Review: The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan (YA Book)

With all the talk lately about YA books and their quality (or lack there-of), I decided to check out some YA books to form an opinion of my own. The first book I settled on was The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan. Its the first book in the Rangers Apprentice series. The 5th book just came out in the US, but more are available overseas. If you click on the Amazon widget, you can go to the book page for the description/plot overview.

Scale used below: 1 terrible, 3 avg, 5 great

Originality: 3
While there is nothing groundbreaking here, its not just dwarves, elves and magic. There really isnt much magic to speak of, and most of the characters are human. The main character, Will, is a Ranger's apprentice. There is also Halt the Ranger, and Horace the Warrior apprentice. Most of the story follows the growth of Will as he matures (he is in his mid teens) and learns Ranger skills. There is also the threat of an invasion to overthrow the king. Fairly standard stuff, but just well done enough to save it from being below avg in this category.

Worldbuilding: 4
First off, this isnt Abercrombie, Martin, or Ruckley level stuff. However, I still thought the worldbuilding was above avg, especially considering this book is pre-teen (technically, its not even YA). The "evil" usurper (my term to define the bad guy, not the books term) had previously failed in a similiar attempt 16 years prior. At various times, we get more details about this failure, which helps build depth and history in the world. Plus, as part of Will's Ranger training, he is questioned about his background in history, which fills in other aspects of the world. And being a Ranger, Will and Halt do a lot of traveling, which gives the reader glimpses into various parts of the world. While the worldbuilding isnt complex, it is well done.

Characterization: 4
Yep, personally I thought the characterization was one of the better parts of the book. All of the characters are likeable, yet they also have flaws. Part of the story for the series is Will's coming of age. Being around 15, he still has maturing and learning to do. I liked how this was handled. He isn't a know it all, or a perfect student. While he does do well in his training, he does have weaknesses. Even better, you don't forget he is a 15 year old, as he has times when he acts like a typical teenager. While more of a side character, Horace, Will's friend, has some maturing to do himself. Both Will and Horace experience situations any teen can relate to, and both react to them in a believable manner. As the book progresses, we see each of them mature at a believable rate. Halt, the Ranger, also has a sense of solidity, and you can see some minor changes in his taciturn manner due to the presence of Will in his life.

Fun Factor: 4
The biggest thing I can say is that this doesnt feel like a YA book, much less a 7-12 year old reader targeted book. While it isn't aimed directly at the adult crowd, I would think many adults would have fun reading it. While the quality is better than the following titles, it does have a similiar tone to: Dragonlance, Sword of Shanarra, Belgariad. Again, I am not comparing this book to those, just saying that this book is written at the same "age level" as those. I honestly don't see how the writing in this book is any "younger" than those books mentioned above. I will say that you have to be in the mood for one of those types of books to enjoy this one. That said, this was, to put it simply, a nice enjoyable read. And sometimes (a lot of times for me, actually), that is all you need.

Final Recommendation:
If you want dark and bloody battles, with cursing and sex, this obviously won't appeal to you. But I liked it quite a bit. This is a busy time of year, and I was just looking for some fun, mindless entertainment. Luckily, that is exactly what this book provides. If you are in the mood for an old-fashioned epic fantasy, I would give this a shot. It really was a pretty good read, and didn't feel "dumbed-down" to appeal to youngsters. If it means anything, i later purchased book 1 again in hardcover, as well as the next 3 in hardcover. From what I understand, the first 4 books sorta form a series, with book 5 taking place a few years after book 4. I'm not totally positive of that, but I'm pretty sure that's true. I guess I will find out when I finish book 4!