The Ranger's Apprentice Series by John Flanagan

Gus Miller

I have always enjoyed fantasy novels, but I have not read many that I have liked as much as the Ranger’s Apprentice series, written by John Flanagan. In fifth grade, I read the first few books but quickly got bored with the series, as the presence of multiple plot lines was too complex. However, I read a blog post with a review of the first book early on in the school year. Not having remembered much about the series, I decided to give it another chance. Fortunately, I found the books much more enjoyable and discovered many things about the series that I did not realize as an elementary schooler.

Set in medieval times, The Ranger’s Apprentice series mainly features a boy named Will. An orphan raised in Castle Redmont, Will has never even known his last name. All he knows about his family is that his father died a hero. The tradition of the Kingdom of Araluen is that when a child turns sixteen, they choose the task that they will be assigned to for the rest of their lives. Will desperately wants to be accepted into the Battleschool, because he wants to become a knight like his father. However, he is denied because of his small build. Instead, he is taken in by the legendary Ranger, Halt. Little is known about the mysterious, secretive Rangers. Many think that the way they move without being seen and their legendary skill in archery are forms of magic, but Will soon realizes this is not the case. The first few books in the series feature Will training to obtain the amount of skill he will need to become an official Ranger. They also feature the adventures of other characters, such as Horace, a friend of Will who trains in the Battleschool to become a knight, Alyss, another friend of Will training to become a diplomat, and Evanlyn, the daughter of the King of Araluen. Throughout the series, Will and the other main characters venture to different places around the world, such as Skandia, a land in the North with raiding pirates, and Arrida, an unforgiving desert full of dangerous nomadic tribes. They encounter many hardships throughout these adventures, such as the kingdom being attacked by Morgarath, the ancient Lord of Rain and Night, Will and Evanlyn getting kidnapped by Skandians, and the castle Macindaw in northern Araluen being taken over by the Scotti, a dangerous group of warriors in the land north of Araluen. Will meets many allies, as well as enemies, during his journeys, and each of these people frequently has a part of the book told in their perspective, allowing the reader to get an inside view on multiple characters at the same time.

I definitely enjoyed the Ranger’s Apprentice series, and for many reasons. One of these reasons is that there is significant character development among not only Will but in the other main characters as well. Both Will and Horace become more mature throughout the series. Before they turned sixteen, Will was frequently teased and bullied by Horace. However, after struggling through difficult situations by working together, the two of them form an unbreakable friendship. Another example of character development lies in Evanlyn, the Crown Princess of Araluen. When she is first introduced, she comes off as spoiled and even weak. However, after being captured by the raiding Skandians, she realizes that she will need to know how to protect herself, and she can be seen becoming an overall stronger character. Another reason why I liked the series is the fact that the author wrote each chapter in the perspectives of multiple characters, even if they were minor characters (probably to show how the common people felt about the situation happening at the moment). Although it may seem like this method would be confusing to the reader, the author is good about informing the reader when the point of view changes by writing things like “Person X knew…” or “Person Y felt…”. Still, nothing comes without its flaws, including this series. As readers start reading the later books in the series, they will find that the plot becomes quite predictable, as they know from the earlier books that everything will somehow end up okay in the end. There are also many plot twists that can feel unnecessarily random at times.

Overall, I liked the series as a whole, and would definitely recommend giving it a try. My rating for the series as a whole is 4.5/5.