The Ruins of Gorlan

Rated: 3.5/5

An easy to read, fun-filled adventure with likable characters. Fast paced and well written. As it is written for a younger audience, I wasn't impressed with the presentation of the character–as they seem to all be masters already at such a young age, without much effort–and I would have liked more conflict between the characters and especially in the climactic ending, I wish it would have gone on a bit longer than it did.

I'm giving this 2 stars, but let me be clear, it's not because it's not a good book. I can tell that if I had read this when younger, I would have devoured it and absolutely loved the series. It's very good for a fantasy YA, but I think my personal tastes, now that I'm an adult, run in a different direction. There were too many things that felt like plot holes to me (the big bad villain has been exiled in a wasteland for 15 years, yet they talk about how he's hiring lots of mercenaries who will work for anyone who gives them lots of money - where is he getting this money?! He's exiled, alone! etc) and the story was enjoyable but very predictable, and the characters were fairly stereotypical and didn't have much depth. All that said, if you like YA fantasy, or you have younger kids/teenagers who like fantasy, I think this will be a very enjoyable read for you.

Overview: A good adventure and an excellent introduction to epic fantasy for a younger reader. A short cozy read for a more experienced reader

This book was given to me as a gift by some awesome young people, and I'm very grateful as it was a really good fun read. The story follows Will, an orphan boy who has been brought up as a “Castle Ward”. It is time for “The Choosing”, a ceremony in which he will be chosen by a guild for training. Poor Will is too small to be of much use to anyone, he thinks, until he he selected by the local Ranger for training. Adventures ensue...