The Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan

The Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan is about a young boy named Will. Will has been selected to train as an apprentice with one of the most notable rangers of all time: Halt O’Carrick. However, Will is reluctant to become Halt’s apprentice after living as an orphan in Castle Redmont and hearing what the servants say about the rangers, that the rangers are dangerous sorcerers that are best left alone. Yet living as a farm boy seems so much worse than this, so he agrees to join Halt and live a life of wonder and peril.

After months of training with Halt, Will realizes that none of the things servants say are true. Rangers may have an uncanny ability to appear from the shadows as if teleporting, but this is all learned from months of practice. Will’s first impression of Halt is what everyone sees in a ranger, a grim past, and a severe expression. However, as Will continues to be Halt’s apprentice, Halt’s strict composure starts to soften, and though he would never admit it, he begins to even like Will. But only a few months into his training, Will is sent on a mission with Halt and one of his former apprentices, Gilan.

The three are sent to slay the two Kalkara that are killing all their war leaders at the Ruins of Gorlan, Lord Morgarath’s abandoned fiefdom (kingdom). Lord Morgarath is the one leading the Kalkara to destroy the major war leaders. After a failed attempt over a decade ago, he was banished to the Mountains of Rain and Night, where Lord Morgarath waited patiently in the mountains, not just training the Kalkara, but also the wargals in large masses to prepare them for the inevitable war that would once again be fought against Araluen.

After a long journey to Gorlan, the rangers track down the Kalkara with carefully planned technique. Still, they know that eventually killing one will not be easy, maybe needing to enlist the help of the castle soldiers and Sir Rodney. Halt informs Will that the Kalkara will be going to kill King Duncan. But Will has another theory, a theory that the Kalkara aren’t looking to destroy the Araluen military but to get revenge.

Flanagan writes as if he was a magician, teleporting the reader into the realm of Will and Halt, describing all the details, while still keeping out the useless information, something that I constantly have a hard time with. I usually overwrite so that the paragraph becomes boring, or underwrite then consequently, no one will know what I am trying to picture. Flanagan gets the flawless balance and a near-perfect novel comes from the process.