John Flanagan

John Flanagan is an Australian author whose Ranger's Apprentice series — following an orphaned boy who trains as a medieval ranger — has sold more than fifteen million copies and is among the most popular YA adventure series of the past two decades.

John Flanagan originally wrote the Ranger’s Apprentice stories for his son Michael, who he felt was not represented in the fantasy fiction aimed at young male readers. He began writing what became the series around 2000, eventually publishing The Ruins of Gorlan (2004) in Australia to immediate success. The series follows Will, an orphan who wants to become a knight but is instead apprenticed to the mysterious Ranger Halt, learning the arts of surveillance, archery, and tracking in a medieval-inspired world.

The series now runs to twelve main volumes, plus the companion series The Royal Ranger (beginning 2013) which follows a female protagonist. Flanagan’s particular skill is in pacing and in the relationship between Will and Halt — a mentor-mentee dynamic that evolves as Will grows from adolescent to capable young adult. The books are adventure fiction of the conventional kind: quests, battles, sieges, and tournaments, rendered with enough detail to feel real and enough economy to maintain pace.

Flanagan also wrote the Brotherband Chronicles, a companion series set in a Scandinavian-inspired culture within the same world. Both series have been particularly successful with reluctant young male readers — boys who don’t typically read for pleasure but who find in Flanagan’s adventure-focused prose a kind of storytelling that holds their attention. He has received recognition from Australian literacy organizations for his contribution to encouraging reading among young people who might otherwise not engage with it.