The Ruins of Gorlan
Plot
The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan is about Will, a ward at the Castle of Redmont in the kingdom of Araluen. A ward is a child who is raised by the Baron of Redmont’s generosity. The book starts out on the day before Choosing Day where the wards turning fifteen get apprenticed to different craft masters. Will is extremely nervous about this day because he believes that he doesn’t have the qualities and expectations for any of the crafts unlike his wardmates who already have a good idea of what they are going to be chosen for. What Will actually wants to be is a knight like his father who died before he was born in the war against Morgarath, the Black Lord. The only thing is Will knows that he probably will not be picked for Battleschool, the place where the knights are trained, because he never had his growth spurt. When Choosing Day finally dawns, all of Will’s wardmates are chosen, but he is not. He actually finds out his chosen craft when he decides to sneak into the Baron’s room to see a scrap of paper the Ranger, Halt, gave to the Baron. Will finds out that he has been chosen to become a Ranger’s apprentice. During the next few months, Will embarks on a journey of learning a Ranger’s ways. He learns how to use a Ranger’s weapons like recurve bows, use his surroundings to camouflage himself, and track both people and animals. Also he gets his own Ranger horse named Tug. During this time, Will also becomes friends with Horace, his former enemy and wardmate, due to a near-death experience. After learning as much as he could in a short period of time, Will and Halt travel to the Ranger’s Gathering where Will is to be tested to see if he is worthy of becoming a real apprentice Ranger. However, the Gathering is suddenly cancelled because of news that Morgorath is planning another uprising against the kingdom. Will learns that Morgarath is using two deadly Kalkara, monsters that are almost invincible and can hypnotize a person with their eyes, to destroy Araluen. Halt, Will, and Halt’s former apprentice, Gilan, decide to track these beasts and kill them. After determining that they are going to intercept the Kalkara at the Gorlan Ruins, Halt decides to follow the monsters while Will rides to Castle Redmont to fetch help using both his and Gilan’s horses. This meant that Gilan would follow Halt on foot till he could find another horse. So, Will fetches the Baron and Sir Rodney and rides with them to the Gorlan Ruins to help Halt kill the Kalkara. They arrive just in the nick of time and find Halt battling the Kalkara and in severe need of help. Both of the knights help too, but it is Will who really saves the day. He uses his mind to come up with a brilliant plan to get rid of the monsters once and for all, and it works. The shrill cries of the beasts are heard and then all is quiet. The Kalkara are finally dead.
Recurve Bow
