The Tournament at Gorlan

Ranger’s Apprentice: The Early Years #1

by John Flanagan

When Halt and Crowley discover that the ambitious Morgarath has been infiltrating the Rangers in order to corrupt the Corps, the young Rangers travel north to find Prince Duncan, seeking a royal warrant to stop Morgarath before it is too late. By weakening the Rangers, the most powerful force in support of the King, Morgarath plans to steal the throne.

Yet when Halt and Crowley arrive in Gorlan, they discover just how close Morgarath’s scheme is to success. Morgarath has a plan to discredit the Prince and alienate him from his father. At the same time, the Baron of Gorlan has been conspiring to win the trust and admiration of the Council of Barons to further his plan. If the young Rangers are to prevent the coup from succeeding, they will have to tread a dangerous path, which leads them to a thrilling climax at the annual tournament at Gorlan, where a series of bitter duels must be fought and won.

This origin story brings readers to a time before Will was an apprentice, and lays the groundwork for the epic battles that will culminate with The Ruins of Gorlan and The Burning Bridge—Books 1 and 2 of the Ranger’s Apprentice series.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Adventure, Fiction, Middle Grade, Action, Audiobook

364 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2015

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

For mysteries by this same author, see John A. Flanagan.

John Flanagan grew up in Sydney, Australia, hoping to be a writer. It wasn't until he wrote a highly uncomplimentary poem about a senior executive at the agency where he worked, however, that his talent was revealed. It turned out one of the company directors agreed with John's assessment of the executive, and happily agreed to train John in copywriting.

After writing advertising copy for the next two decades, John teamed with an old friend to develop a television sitcom, Hey Dad!, which went on to air for eight years.

John began writing Ranger's Apprentice for his son, Michael, ten years ago, and is still hard at work on the series.

He currently lives in a suburb of Manly, Australia, with his wife. In addition to their son, they have two grown daughters and four grandsons.

Reviews

[Tricia Mingerink · Rating 4 out of 5]

For once, a prequel that doesn't ruin the magic of the series or flop or be downright boring because the readers already know what's happening. More than that, this prequel managed a few surprises (Halt's first meeting with Pauline is absolutely epic!) instead of sounding like it was checking off the answers to a list of questions.

[Cassandra Lynn Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forgot how much I loved this story! (2022)

[Kačaba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Přátelé, pokud znáte Hraničářova učně, znáte Halta.
Pokud znáte Halta, milujete ho.
Pokud ho milujete, je pro vás tato knížka nutností. ;)



Když jsem se dozvěděla, že má The Tournament at Gorlan vyjít:
omg
OMG
Yeeeeeeees!

[Eline · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many feels. SO. MANY. FEELS.
What do you mean, there's no release date yet for the second installment of the prequel duology? WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOT CERTAIN HOW LONG I'LL HAVE TO WAIT?!

Goshdarnit.

Een recensie vol met mijn emoties vind je hier: http://www.allthefeels.nl/8/boekrecen...

[Nara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can hazard a guess that if I were to ask every Ranger's Apprentice fan who their top five characters were, Halt would make at least 90% of the lists. He's definitely a well loved character, and when I heard about this prequel series that would be centred around him, I was quite excited.

I have to admit, this book wasn't really what I expected (this is what I get for not reading blurbs). I thought it'd be about how Halt and Crowley were trained and how they met each other and developed a great friendship. In reality, they were already friends at the start of the book, and it's more about the start of their quest to defeat Morgarath. Which I guess was actually a good thing, because we've basically already had the whole training/apprentice spiel already with the original Ranger's Apprentice series, and probably don't need to see it a second time with Halt/Crowley.

There's still the same sharp, dry humour that's typical of John Flanagan, and of course, we still have the fantastic characters. The only thing is...I thought that Halt would be younger, more inexperienced, maybe even immature...but he's basically exactly the same as he is in the original series. Same with everyone else. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing; it just wasn't what I was expecting.

All in all, this was a pretty good book that really captured the spirit of the original Ranger's Apprentice series. While it might not be as good as the original, it's definitely a series that you should consider picking up if you liked the original in any way at all.

Ratings
Overall: 8/10
Plot: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
World Building: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 1.5/5

[Atlas · Rating 3 out of 5]

* * *
3 / 5

~mini review~

Ah, Ranger's Apprentice, one of my favourite childhood series. On the one hand this was very nostalgic: it features Halt and Crowley in their younger years, shooting arrows and being badass, which I liked quite a lot. There was also the fun extra additions of the Baron of Redmont and Lady Pauline. On the other hand, the plot was rather lacking in comparison to some of the other books and the cast was quite large, featuring about twelve rangers, making hard to connect with anyone beyond Halt and Crowley. I wasn't particularly impressed by either Prince Duncan or King Oswald, but loved the nostalgic factor of the book.

Read more of my book reviews on my blog: http://atlasrisingbooks.wordpress.com

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the ambitious Baron Morgarath plots to take the throne, he starts by discrediting and destroying the King's Ranger Corp. Halt and Crowley discover this plot and move to protect the King and the Prince. But the Baron's scheming is much farther along that either Ranger has imagined. The questions is, are the Rangers too late to save the crown?

I can't imagine how hard it must be to write a book about characters that you know are in no real danger because they are existing characters in a later series. Despite this, the story was engaging and exciting. As with all of John Flanagan's books, it was great getting lost in the Ranger's Apprentice world again. I'm looking forward to more books in this series.

[Jemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good! Even if you were dissapointed by the Royal Ranger, you'll probably like this one!



I got a signed copy for Christmas! :D Feel free to be jealous

[Otylia · Rating 5 out of 5]

klasyczna fantastyka ale serio genialnie zrobiona, bardzo dobrze i szybko się czyta <33

[- ̗̀ jess ̖́- · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Ranger's Apprentice books so much - at least, the first 10. After the Royal Ranger I made the decision to stop reading the series - as well as the Brotherband books - but this one had Halt, and Crowley, and, well. I had to. And I'm so glad I did. This doesn't have quite the charm of the original series, or the complexity and the humor. I miss young Will and Horace and old grumpy Halt (though young grumpy Halt isn't much different). But I have to accept that their time is up and their stories will always make me laugh, cry, and entertain me.

Until then, it seems like there's going to be a new series. And I might actually check out Brotherband. I'm just going to pretend that The Royal Ranger doesn't exist.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really awesome to go back to the good old days with Halt and Crowley and their constant sass and endless hilarity. The story was fun and didn't have any slow/boring parts, it flowed really well and kept me wanting to know what happened next the whole way through. I loved the way all the characters were written and developed and it was cool so see what Halt was like before he met Will. Pauline and Halt's first meeting was hilarious and there were many great moments. Excellent story, can't wait to see what John Flanagan has planned next.... personally, i would LOVE to see a story about Gilan's days as a Ranger's Apprentice with Halt.

[Skip · Rating 4 out of 5]

A prequel to the Ranger's Apprentice series, starring Halt and Crowley. In this book, they seek out other Rangers. who have been summarily dismissed by the King, but in reality by the throne-seeking Morgarath. Morgarath has also kidnapped Prince Duncan and hired an impostor to raid nearby lands and discredit Duncan. Crowley, while young emerges as the future leader of the Rangers Corp, and along with Halt's help, bring matters to a head at the tournament with Baron Arald and Morgarath in an exciting showdown. While it was a good buddy book, Flanagan's other beloved characters are missing from this new series, and the supporting cast did not measure up (yet.)

[Marcin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ta książka miała dużo akcji ,bardzo mi się spodobała i historia głównego bohatera jest bardzo interesująca zakończenie zachęciło mnie po sięgnięcie po drugą część . Bardzo polecam!

[❃ Julka ❃ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Halt i Crowley >>>

To jest właśnie coś za co pokochałam Zwiadowców — sarkazm i posępność Halta, zabawne żarciki Crowleya i Aralda no i ten miks sprytu i błyskotliwości. Coś pięknego.

[Koen]

Beetje ontgroeid vrees ik. Wel weer leuk het oude verhaal mee te maken. Ga hem geen sterren geven, want dan kom je voor dilemma's te staan: beoordelen we hem als 10- of al 23-jarige?

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 2 out of 5]

As far as prequels went, this book had some things going for it. Usually I find prequels somewhat depressing because it has to end up in a sticky situation where the first book starts and the inevitability of that is emotionally unrewarding and wearing. This one managed that pretty well all in all...we couldn't have the entirely happy ending but there was a positive feel to the book and a sense that even not entirely successful struggles now, set up later successes (which by now the reader knows about), in that sense it was a pro-struggle book and avoided tragedy dominating the mood.

My issue with these books from the start has been gender, although in the original series I felt that author was at least trying hard to be a little bit informed by feminism. In this one on the other hand, there is really no female character at all (backgrounded wives and "ladies" in folksongs are mentioned but don't really act) until page 206 where Halt falls in instalove with the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. She returns his love for no real reason except that without him having to prove himself in any way everyone in the book automatically notices how special he is (sort of a male Mary-Sue without the looks). Unlike his male mates, she does not even give him a hard time, nor does Pauline really do anything for the rest of the book. We are told she is intelligent, brave and has an important role as a "courier" but we only really know what that is from other books.

And that is it. I think maybe one of the lords has a wife who objects to him acting blokey and he tells her to shut up (or something) but there are no real female characters ANYWHERE. The rangers engage in humour and behaviours that you would expect from adolescent boys who have been brought up within a very limited view of masculinity (eg an expensive single-sex school)- there is a lot of violence and put-downs and friendship is expressed through low-level bullying. Which might serve as humour if it was not so overused, and if there was any other emotional possibility in an interaction somewhere in the book (I am not saying they need to talk about their "feelings" or cry...but something other than the macho stuff somewhere would be refreshing).

I would look past some of the gender stuff (and confine myself to a waspish comment) for an adults book but I think in a series aimed so squarely at boys it is a very serious flaw and indicates that the author might have fallen into the pop-psychology trap (which goes against some of the original intent of Will being something other than a boof-head). Boys NEED to read about girls being equal and boys being kind...there is little enough of that for them (also the plot of this book could appeal to girls as well as boys with slightly better characterisation). The stuff about boys hate cleanliness, grooming and manners is a stereotype that almost verges on the homophobic. To be fair this book is no worse than many others written for kids, and perhaps better than some.

Morgarath as the bad guy is unambiguously bad and somewhat two-dimensional but up to a point that works for me. I don't want to relate to him or pity him I am glad for him to be just Baddy McBadface! I find it difficult to believe in the "charm" he is said to show to gain control over people, he seems not sufficiently in control of his feelings to be able to even fake charm and I am surprised that people around him don't see what he is doing more, it seems unlikely. I don;t understand why his mistreated servants who like Arald better engage in a deception on his behalf that they can have no sort of a reward for or punishment if they fail. A reason for this odd behaviour is not even proposed.

All in all there is a fair amount of action that is reasonably readable (that is high praise for any action sequence coming from me), some of the humour is mildly amusing and if my kids buy any more of these I may dip into another one sooner or later. But a few real female characters, and fewer male stereotypes would be a vast improvement.

[Lorien · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely one of my favorite books of the year, and definitely my favorite book by John Flanagan. Don't get me wrong, I love Brotherband, but returning to Ranger's Apprentice with some of my favorite characters now my age, facing the first villain was just awesome. Also this is his funniest book yet, and one of the funniest books I've ever read.

While most of his books are rather predictable, this had enough twists to keep me interested even though I knew the outcome of several major events. I had to step away for a second to remind myself of the outcome because I was getting worried for some of our characters!

This was John Flanagan at his best, and I can't wait to continue into this world!

[doma. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Zaczynałam tą książkę z dość negatywnym nastawieniem, jednak byłam gotowa na wielkie zaskoczenie. Niestety, bawiłam się okropnie.

Widać, że autor miał pomysł, genialny plan, to miało być wielkie "wow". Jednak w trakcie tworzenia, fabuła straciła całkiem swój potencjał.

Historia nie wyróżniająca się pośród innych fantastyk, nie wciągająca fabuła, przeciętne postaci.

Nudziłam się.

[Darth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chociaż płakanie ze śmiechu podczas czytania Zwiadowców to norma, to ta część jest rekordzistką.
Jedna z najlepszych pod w sumie każdym względem

[Igniss · Rating 4 out of 5]

fajne, pozdrawiam

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid Middle Grades historical fiction/fantasy. I would have loved this when I was younger.

[Karol · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 🌟

Podobała mi się postać Halta oraz jego przyjaźń z Crowleyem i ich strategia. Fajny był też spryt Morgaratha i jego pojedynek z Araldem oraz cały turniej. Polecam!

[Aleksandra Jagielska · Rating 5 out of 5]

jak ktoś z was będzie miał dzieci - dajcie im zwiadowców
od zawsze na zawsze w moim sercu<3

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I was a little hesitant about reading this, to be honest. See, I love the Ranger's Apprentice series. It's one of my all time Top 10. But I was a bit less enamoured with the Brotherband stories, and I wasn't sure what kind of quality we would be getting here.

But I love Halt - I mean, who doesn't? - and I couldn't pass up the chance to read more about his earlier years.

And I'm glad I did.

Now, I will say, that in my heart-of-hearts, I'd probably say this 3.5 is more properly rounded down to 3 stars instead of up to 4. It was slow to get going, and I couldn't tell how much someone not familiar with the characters would get from the way they were introduced. I couldn't really decide if I'd say this is a good place to enter the series.

Conversely, the fact that I knew what was going to happen and where everyone ended up after this story took some of the bite out of the climax.

That said -

I did enjoy reading about the younger Halt, who is much like the Halt we know, but also slightly different.

Even more I felt like we learned a lot more about Crowley than we ever did from the series.

The moment that really cinched it for me was seeing the meeting of Halt and Pauline. I was in stitches! Again, I can't say how much of this was predicated on what I already know of them... but I *loved* this scene so much, and it's a large part of why I bumped the book up to 4.

That and I did enjoy the big confrontation bit at the end, even with the whole knowing what was going to happen thing.

All-in-all I didn't love this quite as much as my intro into RA, but I found it an enjoyable addition to the mythos.

[Maleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Audio) Whipped this one out. Loved it all naturally. So fun to see the younger versions of Halt and Crowley. The only annoying thing was that young Crowley sounds exactly like Will. Oh well, it's hard to read for so many people and honestly Keating does a great job with all those Rangers.
The cutest part ever was Lady Pauline and Halt noticing each other. Adorable.
Off to put the next one on my queue.

[rachel, x · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing read, but not as good as the original series IMO.

[Werka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genialna książka

[Karen ⊰✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so excited to see this prequel series and it didn't disappoint. Although one of the charms of the Ranger Apprentice series was the relatonship between Holt and Will, in this series we get to see the same development between Holt and Crawley ; and also Holt and Duncan.

Although a prequel, I think this is still entirely readable if you haven't read the Ranger's Apprentice books first. There may be some nuances that you don't quite get why it is so humorous (like seeing Holt be introduced to his horse for the first time), but I don't think it would feel like you were missing information.

Unfortunately Zappa hasn't come back to narrate these books, but the new narrator, Piers Wehner, is very good. My only criticism is that he pronounces Morgarath as "more-gayr-ath" whereas in the other books Zappa says "more-garath". It's a small thing, but makes it strange for people (like me) who have listened to all of these books on audio :)

[Yas · Rating 5 out of 5]

در پیشگفتار کتاب نوشته این کتاب ادامه یکی از داستان‌های جلد 11 هست و خلاصه‌ای از اون داستان رو هم گفته. در واقع این‌ کتاب به زمان آشنایی و سال‌های جوانی هالت و کراوالی برمی‌گرده و همچنین شاهد حضور مورگاراث هستیم؛ اینکه قبلا کی بوده و چه کارهایی کرده.

کتاب از نظر ایده و ماجراجویی عالی بود و از جهاتی نسبت به مجموعه اصلی برام شگفت‌انگیزتر بود. شخصیت‌پردازی مثل همیشه خاص و خب اینکه شاهد جوانی خیلی از کارکترهای مجموعه اصلی بودیم خیلی جالب و سوپرایزکننده بود. دیالوگ‌ها نیاز به تعریف ندارن🥲 فان و خاص و پر غرور(وقتی که درباره رنجرها بود)
پایانش غم‌انگیز بود💔
و البته کلیت داستان در جلد بعدی ادامه داره.

تاحدی پیشنهاد می‌کنم (اگر می‌تونید)، اول این مجموعه (سال‌های اولیه) رو بخونید و بعد رنجر سلطنتی(جلد ۱۲).

[Chrystopher’s Archive · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's funny how this author has such an infallible instinct for setting up ships that I hate. Then again the ship in this one is basically the exact same as the one in Ruins of Gorlan just with the previous generation because THEY'RE ALL BASICALLY THE SAME PEOPLE.

Whatever, I've already queued up the next book.