The Ruins of Gorlan
Second Australian edition cover of
The Ruins of Gorlan |
|
| Author | John Flanagan |
|---|---|
| Illustrators | Jeremy Reston (2nd Australian edition) and Alexander Donatelli |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Series |
Ranger's Apprentice (Book no. 1) |
| Genre | Fantasy, Adventure |
| Publisher |
Random House (AUS) Philomel (USA) Beyaz Balina (TUR) |
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Publication date
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1 November 2004 (AUS) 16 June 2005 (US) 5 April 2007 (UK) |
| Media type | Print (Paperback and Hardcover) |
| Pages | 280 (AUS edition) 282 (US paperback edition) 256 (US hardcover edition) 264 (TUR edition) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 225584636 |
| A823.4 | |
| Preceded by | Ranger's Apprentice: The Early Years |
| Followed by | The Burning Bridge |
The Ruins of Gorlan is the first novel in the Ranger's Apprentice series written by Australian author John Flanagan. It was first released in Australia on 1 November 2004, and in the United States on 16 June 2005. Flanagan first conceived the world of the novel in a series of short stories he wrote for his son to incite his interest in reading. Ten years later, he decided to turn them into The Ruins of Gorlan, the first book in the Ranger's Apprentice series.
The Ruins of Gorlan was originally a set of short stories written by author John Flanagan for his son Michael to encourage him to read. Flanagan wrote one story each week for twenty weeks. About ten years later, Flanagan returned to these stories and decided to write them into a full-length novel. The character Horace was based on Michael's friend Jeremy, but in the original short stories Flanagan made Horace the villain. In the stories, Horace disappears after Will saves his life on the boar hunt, while in the novel, Flanagan was able to make Morgarath the main villain and "rehabilitate" Horace to keep him as a main character. Flanagan thought that the idea of a bully being bullied was a strong concept which was not in the original stories and was later incorporated into the novel. He planned this parallel storyline in Battleschool to develop and show how Horace could help Will through his "linear thinking". Flanagan was careful to make the distinction that Horace was not stupid, since he was in fact a straight thinker which helped balance Will's wild thinking. Will was based on Michael, and shared some of his physical attributes, including his small stature and agile movement. Most importantly, Flanagan wanted to show his son that there was an advantage to being small and that not all heroes have to be tall and muscular.
Morgarath, the exiled lord of the bleak, barren Mountains of Rain and Night has been waiting fifteen years in his dark realm, carefully planning his revenge against the Kingdom of Araluen. His former fief, known as Gorlan, was long ago brought to ruin as a result of his unsuccessful rebellion against King Duncan. Now he silently plots to rebel again, rallying creatures known as Wargals to his side. Wargals have little will of their own, and are easy to control, therefore being suitable as soldiers in Morgarath's army. Now, after the fifteen years, Morgarath prepares to unleash his power and attempt to take the Kingdom once more.
Meanwhile in Araluen, in the fief Redmont, a special day has come for Will and his fellow wardmates (Horace, Alyss, George, and Jenny), called Choosing Day, where they all become an apprentice to a craftmaster or have to work in the local farms. Although Will's first choice was Battleschool, he becomes apprenticed to Halt of the Rangers. Rangers are the intelligence group of the country and specialise in long range weapons and the art of staying unseen. Will is trained in these skills as he prepares for the annual Ranger meeting called the Gathering which is where his skills will be tested. During this time he becomes closer to Halt and is given a horse named Tug, from an old horse trainer by the name of Old Bob.
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