The Ruins of Gorlan
by John Flanagan
★ Top 5 book of 2004 · #3 on Best Books of 2004
Fifteen-year-old Will, small for his age, is picked as apprentice to one of the feared, cloaked Rangers, who secretly protect the kingdom. He arrives just as the exiled Morgarath gathers forces to attack.
Best for: Young readers who like apprenticeship adventures, kingdoms under threat, and battles to come
The Ruins of Gorlan is #3 on BookWard's Best Books of 2004, out of 48 2004 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Ruins of Gorlan is about
Fifteen-year-old Will lives in Redmont Fief and dreams of joining Battleschool, sure that his father was a brave knight. Instead he is apprenticed to Halt, a Ranger, and given a horse named Tug. Rangers are the kingdom's intelligence group, skilled with long-range weapons and at staying unseen, and the villagers fear them, believing they use magic to turn invisible.
Meanwhile, Morgarath, the exiled lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, has waited fifteen years for revenge on the Kingdom of Araluen, and he rallies Wargals as soldiers and strange ape-like Kalkara as assassins. Will's friends from the fief, including Horace, Alyss, George and Jenny, are finding their own paths, and Horace faces bullies at Battleschool. This first Ranger's Apprentice novel by Australian author John Flanagan began as short stories written to encourage his son to read. It is a fast-paced adventure about friendship, courage and growing up.
The Ruins of Gorlan on the Best Books of 2004
The Ruins of Gorlan came out in 2004. Of the 48 books first published in 2004 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #3 on our Best Books of 2004 list.
Why it made the list: 458 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.1 out of 5 (42 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2004 list
- Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeffry P. Lindsay, #1
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens Robert T. Kiyosaki, #2
- Alexander Hamilton Ron Chernow, #4
- Blink Malcolm Gladwell, #5
See all Best Books of 2004 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2003 Best Books of 2005.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 375 want to read it, 17 are reading it now and 66 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.1 out of 5 from 42 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 90 | 55% |
| Reader love | 77 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 79 | 20% |
Questions about The Ruins of Gorlan
When was The Ruins of Gorlan published?
The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan was first published in 2004.
Was The Ruins of Gorlan one of the best books of 2004?
The Ruins of Gorlan is #3 on BookWard's Best Books of 2004, out of 48 2004 books that cleared our data bar. 458 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.1 out of 5 (42 ratings).
Why is The Ruins of Gorlan on the Best Books of 2004 list?
458 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.1 out of 5 (42 ratings).
More of the best books of 2004
- Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeffry P. Lindsay, #1
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens Robert T. Kiyosaki, #2
- Alexander Hamilton Ron Chernow, #4
- Blink Malcolm Gladwell, #5
- She Comes First Ian Kerner, #6
- The Plot Against America Philip Roth, #7
See the full Best Books of 2004, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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