John Anthony Flanagan 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. The first novel in the series, '' The Ruins of Gorlan'', was released in Australia on 1 November 2004. The books were initially released in Australia and New Ze ...

'' 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 , motto_translation = Virtue alone ennobles , location = 131 Birrell Street , city = Waverley, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent early learni ...

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 ''Brotherband'' is a series of children's fantasy novels written by Australian author John Flanagan. The first book, '' The Outcasts,'' was released in Australia and the United States on 1 November 2011 and in New Zealand on 4 November 2011. T ...

'', 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 series appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List and regularly get shortlisted for children's book awards in Australia and overseas. * The ''Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan'' became optioned as a movie. * Now sold to eighteen countries, the Ranger's Apprentice series has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List and is regularly shortlisted in children's book awards in Australia and overseas.

Bibliography

''
Ranger's Apprentice ''Ranger's Apprentice'' is a series written by Australian author John Flanagan. The first novel in the series, '' The Ruins of Gorlan'', was released in Australia on 1 November 2004. The books were initially released in Australia and New Ze ...
''

# '' 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 ''The Sorcerer in the North'' (''The Sorcerer of the North'' in the United States) is the fifth book in the ''Ranger's Apprentice'' series by Australian author John Flanagan (author), John Flanagan. It was released in Australia on 4 November 2 ...

'' (2006) (''The Sorcerer of the North'' in the US) # '' The Siege of Macindaw'' (2007) # '' The Kings of Clonmel'' (2008) # '' Halt's Peril'' (2009) # '' The Emperor of Nihon-Ja'' (2010) # '' The Lost Stories'' (2011)

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

# (12) '' The Royal Ranger: A New Beginning'' (2013) # (13) '' The Red Fox Clan'' (2018) # (14) ''

Duel At Araluen A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and lat ...

'' (2019) # (15) '' The Missing Prince'' (2020) # (16) '' Escape from Falaise'' (2021) # (17) The Wolves of Arazan (2023)

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

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

''
Brotherband ''Brotherband'' is a series of children's fantasy novels written by Australian author John Flanagan. The first book, '' The Outcasts,'' was released in Australia and the United States on 1 November 2011 and in New Zealand on 4 November 2011. T ...
''

# '' The Outcasts'' (2011) # ''

The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invas ...

'' (2012) # ''

The Hunters The Hunters may refer to: In film * ''The Hunters'' (1957 film), an anthropological film directed by Robert Gardner and John Marshall * ''The Hunters'' (1958 film), an adaptation of the James Salter novel, starring Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagne ...

'' (2012) # '' Slaves of Socorro'' (2014) # '' Scorpion Mountain'' (2014) # '' The Ghostfaces'' (2016) # '' The Caldera'' (2017) # ''

Return of the Temujai Return may refer to: In business, economics, and finance * Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense. * Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment * Tax return, a blank document o ...

'' (2019) # ''

The Stern Chase ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' (2022)

''Jesse Parker''

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

Adult Novels

# ''

The Grey Raider ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' (2015)

References

External links

*
Official Ranger's Apprentice Website

John Flanagan
at

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase o ...

* {{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