The Ranger’s Apprentice: Book 1 Ruins of Gorlan is a book set in the time of kings, barons, dukes, and knights. 15 year old Will was left on the steps of Baron Arald, in a crib with a note attached saying “Take care of him. His name is Will. His father died a hero. His mother died in childbirth.” He grew up with 4 others in a camp. Next it is Choosing Day. The Rangers, with their shadowy ways, have always made Will nervous. Now, he has been chosen as one’s apprentice. But what he doesn’t yet know is that the rangers are the ones who fight the wars before they make it to the people. There is a humongous battle between the Aruelans and Morgarath, the lord of the mountains of rain and darkness. Morgarath is gathering his most powerful allies. The two empires are going to collide more violently then they have ever before. Now, it’s up to Will to will to save the day. He will find allies in the unlikeliest of places, and even then that might not be enough to stop the mighty lord Morgarath…My favorite part in the book is when Will is out hunting a wild boar with a group of 13 other people and one of the knights stabbed the wild boar in the neck with a spear. While everyone else is admiring the dead animal, and commenting on how much meat they could get, and then Will sees another boar, at least twice as big as the first one. The other boar charges at an apprentice knight, and Will yells, “Watch OUT!!” The apprentice knight turns around and just barely dodges the razor sharp tusks. With unnatural speed, the boar turns around and charges at Will. He takes out his knife and gets ready to stab the beast. Suddenly, Will hears the sound of a Longbow twanging, and the boar falls dead at his feet. His teacher takes the Knife and says,
“What were you planning to do with this?!” Will shrugs and takes his Knife back.
This book is special and unique from other books because most books in this time and setting would be all, like, oh, you’re a sorcerer or magician, or, if you can believe this “story” is a story, I envy you or something like that. This isn’t like that. It starts like a lot of other books, creating a picture of them in your head, and what they would be like. Also, this book is the only book I’ve read that tells their (the main character’s) life history before that.
People I would recommend this book for are people who are looking for anything exciting and love books that have gone back to, like, the 700 A.D’s and ages 12+ up to 22. Because I’m 10, and I’ve read books for teenagers, that’s where I placed the age group. But if you like time travel, spell casting, ECT, this book is not for you. You will probably get bored within the first few chapters, but don’t take my word for it, because, hey, I’m 10, what do I know about what people will and won’t like?
Review By: Gabe, age 10
p.s. If you don’t remember, the name of the book is Ranger’s Apprentice: Book 1 Ruins of Gorlan.
