Ranger's Apprentice: The Royal Ranger

After a senseless tragedy destroys his life, Will is obsessed with punishing those responsible - even if it means leaving the Ranger Corps. His worried friends must find a way to stop him taking such a dark path.It is Halt who suggests the solution: Will must take an apprentice. The candidate Halt has in mind will surprise everyone - and it will be a request Will cannot refuse. Training a rebellious, unwilling apprentice is hard enough.

Will Treaty has come a long way from the small boy with dreams of knighthood. Life had other plans for him, and as an apprentice Ranger under Halt, he grew into a legend - the finest Ranger the kingdom has ever known. Yet Will is facing a tragic battle that has left him grim and alone. To add to his problems, the time has come to take on an apprentice of his own, and it's the last person he ever would have expected. Fighting his personal demons, Will has to win the trust and respect of his difficult new companion - a task that at times seems almost impossible.

John Flanagan returns to the world of Ranger’s Apprentice to find out what happens when Will’s apprentice, Maddie - the Royal Ranger - returns home to Castle Araluen. The Kingdom may have been at peace for a number of years, but there are always those who would commit treason to take power for themselves. When Maddie learns of a plot against the crown, she must go undercover to find out more - and hopefully stop it. But going undercover isn’t easy when you’re the princess - even if you’re trained as a Ranger.

King Duncan and Princess Cassandra are trapped high in the south tower of Castle Araluen. In the north, Sir Horace and Ranger Commandant Gilan are besieged in an old hill fort as they wait for the Red Fox Clan's next attack. Ranger's apprentice Maddie must find the Heron brotherband and convince them to join her, so she can give her father the help he needs to break out from the hill fort and ride to confront the traitor. Will they reach Castle Araluen in time? And when the battles have been fought and the dust has settled, who will rule the Kingdom of Araluen?

The New York Times best-selling series continues with another nail-biting mission for Will Treaty and his fearless young apprentice. King Philippe of Gallica appeals to King Duncan for help. His son is being held hostage by a power-hungry baron, and Philippe wants Duncan to send a Ranger to rescue the boy. Will and Maddie are perfect for the task. Travelling as father and daughter to allay suspicion, they will pose as entertainers to infiltrate the Chateau des Falaises, where the prince is being held.

After their plan to rescue the prince of Gallica has gone horribly wrong, Will Treaty and his apprentice, Maddie, are being held captive at the Chateau des Falaises in Gallica. The dangerous baron Lassigny is intent on keeping them - and the prince - no matter what. But Will and Maddie are determined to escape. If they ever want to return to their home, they’ll have to find ways to outwit the baron and get outside the locked tower. When friends from home endeavour to find their own way to help, it seems escape is closer than ever.

Will and Maddie are sent to the neighbouring kingdom of Celtica to investigate reports of terrifying direwolves, an ancient species thought to be extinct. What they discover is even more of a threat - a sorceress who has brought direwolves and Wargals under her control and is building an army of creatures both living and supernatural. After receiving help from locals, Will and Maddie learn the name of the sorceress behind these strange and dangerous attacks – Arazan.

Will and Maddie are in Toscana on a diplomatic mission when word comes of a cavalry force crossing the northern body and marauding through the countryside. At the behest of the emperor, the rangers head north to investigate. They discover that the invaders are a group of Temujai – a reconnaissance force searching for a place to penetrate and invade. So Will and Maddie must split up to gather forces and information in order to push the Temujai back once again.