Rangers Thunder from Down Under

This story originally appeared in Children's Bookshelf on May 3, 2007 Sign up now!

by Shannon Maughan, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 5/3/2007

Just when it looks like the market couldn't possibly welcome another fantasy series, the Ranger's Apprentice books by Australian author John Flanagan have come along and are making their mark in the genre. Readers and booksellers alike have embraced the chronicles of 15-year-old Will, who becomes apprentice to the mysterious and magical Rangers "with their dark cloaks and shadowy ways," in a mythical land, in yes, an epic battle of good and evil. Will's literal cloak-and-dagger adventures—fast-paced action involving knife throwing, archery and sophisticated surveillance methods—have captured the imagination of many readers.

John Flanagan

Flanagan, a former advertising executive and successful television writer in his native Oz, initially penned Will's exploits as a series of short stories to entice his own son to find reading enjoyable. The creative ploy worked; those early efforts were eventually turned into Ranger's Apprentice Book One: The Ruins of Gorlan, published by Random House Australia in late 2004. Penguin Young Readers Group's Philomel imprint released the first book in the U.S. in June 2005. Book Two: The Burning Bridge followed in June 2006. The third installment, The Icebound Land, comes out next month and Philomel is advancing 50,000 copies. At the same time, Puffin will bring out a paperback edition of The Burning Bridge. To date, combined U.S. sales of the first two titles have topped 200,000 copies.

According to Penguin Young Readers publicity director Rhalee Hughes, demand for Flanagan to do some in-person promotion Stateside has grown exponentially. Booksellers "have been crying for him," she notes. As a result, Penguin plans to bring him over for a two-week nationwide tour in spring 2008—to coincide with the publication of Book Four—which will wrap up at the Texas Library Association conference in mid-April.

Jewell Stoddard, director of the children's department at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C., is firmly on the Flanagan bandwagon. "They're quite different," she says of his books, which sell well in her store. "I like the relationships among the characters, and the suspense. The stories are a bit dark and you're not always sure who is the bad guy." Other booksellers on staff—including one true fantasy buff—have read and recommended the titles and Stoddard believes "the second one was stronger than the first, and that's not always the case. That bodes well for the series."

Flanagan is steadily gaining a global fan base. He still has a large and loyal following on his home turf, where the seventh book featuring Will and the Rangers is scheduled for publication this coming November, and rights to the series have been sold into 11 other international markets as well. Epic indeed.