Ranger's Apprentice Book One: The Ruins of Gorlan

Flanagan, John. The Ranger's Apprentice Book One: The Ruins of Gorlan. New York: Philomel, 2005. 249.





My daughter Mercedes picked up this book off of the Rebecca Caudill cart at our public library. I was surprised she chose this one, though she is a fantasy lover, because the cover illustration strikes me as a typical "boy" book. The cover of the US (Philomel) edition features a hooded character whose eyes are in shadow. The cover is dark and eerie looking, and while the story does have its dark moments, it isn't horrific. In fact, the book follows the tried and true formulas of the "child hero in training" stories, from Alexander's Prydain books to Tamora Pierce's Alanna stories. There's no "new" ground being covered here, but the writing is solid and the characters likeable.

I like the image found on the Austrailian website better - though it still says "boy book"...

*** Note: Since reading the first book of the series, I listened to the next three books as narrated by John Keating. I think I enjoyed the recorded book better than the print version. Though the "girl" voices were silly (often a problem for male voice actors) Holt's voice was wonderful!