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kendallthefire 's review for:
The Ruins of Gorlan
by John Flanagan
My review is solely unedited summary & thought vomit to help me process and remember the events that happened in this book. So if you're not into that I would stop reading.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's been a while since I had a book that I didn't want to put down. The only thing I really didn't like in this book was the perspective change. It felt very erratic and unclear.
The main character is an orphaned 15-year-old boy named Will. The book starts off with Will worrying about Choosing Day, a day where Craft Masters choose an apprentice to work under them and learn their profession. Choosing day is very important for Will and the other wards of the castle because it gives them a chance to improve their station or status. If they aren't chosen to be an apprentice then they'll be sent to work farms and be a farmhand the rest of their life. No one knows who Will's parents are but Will is convinced that his father was a warrior in the war against the evil Morgarath(M) and died valiantly in battle. Because of this belief, Will hopes to be accepted into battle school and become a knight's apprentice but he is short and has no muscle. The other wards, Jenny, Alyss, George, and Horace, Will's bully, got into the apprenticeships they wanted, Cooking, Politics, Scribing, and Knightship respectfully. Will, on the other hand, was denied battle school and any other apprenticeship because of his small build. Then out of nowhere, a Ranger named Halt decides that Will had potential to be a ranger and takes him under his wing. Rangers are rumored to be mysterious and to use witchcraft so Will was hesitant but later finds out that rangers are just skilled spies for the crown. As the story progresses, you learn that Horace, Will's childhood bully, is ironically, being bullied at battle school but is a natural with the sword. After a misadventure, including two mammoth boars, Will winds up saving Horace's life and they become friends. Horace's bullies hear about Will saving Horace and think it disgraces the battle school to have a ranger's apprentice save a Knight's apprentice so they beat up Horace and tell him they are going to beat up Will as well. Horace is indebted to Will and will not allow him to get hurt so he rushes to his aid. Ranger Halt comes in just in time to help the boys out and then lets Horace fight them one on one. Horace beats all three of them and they are reported to the Battle Master and are expelled from battle school. Ranger Halt and Will then journey to the Ranger's Gathering, a festival held to evaluate the upcoming apprentices, where Will meets Gilan, Halt's old apprentice, for the first time. Unfortunately, they aren't able to carry on with the festival because M is up to something again and they believe he is starting up a new war. M has enlisted the help of the horrifying Kalkara, a mix between a gorilla and a bear?, and Halt, Gilan, and Will end up following and tracking them. Will is told to call for backup and Gilan is told to do something else while halt follows the Kalkara's trail. With back up in tow, Will arrives back at the site of where the Kalkara should be and the back up kills one but then gets trapped by the second. Will thinks quickly and kills the second Kalkara. In the end, the battle school recognized that they had made a mistake by saying that Will didn't have it in him to become a Knight so they have a ceremony in honor of Will and offer him a position in battle school. Will wants badly to become a Knight and live up to his fathers legacy but in the end, decides that being a ranger is his calling. Ranger Halt confesses that he was the one to leave him at the orphanage because Will's father asked Halt to look after him right before he died saving Halt's life.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's been a while since I had a book that I didn't want to put down. The only thing I really didn't like in this book was the perspective change. It felt very erratic and unclear.
The main character is an orphaned 15-year-old boy named Will. The book starts off with Will worrying about Choosing Day, a day where Craft Masters choose an apprentice to work under them and learn their profession. Choosing day is very important for Will and the other wards of the castle because it gives them a chance to improve their station or status. If they aren't chosen to be an apprentice then they'll be sent to work farms and be a farmhand the rest of their life. No one knows who Will's parents are but Will is convinced that his father was a warrior in the war against the evil Morgarath(M) and died valiantly in battle. Because of this belief, Will hopes to be accepted into battle school and become a knight's apprentice but he is short and has no muscle. The other wards, Jenny, Alyss, George, and Horace, Will's bully, got into the apprenticeships they wanted, Cooking, Politics, Scribing, and Knightship respectfully. Will, on the other hand, was denied battle school and any other apprenticeship because of his small build. Then out of nowhere, a Ranger named Halt decides that Will had potential to be a ranger and takes him under his wing. Rangers are rumored to be mysterious and to use witchcraft so Will was hesitant but later finds out that rangers are just skilled spies for the crown. As the story progresses, you learn that Horace, Will's childhood bully, is ironically, being bullied at battle school but is a natural with the sword. After a misadventure, including two mammoth boars, Will winds up saving Horace's life and they become friends. Horace's bullies hear about Will saving Horace and think it disgraces the battle school to have a ranger's apprentice save a Knight's apprentice so they beat up Horace and tell him they are going to beat up Will as well. Horace is indebted to Will and will not allow him to get hurt so he rushes to his aid. Ranger Halt comes in just in time to help the boys out and then lets Horace fight them one on one. Horace beats all three of them and they are reported to the Battle Master and are expelled from battle school. Ranger Halt and Will then journey to the Ranger's Gathering, a festival held to evaluate the upcoming apprentices, where Will meets Gilan, Halt's old apprentice, for the first time. Unfortunately, they aren't able to carry on with the festival because M is up to something again and they believe he is starting up a new war. M has enlisted the help of the horrifying Kalkara, a mix between a gorilla and a bear?, and Halt, Gilan, and Will end up following and tracking them. Will is told to call for backup and Gilan is told to do something else while halt follows the Kalkara's trail. With back up in tow, Will arrives back at the site of where the Kalkara should be and the back up kills one but then gets trapped by the second. Will thinks quickly and kills the second Kalkara. In the end, the battle school recognized that they had made a mistake by saying that Will didn't have it in him to become a Knight so they have a ceremony in honor of Will and offer him a position in battle school. Will wants badly to become a Knight and live up to his fathers legacy but in the end, decides that being a ranger is his calling. Ranger Halt confesses that he was the one to leave him at the orphanage because Will's father asked Halt to look after him right before he died saving Halt's life.