50 Fun Facts About Ranger's Apprentice

For whom did John Flanagan write the short stories that grew into the Ranger's Apprentice novels?

His son Michael, then twelve, was the audience: Flanagan wanted to get him reading, and made the hero small and agile like him to show that heroes need not be big.

John Flanagan based his Rangers on US Army Rangers and on the famous lawmen of which US state?

Texas gave him the Texas Rangers, and the US Army Rangers of World War II did the rest. He passed over the name Commandos because it would not suit a medieval setting.

Nihon-Ja, the empire Horace defends in Ranger's Apprentice, takes its name from which real country?

Japan, or Nihon-Koku, gave Flanagan the name. Horace travels there on a military mission and stays to defend the deposed Emperor Shigeru.

Which shaggy grey horse, barely bigger than a pony, does Will ride throughout Ranger's Apprentice?

Tug is bred for strength, stamina and intelligence and trained to answer a long list of commands. The name passes to each new horse Will rides.

Which false name does Princess Cassandra give Will and Horace while posing as a lady's maid?

Evanlyn is the name she goes on using for years whenever she wants to hide her rank. The truth comes out only when Horace reports to King Duncan.

Which charging animal does Will save Horace from, ending their feud in The Ruins of Gorlan?

A wild boar burst from its den and went straight for Horace, who slipped. Will drew it off, and Halt's arrow dropped it inches from the apprentice.

Which Castle Redmont apprenticeship, his first choice, is Will refused for being too small?

Battleschool was his first choice because he believed his father had been a brave knight. Baron Arald told him his talents lay in other directions.

Which metal is the oakleaf worn by a fully graduated Ranger such as Halt in Ranger's Apprentice?

Silver marks a full Ranger, while apprentices wear bronze. Will earns his at the end of Erak's Ransom, along with a surname of his own.

In which country was John Flanagan, author of Ranger's Apprentice, born and first published?

Australia got The Ruins of Gorlan in November 2004. At first the Sydney-born author's books were sold only there and in New Zealand.

At which ceremony are Castle Redmont's wards, including Will and Horace, assigned to a craftmaster?

Choosing Day sends each ward either to a craftmaster or out to work on the local farms. Will faces it at fifteen, an orphan with no surname.

What is the Ranger Corps' annual meeting, which Will first attends in The Ruins of Gorlan, called?

The Gathering is where Will meets Halt's former apprentice, and where word arrives that Morgarath's assassin beasts are loose in Araluen.

Which two ape-like beasts does Morgarath send into Araluen as assassins in The Ruins of Gorlan?

Kalkara are the pair Halt tracks to the ruined castle of the title. Baron Arald and Sir Rodney knock one into a fire, and Will's burning arrow kills the other.

Which hideous creatures form the army Morgarath leads against Araluen in The Burning Bridge?

Wargals have little will of their own, so Morgarath rules them by mind control. They fear only horses, and a cavalry charge breaks them on the plain.

Which neighbouring mining country are Will and Horace sent to for help in The Burning Bridge?

Celtica lies south-west of Araluen, and the two find every village deserted. Morgarath has carried off its miners to finish a tunnel through the cliffs.

Which addictive drug wrecks Will's mind while he is a captive of the Skandians in The Icebound Land?

Warmweed heats the body but ruins the mind, leaving Will dazed and obedient. Princess Cassandra cures him by cutting the dose a little at a time.

What is the capital of Skandia, where Will is put to work in the yard in The Icebound Land?

Hallasholm is where Princess Cassandra is sent to the kitchens while Will gets the yard, the deadliest work a captive can be given.

How does Halt get himself banished, freeing him to search for Will, in The Icebound Land?

Halt insults the King because the Corps has ordered him to stay behind. Duncan, a good friend, cuts the usual lifelong exile to a single year.

Besides stealth, which athletic skill comes naturally to the young Will in Ranger's Apprentice?

Climbing and stealth both serve him when he sneaks into a guarded tower at Castle Redmont, the stunt that ends with Halt taking him on.

Which trade does Will's wardmate Jenny learn under Master Chubb at Castle Redmont?

Cook is the calling Jenny follows all the way to a restaurant of her own. In The Lost Stories she fights off burglars who break into her house.

Which nomadic horse warriors from the east invade Skandia in the fourth Ranger's Apprentice book?

Temujai riders are masters of the recurve bow and had nearly conquered the west twenty years before. Halt had lived among them and knew their tactics.

Which title does Erak win by election after Ragnak dies of his wounds in The Battle for Skandia?

Oberjarl, the Skandians' supreme leader, is a job Erak soon tires of: the paperwork drives him to one last raid, the mistake behind Erak's Ransom.

Which surname is the orphan Will given when he graduates as a full Ranger in Erak's Ransom?

Treaty honours the peace he helped arrange between Araluen and Skandia years earlier. Until then nobody, Will included, knew his family name.

In The Battle for Skandia, which hundred men does Will train as an archer force for the Skandians?

Slaves were offered their freedom in return, a deal the Skandian ruler accepted only reluctantly. Their volleys took the invaders by surprise.

What does Will disguise himself as to investigate rumours of sorcery at Castle Macindaw?

A jongleur is a travelling entertainer, and people talk freely to one where they would clam up around a Ranger. Will's host calls him a very bad one.

Which rogue knight poisons Lord Syron and seizes Castle Macindaw in The Sorcerer in the North?

Keren had sold out to the Scotti, promising them a road into Araluen's northern fiefs for a share of the plunder. He dies falling from a tower window.

Which healer, feared as the sorcerer of Grimsdell Wood, later saves Halt from a poisoned wound?

Malcolm, also known as Malkallam, has taken in outcasts as his helpers and patients. Will rides to fetch him when Halt lies dying in Halt's Peril.

Which desert country does Erak raid on one last voyage, only to be captured, in Erak's Ransom?

Arrida holds him for ransom after his raiders walk into an ambush at Al Shabah. Princess Cassandra sails to bargain for him in her father's place.

What must Will win against the Bedullin rider Hassan to get his horse back in Erak's Ransom?

A race on horseback settles it, after a sandstorm separates horse and rider and Will runs out of water searching the desert. Hassan had found the stray and claimed him.

Which first mate of Erak arrives at Halt's wedding feast with news of his captain's capture?

Svengal believes a rival Skandian betrayed Erak, so he sails to Araluen for the ransom money instead of going home.

Which cult in The Kings of Clonmel offers villages protection from bandits it secretly controls?

The Outsiders trade that protection for gold, and had taken five of the country's six kingdoms before Halt, Will and Horace reached the last.

Which false prophet dies when Will collapses a cave on him and his followers in Halt's Peril?

Tennyson had a remarkable gift for speech and was preaching in catacombs near an Araluen village when the roof fell. All his cult's gold was buried with him.

Which country of six kingdoms, Clonmel among them, is the homeland of the Ranger Halt?

Hibernia is where Halt was Crown Prince of Clonmel, a past that only comes out when a cult threatens the kingdom he left behind.

How is King Ferris of Clonmel, killed by a hired assassin, related to the Ranger Halt?

Ferris was his twin, the younger of the two, and took the throne after several attempts on Halt's life drove the rightful heir away.

Which hired assassins wound Halt with poison while he chases a cult leader in Halt's Peril?

Genovesans left Halt with one of two near-identical poisons, and the wrong antidote would have killed him. Will had to capture the shooter to learn which it was.

Which Senshi warlord leads the coup against Emperor Shigeru in The Emperor of Nihon-Ja?

Arisaka believed he should have been named Emperor himself and feared Shigeru's reforms would end his class's power. Will kills him with a thrown blade.

Which woodcutters of Nihon-Ja, loyal to the Emperor, does Will train to fight in tight formations?

Kikori timber workers had long been looked down on by the warrior class. Will drilled them behind big wooden shields, copying tactics he had watched in Toscana.

Which animal is the forest demon Princess Cassandra helps kill in The Emperor of Nihon-Ja?

A snow tiger had been killing the Hasanu, mountain people covered in reddish fur, who would not cross its forest. Once it was dead they marched to the Emperor's aid.

Which tall, diplomatic Courier, raised in the same ward as Will, marries him in The Lost Stories?

Alyss gets Horace as best man at the wedding, with Will's horse and dog given places of honour. Even the gruff Halt breaks down and cries.

What rank did Will's father Daniel hold when he died saving Halt after the battle of Hackham Heath?

Sergeant Daniel stood over the stunned Halt and led the charge despite his wounds. As he lay dying he made Halt promise to look after his wife and baby.

Which former apprentice of Halt, a rare Ranger swordsman, later becomes the Corps Commandant?

Gilan was trained as a swordsman from boyhood because of his knight father, Sir David, but chose to become a Ranger instead.

Which weapon does Princess Maddie hunt with in secret before Will trains her in The Royal Ranger?

A sling stays in her kit alongside the usual Ranger weapons, and she becomes the first female apprentice in the history of the Corps.

Which companion series by John Flanagan follows Hal and a crew of young Skandian outcasts at sea?

Brotherband began in 2011 and is set in the same world as the Rangers, with a new cast. Its leader is a boy who is half Araluen and half Skandian.

Gallica, crossed by Halt and Horace in The Icebound Land, is based on which medieval country?

France in its age of chivalry supplied Gallica's name and language. Halt and Horace find it lawless and full of knights blocking the roads.

Which Ranger Commandant is the young Halt's partner in the prequel series The Early Years?

Crowley met Halt in a tavern brawl and found they had trained under the same mentor, Pritchard. Together they rebuilt a Corps that had grown corrupt.

Which gang leader starts the inn fire that kills Will's wife before The Royal Ranger begins?

Jory Ruhl turns out to be the Stealer in the Night, head of a ring that kidnaps children. Will sets revenge aside to free them before the two finally meet.

Which long-running television sitcom did John Flanagan co-create before writing Ranger's Apprentice?

Hey Dad..! ran on the Seven Network from 1987 to 1994, and Flanagan took a bow with the cast in the curtain call of its final episode.

What unusual shape is Castle Redmont, seat of the fief where Will grows up in Ranger's Apprentice?

Triangular Castle Redmont is still famous many years on: by the framing tale of The Lost Stories its ruins lie in Redman County, in the Republic of Aralan States.

What new name does Will's first horse take on retiring, wounded by a wolf, in The Lost Stories?

Bellerophon joins the breeding herd at Old Bob's ranch, where every Ranger horse's bloodline is kept. A near-identical young horse inherits the old name.

Which Oscar-winning Canadian filmmaker was in talks in 2008 to direct a film of The Ruins of Gorlan?

Paul Haggis was approached to adapt and direct after Warner Bros. optioned the rights. John Flanagan called the news overwhelming.

Which type of knife is Will's only weapon against a swordsman in the tower in The Siege of Macindaw?

Saxe in hand, Will is quickly overpowered by the swordsman, and survives only because the prisoner he came to rescue throws acid in the man's face.