Ranger's Apprentice:
The Ruins of  Gorlan Latest
Book Cover

Ranger in a tavern

Summary

Fifteen year old Will was chosen by a mysterious, grim, old Ranger to be his apprentice. Little does he knows that Rangers, opposite to the rumours that he heard before, are the guardians and first line protectors of the Kingdom of Araluen, where he was raised, against the darkness that lays beyond the borders of the kingdom, the barren Mountains of Rain and Night with its exiled dark lord, Morgarath, and his army of dark hideous beasts, who are once again plotting to attack the kingdom and lay waste upon it.

Writing Style

Will in his Ranger cloak

The way that the novel was organised was very interesting. It was organised in a way that the readers would want to read more because the setting or the perspective that the story is being narrated changes from chapter to chapter. For example, in the middle chapter, the story might begin in Will’s side, then the next chapter succeeding it might start on another setting, then again, after a chapter or two, the narrative would be back on Will’s side, so the reader would be curious on what’s going to happen next specially that some of the chapters end in cliff-hangers, making it almost impossible for the reader to put the book down. The novel was written in narrative writing style. The book is easy to follow because it was organised by chapters.

Halt, Will's Craft Master

Key Conflicts

In the first book of the Ranger’s Apprentice series, The Ruins of Gorlan, there are three main conflicts that Will encountered and resolved. 

Horace Slughorn

1. Character vs. Character
One of the conflicts shown was character vs. character. Will, the protagonist, was in conflict with, his not yet friend, Horace Slughorn, an apprentice in battle school, the two boys always fight against one another to prove who’s better. In the end, the conflict was resolved and the two became friends when they were placed in great danger that could cost them their life. 

Kalkara's head

2. Character vs. Supernatural

Character vs. supernatural is also one of the main conflicts shown in the novel. It was a conflict between Will and his craft master, Halt against the grotesque looking beast called Kalkara; a creature with an appearance of a bear and an ape, which possess incredible speed and strength equal to four experienced knights, with their red, hate-filled eyes which whoever looks upon it is immediately put in a helpless state and stunned due to an overwhelming feeling of fear. The conflict was resolved when the two Kalkaras, who were on hunt to kill Halt, the person that caused Morgarath to lose in the battle against the army of Araluen fifteen years before, were shot and killed by both of them. 
3. Character vs. Self
The last main conflict shown was person vs. self, conflict between Will against his emotions, feelings, and thoughts for his friends and himself. Will struggles in deciding whether he should leave his master and let his friend die or do something which could cause him his life, be known for the rest of his life as a courageous or a coward man. This conflict was resolved when Will decided to do the right thing, he risks his own life to save his master and his friend on two different events. First when Horace was about to be attacked by a giant boar, Will ran in front of Horace and distracted the boar away from his friend only to be the boar’s new target. Then, when Halt was about to be killed by the last remaining Kalkara, Will picked up his bow and nocked an arrow then fired it to the Kalkara, penetrating the thick skin of the beast and finally killing it. Will conquers his fears and in the end resolved this conflict.

Illustration of a Kalkara

Evaluating Effectiveness

 The novel is not completely believable because it has beast or creatures that doesn’t exist in real life like the mindless Wargals and the terrifying Kalkaras, but the lifestyle of the people in the story can be compared to real life medieval ages. The book is very interesting because of monsters that the author added and the way that the characters fight. In the era where people are used to fighting with guns and modern machinery, soldiers fighting in plate armours while wielding swords made of steel creates more excitement for readers, especially young readers, because it’s something that they rarely see. It engages the readers of the book to imagine themselves fighting terrifying beast, hunting boars, and hiding through the shadows like a Ranger.

Rating

As a reader who likes reading books in the medieval fantasy genre, I’d rate this book 4 out of 5. I would definitely recommend it to readers not only in my age group but to younger and older groups, especially those who have read J.R.R. Tolkien’s books like The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit. I rated this book 4 out of 5 because of various reasons such as the way it was written, the excitement, and suspense that this book made me feel while reading it. I did not gave this book 5 out of 5 because I was hoping for a different ending, an ending that will leave me hanging which would make me want to read the book after this to find out what happened, like the ending of the chapters of the book, nevertheless the ending was still fine, the story ended like the Lord of the Rings, a happy ending.

Key Themes

The first key theme of the novel is courage. Throughout the first book of the Ranger’s Apprentice series, Will, the protagonist, shows a great deal of courage. During Will’s fight against the last remaining Kalkara, Will was shown afraid and scared, but instead of running away and abandoning his craft master to be brutally slaughtered by the beast, he stood his ground against the monster that could easily kill him. Also, when Will jumped before a giant boar to save his friend’s life. The author is telling us that there will come a time in our life where our courage and bravery will be put to test and when the time comes, we must face it and embrace it like how the character, Will, does. The second theme is loyalty alongside determination. Will shows a great deal of loyalty towards his craft master and to the kingdom where he lives. When Will found out the Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, sent the last two remaining Kalkaras to kill his master, Halt. Will rode his horse for more than a day nonstop, to bring the knights of Castle Redmont to aid Halt instead of doing nothing. Will puts his own life in the line battling the beast to save his master. This event shows how Will is ready and prepared to risk his life for his friends and kingdom, knowing that when the Kalkara weren’t stopped, Morgarath will use it in destroying Araluen in the future. The last and the main theme of the novel is the victory of good against evil. Will, Halt, and two supports from Castle Redmont defeated and killed the last remaining Kalkaras in Morgarath’s command, even though Will and Halt were the ones who did most of the work and ended up killing the creatures. Dark Lord Morgarath will use the Kalkaras to destroy Araluen, but without the strength of Kalkaras, Morgarath’s army strength decreases, because of the courage of Will and his companions, the Kingdom of Araluen won against the evilness that Morgarath was plotting. The author, John Flanagan, is telling us that in the battle between good and evil, good will always win and evil will diminish.

Dark Lord Morgarath

Evaluating Character

Will, the Ranger’s Apprentice and the protagonist, is my favourite character in the story. Will is a dynamic character which means that he changes overtime. Will is my favourite character because he did not let what other says define who he is or what he would become. He did not let all those things get in his way of doing what he wants to do, a characteristic of him which I admire the most. He is different from other characters in both physical and mental ways. Will is a very short, yet agile, boy unlike everyone in his age group who are all tall and has more grace than him. Even though his physical appearance is those of a boy, Will thinks like a grown up but wilder. What made him stand out from the rest is his severe curiosity about things around him which annoys his craft master in the first part of his training as an Apprentice Ranger, and his friendly nature, which made his grim, cold master be more lightheaded. Will could easily make friends with anyone he meets, excluding the evil creatures under Morgarath’s command.

John Flanagan, Author

Connection to the Real World

We see some connections of this book to real world issues, insecurity in particular. The author, John Flanagan, originally wrote this story to encourage his son, Michael, to read. The author wanted his son to see that ‘not all heroes have to be tall and muscular’. This idea connects to one of our world’s major issue, insecurity. The author specifically wanted to show us that our physical appearance is not something that prevents us from doing great things. Insecurity can only get in our way if we let or allow it to get in our way from doing good, or even great things.

References:

Godage, Sashini. "Ranger's Apprentice: Theme Analysis". 10 June 2016. rangersapprentice.weebly.com/theme-analysis.html

Wikipedia. 10 June 2016. "Ranger's Apprentice: Theme". 11 June 2016. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger%27s_Apprentice#Themes

Wikipedia. 26 May 2016. "The Ruins of Gorlan: Concept and development". 11 June 2016. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ruins_of_Gorlan#Concept_and_development