John Anthony Flanagan (born 22 May 1944) is an Australian fantasy author best known for his medieval fantasy series, the ''

Ranger's Apprentice ''Ranger's Apprentice'' is a series written by Australian author John Flanagan. It began as twenty short stories Flanagan wrote for his son to get him interested in reading. Ten years later, Flanagan found the stories again and decided to tur ...

'' series, and its sister series, the '' Brotherband Chronicles.'' Some of his other works include his ''Storm Peak'' duology, as well as the adult novel ''The Grey Raider.''

Early life and careers

John Flanagan was born in Sydney, Australia on 22 May 1944. He graduated from Waverley College with plans to become a writer. As he grew up, he changed careers and got a job at an advertising agency. He originally planned to become a trainee copywriter, but the agency instead assigned him to train as a media researcher. While working as a media researcher trainee, he wrote an offensive poem directed toward one of his senior executives. Eventually, the poem made it to the desk of one of the company's directors. Flanagan was called into the director's office where he complimented Flanagan's writing skills and offered him the job of trainee copywriter. After working in the advertising agency for 20 years, Flanagan entered the TV industry and co-wrote a sitcom called '' Hey Dad..!''.

Becoming a writer

Flanagan's early novels originated mainly as thrillers. He started working on what would become the ''

'' series in the 1990s. The series originated as twenty short stories for his twelve-year-old son, Michael. Flanagan wanted to encourage his son to read and hoped that he could do so by convincing Michael that the stories were children's book ideas that his father wanted to test out. Also, since Michael was on the smaller side, Flanagan wanted to encourage him by showing that not all heroes must be big and strong. In fact, several characters in Flanagan's books are based on real-life people close to him. Will, the main character in the series, was initially based on Michael. Small, agile, and his love of climbing were all things that Michael and Will shared. Evanlyn, one of the other main characters, was loosely based on Flanagan's daughter Kitty. Finally, Halt, Will's older teacher, was also based on Flanagan's sixth-grade teacher. His son fell in love with the series and began asking for more of the stories. In the early 2000s, John decided to make the stories into the first novel, '' The Ruins of Gorlan,'' and it was published in 2004. 11 books comprise the main

series. He has also written the Ranger's Apprentice: The Early Years series which explores the time before the first book, and has continued the story in the Ranger's Apprentice: The Royal Ranger series. His other series in the same world, '' Brotherband'', was based around Flanagan's passion and love of the sea.

Achievements

* In 2008, he won the Australian Publishers Association's Book of the Year for "Older Children and the International Success Award" for ''Erak's Ransom.'' * The ''Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan'' became optioned as a movie. * The Ranger's Apprentice series has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List

Bibliography

''
Ranger's Apprentice ''Ranger's Apprentice'' is a series written by Australian author John Flanagan. It began as twenty short stories Flanagan wrote for his son to get him interested in reading. Ten years later, Flanagan found the stories again and decided to tur ...
''

# '' The Ruins of Gorlan'' (2004) # '' The Burning Bridge'' (2005) # '' The Icebound Land'' (2005) # '' Oakleaf Bearers'' (2006) (''The Battle for Skandia'' in the US) #'' Erak's Ransom'' (2007) (While released in 2007 this book happens before ''"The Sorcerer in the North" )'' # '' The Sorcerer in the North'' (2006) (''The Sorcerer of the North'' in the US) # '' The Siege of Macindaw'' (2007) # '' The Kings of Clonmel'' (2008) # ''

Halt's Peril ''Halt's Peril'' is the ninth book in the international best-selling ''Ranger's Apprentice'' series by John Flanagan (author), John Flanagan. It was released on 2 November 2009 in Australia. Plot Halt, Will, and Horace discover that Tennyson, ...

'' (2009) # ''

The Emperor of Nihon-Ja ''The Emperor of Nihon-Ja'' is the tenth installment of the ''Ranger's Apprentice'' book series by Australian author John Flanagan. The book was released in Australia on 1 November 2010, in New Zealand on 5 November 2010, and in the United Sta ...

'' (2010) # ''

The Lost Stories ''The Lost Stories'' is the eleventh and penultimate book in the series '' Ranger's Apprentice'' by Australian author John Flanagan. It is a collection of "lost" tales that fill in the gaps between novels. The book was released in Australia ...

'' (2011)

''Ranger's Apprentice: The Royal Ranger''

# '' A New Beginning'' (2013) # ''The Red Fox Clan'' (2018) # ''Duel At Araluen'' (2019) # ''The Missing Prince'' (2020) # ''Escape from Falaise'' (2021) # ''Arazan's Wolves'' (2022) # ''Ambush at Sorato'' (2024)

'' Ranger's Apprentice: The Early Years''

# '' The Tournament at Gorlan'' (2015) # '' The Battle of Hackham Heath'' (2016)

''Brotherband''

# ''The Outcasts'' (2011) # ''The Invaders'' (2012) # ''The Hunters'' (2012) # ''Slaves of Socorro'' (2014) # ''Scorpion Mountain'' (2014) # ''The Ghostfaces'' (2016) # ''The Caldera'' (2017) # ''Return of the Temujai'' (2019) # ''The Stern Chase'' (2022)

''Jesse Parker''

# ''Storm Peak'' (2009) # ''Avalanche Pass'' (2010)

Adult Novels

# ''The Grey Raider'' (2015)

References

External links

*
Official Ranger's Apprentice Website

John Flanagan
at

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, John 1944 births 21st-century Australian novelists Australian fantasy writers Australian male novelists Australian screenwriters Writers from Sydney Living people Australian male screenwriters 21st-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian screenwriters