ERAK'S RANSOM

by John Flanagan

  * Gilan is Halt's former apprentice and is the only Ranger who carries a sword. Gilan is tall and humorous, in sharp contrast to his former master. He is also good with dealing with people, making them feel at ease with the tall Ranger. He also tries to cover up fears and worries with more humorous and seemingly uncaring attitude, mainly to calm people down. He is the ranger for Meric Fief, although he is moved to Norgate in The Siege of Macindaw and later moved to Whitby during the Ranger's Gathering in book eight. He owns a horse named Blaze. Gilan wants to travel with Halt to rescue Will in the third book, but Halt does not allow him to. Gilan is one of the junior Rangers, though one of the best unseen movers. Gilan's father and Halt were good friends, which was why Gilan wanted to become a Ranger. Gilan appears in the first, second, third, seventh and eighth books, and mentioned in the sixth book.

  * Erak is the Skandian Oberjarl and is in charge of his wolfship, Wolfwind. Erak appears in the second, third, fourth books. He is captured and held at ransom in the seventh. He is originally seen in the Wargals camp eating meat with Svengal, Nordel and a few other Skandians, who later capture Will and Evanlyn. He is a typical mercenary but he isn't a cold blooded killer like most Skandians. He is a fearsome opponent, and wields a large battleaxe. He later becomes Skandian Oberjarl in the end of book four.

  * Evanlyn/Cassandra is a mysterious girl Will meets in Celtica, and she is later revealed to be the Princess Cassandra. Evanlyn, the person she is pretending to be, is actually her late maid and friend. She is pretty, blonde and very brave as is proven when she takes command of the fifty or so remaining archers after the skandian line is breached. She is familiar with politics and military strategies, but not survival skills. She appears in the second, third, fourth and seventh books.

  * When Will and Evanlyn travelled and fought together through celtica, and later imprisoned in Skandia, they developed a strong bond with each other. It was even hinted that Evanlyn held a love for Will, however this never had a chance to develop or be reciprocated as when they returned home their relationship suffered due to their separate callings and way of life. Evanlyn is described as being very determined, brave and on occasions stubborn. She is beautiful, tomboyish and fiercly loyal. On the first meeting between Will, Horace and Evanlyn, she shows little survival or fighting skills- being accustomed to the comfort of royalty and castle life. However as the series develops, she proves herself to be a skillful fighter armed with her weapon of choice- a sling. This is particularly evident during her travels in Arridi and her calm leadership in battle is shown during the battle for skandia.This leadership strength will make her a great queen when that day comes.

  * Morgarath, The Lord of Rain and Night is the former Baron of Gorlan, who is rebelling against King Duncan. He is said to be an expert swordsman but this is questionable when he is defeted by Horace in his second year of battle school. He has strange allies (Wargals and Kalkara). His former fief is the ruined Gorlan, and his current domain is the Mountains of Rain and Night. He is tall and pale, with white hair and a thin voice. He is defeated and killed in single combat by Horace.

  * Alyss is a former ward mate of Horace and Will, and a member of the Diplomatic Corps, recruited by Lady Pauline in the first book. She is a tall, graceful, and intelligent young woman, and is in love with Will. She appears in the first, second, fifth, and sixth books as a Courier of the King. In the fifth and sixth books she is captured by Sir Keren and imprisoned into a high tower, where she is subjected to a form of mind control based on a blue stone. She is Lady Pauline's bridesmaid at her wedding to Halt in the seventh book. At the end of the 6th book she writes a letter to Will saying she loves him. Will is attracted to her and she kisses him in the first, fifth, sixth, 7th book, and 8th books. At the end of the sixth book Will takes a few weeks leave to visit her at Redmont.

  * George is Horace and Will's former ward mate, who is now in scribe school. He has appeared solely in the first book, but was mentioned in the second, seventh and eighth books. He is currently thought of as the best defense attorney in all of Redmont.

  * Baron Arald, the Lord of Castle Redmont, is a trusted advisor of the king. He often cracks jokes, but as a baron, is always taken seriously. He is slightly overweight, with a neatly trimmed beard and moustache, but is a capable warrior and has a good grasp of strategies.

  * Crowley is the head of the Ranger Corps and is most likely based in Castle Araluen. He is fond of dogs, and has a hideout, which few know about, among which are Will and Halt. He appears in the second, third, fourth, fifth and eighth books, makes a brief appearance in the sixth and seventh and is briefly mentioned in book one .

  * Jenny, Will's former ward mate, is apprenticed to the chef Master Chubb. Jenny is pretty, plump, and blonde, and Horace is fond of her in the first book. She is a bridesmaid with Alyss at Lady Pauline's wedding. In the seventh book, Jenny is in love with the Ranger Gilan. She also appears briefly in the eighth book, where it is explained that she has left the Redmont castle kitchens, and now works in her own restaurant in the Redmont area.

  * Gundar is a Skandian Skirl who appears in the fifth and sixth books. He most likely lives in Northern Skandia. He has a beard, and wields a war-axe.

  * Malkallam/Malcom is an alleged sorcerer who resides in Grimsdell Forest. His house is in the Healer's Clearing, where he treats people's various ailments. He is balding, humorous, and short, with hazel eyes. He was named Malkallam (his real name is Malcom) when after a healing excersise went wrong, was wrongly accused of sorcery. Malkallam was a legendary sorcerer of the region with an argument against the Seneschal of Macindaw. It is rumored that Malcolm will appear in the ninth book of the series, entitled Halt's Peril.

  * Orman is the son of the Norgate fief's baron, and cousin to the treacherous Sir Keren. Will and Alyss think him to be the enemy for the main part of 'Sorcery in the North', until the truth is revealed about his cousin.

  * Sir Keren plots against his uncle and cousin in the fifth and sixth books. He tries to get Norgate fief into his control by killing Syron and Orman. Few people believe he is guilty because he is very well known and liked. One guard is quoted saying that Keren is a real warrior, and that if Orman ordered them to take up arms against him, they would refuse.

  * Lady Pauline is in charge of the Diplomatic Corps at Castle Redmont. She is good friends with the Scribemaster and recruited Alyss in the first book. She is a tall and graceful lady and mentor to Alyss. In book seven she marries Halt on the fourteenth of an unknown month.

  * Sir Rodney is the battlemaster of Redmont. He is good friends with Halt and Baron Arald of Redmont. He is large and has a deformed nose, due to many instances of it breaking. The two handed battleaxe is his weapon of choice. In the first book he fearlessly battles the last surviving Kalkara (Morgarath's elite assassins). He is nearly killed when paralized by its hypnotic stare. Luckily, Will is able to kill the it with a burning arrow before it was able to murder Halt, Arald, and Rodney.

  * Ragnak was the former Oberjarl of Skandia. He appears in books three and four. Ragnak is a large muscular man who died saving Will in the battle against the Temujai, in the fourth book. He died from his wounds, which were temporarily ineffective due to his going Berserk. Being a berserker, he gained instant access to the Skandian form of heaven for dying berserk in battle. It was later noted that he had many non-killing wounds and at least half a dozen fatal wounds.

  * King Ferris is Halt's younger, identical twin brother and the king of Clonmel (book eight). Little is known about him. According to Halt, he was always eager for the crown and would do anything take it off his twin brother, the rightful heir. He first and only currently appears in book 8.

  * Skinner not much is known of Skinner except his mum is taller than him and he takes over Harrison's old fief.

  Retired Rangers * Geldon is the advisor to Crowley who lives in the castle of Araluen. He gives pointers to Princess Cassandra about unseen movement.

  * Berrigon was forced to become a travelling minstrel aft
er losing a leg fighting Skandians. He occasionally works undercover for the Ranger Corps.

  * Bartell is the ranger of Seacliff before Will (Will then hands over his position at Seaciff to Ranger Clarke and joins a special task group) and in charge of devising tests for apprentices. Now working in the Ranger Archives.

  The Horses Rangers have very good relationships with their horses, and as such, become like brothers to them.

  * Tug is a sturdy little pony and is very fond of Will and vice versa. Will momentarily loses him in the seventh book during a sandstorm in the desert country of Arrida and leaves by himself to get him back. He eventually finds and wins the little pony back in a race because the current 'owner' wanted to keep him. Tug has saved Will's life on many occasions, most prominently the boar hunt in the first book. Also, in the fourth book, Tug was shown to become distressed when Halt and Horace were tracking someone who turned out to be Will.

  * Abelard is Halt's horse and his name originates from Gallica. Halt, like all Rangers, is very fond of him, and is often seen to be sharing a private joke with the horse, and talking to him. He also states in the third book that ranger horses are only human' with a faint smile on his face.

  * Kicker belongs to Horace and is a tall and musculer bay battlehorse that appears first in book two. Since both horse and rider are tall, Halt, Will and even Gilan have to look up, but only slightly for Gilan. Kicker and Horace both seem to understand each other, but Kicker is not up to any Ranger horse standard,but Horace cares and makes sure that Kicker is comfortable wherever he is. He also begins talking to his horse when he rides alone, to which his horse seems to respond.

  * Blaze is Gilan's mare, and like the Ranger, she is tall and easily amused, even through its hard to tell with a horse, even a Ranger one. She, like all Ranger horses, will also listen and respond to a single touch or sound. They are quite similar in their personalities.

  * Arrow is the horse that was lent to Will in Erak's Ransom after he lost Tug. He has very good manners. He dies saving Will from a lion.

  The Movie John has stated that there will be a movie within the next few years, probably in 2011 or 2010.

  As of January 7, 2008, United Artists has optioned the film rights for The Ruins of Gorlan and is in talks with Oscar-winning filmaker Paul Haggis to adapt and direct the movie.1.3

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  Footnotes1

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  1. Charles, Ron (2006-07-23). "We Interview: John Flanagan". Washington Post: p. BW9. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/20/AR2006072001381.html.

  2. "Brooks wins Book of the Year award", The Sydney Morning Herald, 2008-06-15

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  Footnotes2

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  1. "Author's Ranger's Apprentice website". http://www.rangersapprentice.com/. Retrieved on 2007-07-02.

  2. "Christchurch City Libraries Website: Discovering The Ranger's Apprentice Series and Author John Flanagan". http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Pulse/features/RangersApprentice/. Retrieved on 2007-07-02.

  3. Haggis may direct Ranger's Apprentice kids movie | Entertainment | Reuters