The Ruins of Corlan is the first in an exciting series about Will and his friends from Castle Redmont.

Will is small for his age, but fast and quick-witted. All his life, he has dreamed of becoming a great knight like the father he never knew, so he is devastated when he is rejected by Castle Redmont's Battleschool. Instead he is apprenticed to Halt, the mysterious Ranger whose uncanny ability to move unseen is thought to be the result of black magic. Reluctantly, Will learns to use a Ranger's secret weapons: a bow and arrow, a mottled cloak and a stubborn little pony. It may not be the sword and battlehorse he longs for, but when Will and Halt set out on a desperate mission to prevent the assassination of the King, Will finds that a Ranger's weapons are not so useless after all ...

'The boy Will has the potential to be trained as a ranger. I will accept him as my apprentice.'

'This book was so good I couldn't put it down' Robere Rahme, age 12

'I couldn't get my eyes off the pages. it was too interesting to stop reading' Samantha Currie, age 11

'It was awesome! Edward Carr, age 12

Look out for the next Ranger's Apprentice adventure about Will and his friends from Castle Redmont: The Burning Bridge

John Flanagan began his working life in advertising before moving to freelance writing and script editing. He has written TV jingles and comedy-drama for television, and is one of Australia's more prolific TV writers.
John wrote the first book in The Ranger's Apprentice series to encourage his twelve-year-old son to enjoy reading. Michael was a small boy, and all his friends were bigger and stronger that he was. John wanted to show him that reading was fun, and heroes weren't necessarily big and muscular. Now in his mid-twenties, Michael is six feet tall, broad-shouldered and powerful - but he still loves The Ranger's Apprentice.
John lives in the beachside Sydney suburb of Manly.

2008-06-23 the rangers apprentice bk 1

i loved it. yo often find in books like this that they use swords or big weapons and i love the idea of using the bow instead i cant wait to read the next one