Title: Ruins of Gorlan (LT)
Author: John Flanagan
Series?: Ranger’s Apprentice book 1.
Basic Reason for Beginning: Memory loves this series to bits and pieces, as do a few acquaintances. So when I saw a copy of the first book, I decided to snatch it up and give the book a try.
Basic Reason for Finishing: Didn’t, sorry.
Texture: Like being tossed about against rocks in a strong current.
Blurb: Will is an orphan. On the day he turns 15 his future will be decided for him at the Choosing. Will, desperately wants to be a warrior, a knight, but fate, it seems, has other plans for him as he gets apprenticed to the ranger Halt. (And then, presumably, adventures were had at some point.)
Book Rereadability: Well, I didn’t finish it, so none.
Author Rereadability: None, sorry.
Recommendation: I’d be copping out if I said ‘children’, I think. Besides, all the people whom I know loved this series were adults. If, however, you’re a prose-snob like yours truly, I can’t see you enjoying it. You’ll probably want to take red markers to it and rewrite the whole thing.
Pages: 101/280
ISBN: 9780440867388
Challenges: None.
Thoughts, Burbles, Etc
Remember! As I haven’t read the whole book, I can only comment on what I read. Disclaimer out of the way… You can probably guess I have loads of problems with this book. There’ll be good stuff after the bad, don’t worry.
I’ll start with the prose. It’s kind of like I write it, I suppose, – although I hope I do less telling and less Random Paragraph POV Switches – and it’s exactly the kind of prose I never, ever, ever want to write, not even if my life depended on writing it. (Okay, maybe I would want to write it then. A little.) I’m not going to go into detail. Just know there’s more telling than my poor brain is capable of dealing with without red markers.
Then there were a few things that bugged me. The stereotyping for one. Horace is big and strong for his age, therefore he must become a knight. Jenny is chubby and loves food therefore she must become a cook. Will is small and agile and curious therefore he must become a Ranger. There are no ifs or buts about this. It is a Fact of Life. (Also, I know the chubby/round cooks thing is a fantasy trope, but in light of all the other stereotyping going on, all it accomplished was making me feel insulted.)
And then there was the bullying of Horace. I know, if I read on, I might well find a reason for it – and, anyway, the different, outsidery ones always get the bullying – but it just felt like the only reason it was in there was to be gratuitous.
Aaaand… that’s as far as I got, really, before I decided that if the story didn’t pull me in more in the chapter with the 100th page in it I’d put it down. As you can see, it didn’t.
Now, I’d been warned a little of the stereotyping and trope-usage and been assured that the series/story gets a lot better. I have a TBR pile of almost 200 books, though, and bookshelves that are overflowing. I’m sorry, but I just don’t want to commit to a book I’m not feeling any connection to.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s move onto the good stuff.
Flanagan almost, almost managed a voice compelling enough for me to continue. (With this prose, trust me, that’s a feat.) Here’s the thing – if the prose had been better-written, I’d probably have continued reading it. (Granted, I’m willing to wager – small amounts! – that kids wouldn’t love it so much either if that were the case.)
Things like the stereotyping Bothered me, sure, but I have a feeling – and I’m a little shamed to admit it – it only bothered me because it was so very, very noticeable. Flanagan even draws attention to it (just in case you missed it) in the one scene I mentioned. I’m happily oblivious to my cooks being a size plus by default otherwise. The book – or what I read of it – would have been so, so much better (and more Shanra-friendly) if only Flanagan had trusted his readers to figure out stuff on their own. Kind of like how Halt wants to teach Will to figure stuff out on his own. It’d have been a neat parallel, imo, that’s just wholly missing. (Unless, of course, I’m blind, which I might well be.)
Er… Sorry. I said good stuff. The trouble is, all of the good stuff are things I want to send back with red markers too because I think they could have been terrific stuff. You know how much that kills me in a book. (Or, if you didn’t, you know now.)
The world-building, once you get into it a little, is intriguing and just different enough to be engaging. I like the stealth – the rangers’ job description was trying to hook me too. I liked the (very few) scenes where we get to see Will solve problems on his own (through showing us, not telling). I liked the mystery behind Halt and what we could glimpse of his personality. Flanagan handled those glimpses admirably, telling and all. I liked the feeling that there was a real age gap between Will and Halt. Will felt like a teenage boy. Really, there’s a lot of potential there. What little we – well I, I suppose, for all I’m using the plural here – saw of the other children showed some nice chemistry between them. Horace comes into his own some more during the drilling, I think. Wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up standing up to his bullies. (With fists, mind.) But that’s speculation.
I know. I know, this is just a paltry summation of what I did like and suffers horribly from under-clarification and substantialisation to boot. I know, but if I try, I’ll only end up undermining all I’m trying to say and that’s no good.
I can see why people love the books. Well, this one, anyway. It’s a fast-paced, adventure story that seems to combine everything from Famous Five like romps to espionage, to descriptive fighting scenes, to mysteries, to magic and heroism, to finding one’s place and accepting oneself, to being a teen, or at least a not-yet-adult. And possibly also questing. *didn’t get that far* It’s got kids and situations people can relate to. It’s got interesting insights into adult-reasoning – which I as a child would probably have appreciated myself. Really, there’s a lot to like in there, and this is only half the book! (Presumably before the adventure really gets started.)
The trouble I have with it, really, is the prose. I am a prose-snob. (I blame my internal editor. I don’t think it has an off-button.) And this prose? Just doesn’t deliver. It is far below the standard I’ve come to enjoy and expect. So, there you have it. Promising premise and plot but spotty execution, and if the prose doesn’t flow… Shanras stop reading. If the prose had agreed with me more I’d probably have whipped through this.
Other Reviews
Ready When You Are, C.B.
(Awww, I was really hoping Mem’d a review for this one tucked away somewhere I hadn’t found it yet…)
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