vrienden van kasteel Redmont.

De ruïnes van Gorlan (De Grijze Jager boek 1)

Lisette Haasnoot

Amazing, like I read it for the first time again, even tho this was my 4th time reading it

roosmarijn

3/3.5 stars

THIS BOOK IS SO HARD TO RATE, especially because I loveddd the series when I was younger. i don’t think i really loved it now, mostly because i was paying WAY TO MUCH ATTENTION to the little things and was being wayyy to critical...

buttttt I did had a lot of fun reading and the world flanagan has created is still SO COOL

even tho this book wasn’t a masterpiece, it did grip me and made me want to continue reading! (i even want to start book 2, holy shitties hehe)

ALSO OMG
omg
i’ve never noticed this before, BUT OMG HORACE AND WILL ARE THE CUTEST- I SHIP THEM SO HARD
they’re some sort of enemies to lovers couple (but sadly in the book it’s only enemies to friends) BUT DAMNN I NEED A HEADCANON WITH THOSE TWO IN LOVE

Ruby Long

Candyce Kirk

Alex

Ok, so I know the target audience for this book is ~a bit~ younger than me. But still, it doesn't really justify the lazy writing. Every character (especially Will) has way more luck than wits and thank god for plot armour, because otherwise no one would survive till the end. It's mostly frustrating when characters like Halt, who is supposed to be wise and experienced make the worst possible decisions. I also whish female characters did more than just cook and kiss boys. Hopefully in the next book? 
On the other hand, I know I would have enjoyed it waaay more if I was around 11-14 years old. I kinda wish this book was around then.
And yes, I'm still gonna read the next one!

Lonneke

This was really fun! I wish I read it when i was younger so I could have enjoyed it even more! Even now this middle grade series is still a lot of fun to read though. If adventure books taking place in a sort of medieval time sounds like something for you it's defenitely worth the read.

Marit de jong

Cortnie

I always go into rereading favorites from my childhood with a bit of wariness and try to have few expectations. Oftentimes, the second encounter (or third or fourth, etc.) can be completely different from the first. At the beginning I was sure that I had made a terrible mistake in starting this series again. It's, quite definitively, a middle grade fantasy, for sure, but after my initial apprehension I enjoyed it as much as I had the first go round. So much nostalgia. Of course you notice flaws you glossed over before but I'm glad this experience is becoming a thing. On to the next adventure!

Will is klein voor zijn leeftijd, maar razendsnel en niet dom. Zijn hele leven heeft hij ervan gedroomd om ridder te worden, net als zijn vader, die hij nooit heeft gekend. Hij is dan ook hevig teleurgesteld als hij afgewezen wordt voor de krijgsschool van kasteel Redmont. In plaats daarvan wordt hij toegewezen aan Halt, de mysterieuze Grijze Jager wiens grootste talent lijkt te zijn dat hij zich onopvallend door het rijk kan verplaatsen. Met enige weerzin leert Will om de geheime wapens van de Grijze Jagers te gebruiken: pijl en boog, een onopvallende camouflagecape en een eigenwijze kleine pony. Ook al verlangt Will hevig naar een zwaard en een stoer strijdpaard, als hij samen met Halt op een geheime missie gaat om de moord op de koning te voorkomen, komt hij erachter dat de wapens van de Grijze Jagers zo slecht nog niet zijn. De ruïnes van Gorlan is het eerste deel in de Grijze Jager-serie over Will en zijn vrienden van kasteel Redmont.

Anne-Birth Kers

It’s good to know that I still love this book! I hadn’t read it in 6 years but still called it a favorite. With rereading it 6 years later I can happily say that it’s definitely still one of my all time favorite books!

I just love the characters and the story. They’re all precious! I am definitely going to be rereading the entire series now!

The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger's Apprentice Book 1)

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