Books of the Month - August

Ranger’s Apprentice: The Early Years

John Flanagan - ISBN: 978-0-399-16361-6 & 978-0-399-16362-3 - 2015 & 2016

Author:

John Flanagan is the author of the Ranger's Apprentice series. The series originally comprised twenty short stories, which John wrote to encourage his then twelve-year-old son, Michael Flanagan, to enjoy reading.

John grew up in Sydney, Australia, hoping to be a writer. It wasn't until he wrote a highly uncomplimentary poem about a senior executive at the agency where he worked, however, that his talent was revealed. It turned out that one of the company directors agreed with John's assessment of the executive and happily agreed to train John in copywriting.

After writing advertising copy for the next two decades, John teamed with an old friend to develop a television sitcom, Hey Dad!, which went on to air for eight years.

• Taken from Good Reads and the Falangan Wiki

Brief Synopsis:

In his book, The Lost Stories, John Flanagan tells how Halt and Crowley, characters from the Rangers Apprentice Series, met. The lost stories fill out some lore, but Flanagan took it further and fleshed out some of these stories.

The Tournament at Gorlan - The tournament at Gorlan directly follows the events of Lost Story #11. Morgarath, a renegade lord, hates Halt and Crowley. He took over the kingdom and has been wreaking havoc throughout Araluen. Halt and Crowley set out to find the discredited Prince Duncan. They gather other Rangers and concoct a plan not only to rescue Duncan and his father, King Oswald but to reform the Ranger Corp into an available and viable reconnaissance force.

The Battle of Hackam Heath - Most Ranger’s apprentice fans know of this story. In Book 1 of the series, Will, Halt’s apprentice, has suspicions Halt was the Ranger who led an expedition to cripple Morgarath at the Battle of Hackam Heath. This book contains all sorts of Easter Eggs for the original series. It also gives us a look at the life Halt led before being Will’s master.

Flanagan usually does a two-part with cliff hanger. This technique tends to make me frustrated, and I refuse to read one until the other is out so I don’t have to stop. He does not do that here. These books tell a story related (they are in the same series), but they can be read stand-alone and flesh out two different time period’s even.

Insights:

“A wise man once told me, don’t believe anything you hear until you’ve seen it with your own eyes,” Halt said. Crowley looked up at him. “Who said that? Pritchard?” It sounded like the sort of thing their old mentor might say. Halt affected to think for a few seconds then gave a slight smile. “No. I think it was me, actually. I can be very wise at times.” ― John Flanagan, The Tournament at Gorlan, pg 27

“The Hibernian is right. You’re a good man, Samdash, but you’re too impulsive to be a good leader. You're impatient to get things done, and that leads to mistakes.” ― John Flanagan, The Tournament at Gorlan, pg. 183

“Life was good, he thought. They had eaten well. They had a firm plan of action, and he had a traveling companion whom he could tease anytime he liked.” ― John Flanagan, The Tournament at Gorlan, pg 70

“Halt nodded at him gratefully. "Exactly. We need to elect a leader - and give him the power to make decisions and the authority to have those decisions obeyed and carried through. Otherwise, we're like a band of headless chickens.” “But dangerous chickens nonetheless," Leander said with a faint smile. ― John Flanagan, The Tournament at Gorlan, pg 155

“I think the ground will be good enough,” he said. Then, turning to the nearest group of soldiers, he asked with a grin: “What do you say, men? Is the ground soft enough for a royal backside?” The soldiers chuckled. One of them, a grizzled veteran, rose and walked over to where Duncan and his two senior officers were standing. He made a show of inspecting the ground, brushing aside a few twigs and rocks, then spread out a none-too-clean neckerchief and gestured for the King to sit. “There you go, my lord. Your royal bum should be comfortable there.” The others nearby joined in the laughter. Duncan grinned at him. “If it’s not, I’ll have you in the stocks later tonight,” he said. “We did bring the stocks, didn’t we, Sir David?” “I’m sure we did, sir,” David answered gravely.” ― John Flanagan, The Battle of Hackham Heath, 231

“His method of making his way through the crowd was a simple one. He deviated neither to left nor right, but forged straight ahead, using his broad shoulders to clear a path. A pace behind him, his beautiful wife, Lady Sandra, followed in the space he cleared.” ― John Flanagan, The Battle of Hackham Heath, pg 21

Should I read it or skip it?

First, I love Flanagan’s work. They were written for his son, and the love shows through them. Second, I love the lessons of leadership Flanagan shares. The quotes above are meant to encourage you to check them out. An example from The Battle of Hackham Heath: Duncan realizes sharing hardship with his men will endear them to him. While the chapter goes on, we also see Duncan “napping” while the enemy is across the way. This response calms his men and allows them to be ready and collected when the battle begins. Weaving truth into a fun story brings forward a time-honored tradition. If you have boys, this series will be awesome for you to read with them. If you have girls, The Royal Ranger series might be a better place to start.