In this land, when you think or the word 'Hero' you think of a knight and the only way to become a knight is battle school. He was found in a basket with a note saying only that his mother died giving birth and his father was a Hero. Sadly, when you live in the Ward you are orphans and you basically take care of yourself. He lives in the Ward with his friends: Alyss, Jennifer, George and Horace. Will is a fifteen year old boy with no parents. My favorite part, especially, when the boys got in a fight. The action, the adventure, the surprises. I was at the good part too! Well, it's all good. That's the third time this week she took it from me. She told me goodnight and slammed the door behind her. 'I don't care! It's two in the morning! Go to sleep!' She snatched the book one of Rangers Apprentice, The Ruins of Gorlan right out of my hands. 'But Mooooom! I'm at the part where he kills-' I will definitely look for the rest of this series. We know what most of the characters are thinking all the time, and yet it doesn’t get confusing. On a purely technical note, this was one of the few books I’ve read that uses third-person omniscient point-of-view and actually pulls it off. The novel was a bit long on the explanations for my taste - a lot of telling about the characters especially at the beginning when showing would have sufficed - but that did not stop me from enjoying the book. The relationship between Will and his Battleschool rival is particularly well portrayed, and Will’s training as a ranger makes for great reading. In Flanagan’s world, young wards of the state have to choose professions, and Will is reluctantly recruited to become a ranger. It was a believable, well-grounded alternate medieval earth. In fact, it had no sorcery at all, which was kind of refreshing. It’s been a while since I read a classic sword and sorcery fantasy novel, but I enjoyed this one a lot.

The ranger's apprentice ruins of gorlan