I haven’t given any of the “Ranger’s Apprentice” books by John Flanagan its own review until now. For one, there’s a lot of them and I’m still catching up, and for another I’d likely find myself repeating myself. Instead I gave a blanket review for the first five books that I figured would serve for the entire series.
But I recently met John Flanagan in person and found him to be someone I’d like to further promote. And his latest book, “The Tournament at Gorlan”, is an excellent book. It’s also the start of a new “The Early Years” series set in the same world before Will was born. This book takes up with Halt and Crowley before Lord Morgarath became the nemesis of Araluen. Instead he is in the process of taking over from the inside by framing King Oswald’s son Duncan and taking Oswald prisoner under the guise of protecting him. He’s dismantled the Ranger Corps, replacing them with hand-picked, useless fops and discredited the old rangers still loyal to King Oswald.
What Morgarath didn’t take into consideration was just how formidable a single ranger can be, let alone a dozen of them when they join forces to save the king. (By the way, did you know it’s pronounced “Mor-GAIR-uth”? It’s the Australian pronunciation, though Flanagan says the American “MOR-guh-rath” works just as well. He’s not picky. He seems to be an author who views his stories as belonging as much to the reader as to himself.)
Fans of the series will enjoy this book for its “So this is how things happened” viewpoint, but if you’ve never read a single Ranger’s Apprentice book it still won’t matter. Flanagan fills it with adventure, danger, and good-natured humor that had me and my boys almost rolling on the floor. I read it aloud to them, and I found myself as eager as they were to get back to reading it.
The one thing you won’t get here is a satisfactory ending. Like many of the other books, this one leaves the story to be continued. Whether he resolves it in one more book or spread over three or more remains to be seen. I do know we’ll be picking them up regardless of how many it takes. They’re fun books, and while my boys enjoy them a little more than I do, the point is they enjoy them. And John Flanagan seems like a really nice bloke who deserves the wads of cash we keep throwing at him. We’re looking forward to the movie that’s in the works, too.
These and his Brotherband series are aimed at middle-grade readers, and while they are perhaps not the most deep books I’ve read in that category, they are as I’ve said many times, a lot of fun. Sometimes they’re saving the world, and sometimes merely the day, but the characters are all good, honest and loyal people who care about each other and can be counted on to do the right thing. There are lessons in each story, both subtle and blatant, and as a parent I’m pleased that I don’t have to worry about what my kids are picking up from these books. John Flanagan’s welcome at my fire any time.