John Flanagan (author)

Last updated

John Flanagan
John-flanagan-1338192602.jpg
Flanagan in 2012
BornJohn Anthony Flanagan
(1944-05-22) 22 May 1944 (age 79)
Sydney, Australia
OccupationNovelist, screenwriter
LanguageEnglish
Genre Fantasy, Adventure
Notable works Ranger's Apprentice
Brotherband
SpouseLeonie Flanagan [1]
ChildrenMichael Flanagan
Kitty Flanagan
Penny Flanagan

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

Contents

Early life and careers

John Flanagan was born in Sydney, Australia on 22 May 1944. [2] 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. [3] After working in the advertising agency for 20 years, Flanagan entered the TV industry and co-wrote a sitcom called Hey Dad..! . [2]

Becoming a writer

Flanagan's early novels originated mainly as thrillers. [4] He started working on what would become the Ranger's Apprentice 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. [4] Also, since Michael was on the smaller side, Flanagan wanted to encourage him by showing that not all heroes must be big and strong. [5] 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. [4] 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 Ranger's Apprentice 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. [6]

Achievements

Bibliography

Ranger's Apprentice

  1. The Ruins of Gorlan (2004)
  2. The Burning Bridge (2005)
  3. The Icebound Land (2005)
  4. Oakleaf Bearers (2006) (The Battle for Skandia in the US)
  5. Erak's Ransom (2007) (While released in 2007 this book happens before "The Sorcerer in the North" )
  6. The Sorcerer in the North (2006) (The Sorcerer of the North in the US)
  7. The Siege of Macindaw (2007)
  8. The Kings of Clonmel (2008)
  9. Halt's Peril (2009)
  10. The Emperor of Nihon-Ja (2010)
  11. The Lost Stories (2011)

Ranger's Apprentice: The Royal Ranger

  1. The Royal Ranger: A New Beginning (2013)
  2. The Red Fox Clan (2018)
  3. Duel At Araluen (2019)
  4. The Missing Prince (2020)
  5. Escape from Falaise (2021)
  6. Arazan's Wolves (2022)

Ranger's Apprentice: The Early Years

  1. The Tournament at Gorlan (2015)
  2. The Battle of Hackham Heath (2016)

Brotherband

  1. The Outcasts (2011)
  2. The Invaders (2012)
  3. The Hunters (2012)
  4. Slaves of Socorro (2014)
  5. Scorpion Mountain (2014)
  6. The Ghostfaces (2016)
  7. The Caldera (2017)
  8. Return of the Temujai (2019)
  9. The Stern Chase (2022)

Jesse Parker

  1. Storm Peak (2009)
  2. Avalanche Pass (2010)

Adult Novels

  1. The Grey Raider (2015)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Bloch</span> American fiction writer (1917–1994)

Robert Albert Bloch was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime, psychological horror and fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and television. He also wrote a relatively small amount of science fiction. His writing career lasted 60 years, including more than 30 years in television and film. He began his professional writing career immediately after graduation from high school, aged 17. Best known as the writer of Psycho (1959), the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock, Bloch wrote hundreds of short stories and over 30 novels. He was a protégé of H. P. Lovecraft, who was the first to seriously encourage his talent. However, while he started emulating Lovecraft and his brand of cosmic horror, he later specialized in crime and horror stories working with a more psychological approach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael A. Stackpole</span> Science fiction author

Michael Austin Stackpole is an American science fiction and fantasy author best known for his Star Wars and BattleTech books. He was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, but raised in Vermont. He has a BA in history from the University of Vermont. From 1977 on, he worked as a designer of role-playing games for various gaming companies, and wrote dozens of magazine articles with limited distribution within the industry. He lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garth Nix</span> Australian fantasy writer (born 1963)

Garth Richard Nix is an Australian writer who specialises in children's and young adult fantasy novels, notably the Old Kingdom, Seventh Tower and Keys to the Kingdom series. He has frequently been asked if his name is a pseudonym, to which he has responded, "I guess people ask me because it sounds like the perfect name for a writer of fantasy. However, it is my real name."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Sorcerer's Apprentice</span> Poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in 14 stanzas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Flanagan</span> Australian novelist

Richard Miller Flanagan is an Australian writer, who has also worked as a film director and screenwriter. He won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Irvine</span>

Ian Irvine is an Australian fantasy and eco-thriller author and marine scientist. To date Irvine has written 27 novels, including fantasy, eco-thrillers and books for children. He has had books published in at least 12 countries and continues to write full-time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trudi Canavan</span> Australian writer of fantasy novels

Trudi Canavan is an Australian writer of fantasy novels, best known for her best-selling fantasy trilogies The Black Magician and Age of the Five. While establishing her writing career she worked as a graphic designer. She completed her third trilogy, The Traitor Spy trilogy, in August 2012 with The Traitor Queen. Subsequently, Canavan has written a series called Millennium's Rule, with a completely new setting consisting of multiple worlds which characters can cross between. Though originally planned as a trilogy, a fourth and final book in the Millennium's Rule series was published.

<i>Farseer</i> trilogy Trilogy of fantasy novels by Robin Hobb

The Farseer trilogy is a series of fantasy novels by American author Robin Hobb, published from 1995 to 1997. It is often described as epic fantasy, and as a character-driven and introspective work. Set in and around the fictional realm of the Six Duchies, it tells the story of FitzChivalry Farseer, an illegitimate son of a prince who is trained as an assassin. Political machinations within the royal family threaten his life, and the kingdom is beset by naval raids. Fitz possesses two forms of magic: the telepathic Skill that runs in the royal line, and the socially despised Wit that enables bonding with animals. The series follows his life as he seeks to restore stability to the kingdom.

<i>The Ruins of Gorlan</i> Novel by John Flanagan

The Ruins of Gorlan is the first novel in the Ranger's Apprentice series written by Australian author John Flanagan. It was first released in Australia on 1 November 2004, and in the United States on 16 June 2005. Flanagan first conceived the world of the novel in a series of short stories he wrote for his son to incite his interest in reading. Ten years later, he decided to turn them into The Ruins of Gorlan, the first book in the Ranger's Apprentice series.

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 turn them into a book, which became the first novel in the series, The Ruins of Gorlan. It was originally released in Australia on 1 November 2004. Though the books were initially published only in Australia and New Zealand, they have since been released in 14 other countries.

<i>The Burning Bridge</i> Book by John Flanagan

The Burning Bridge is the second book of the Ranger's Apprentice series, written by Australian author John Flanagan. It was released in Australia on 5 May 2005.

<i>The Icebound Land</i> Book by John Flanagan

The Icebound Land is the third book in the Ranger's Apprentice book series written by Australian author John Flanagan. The book was released on 30 November 2005 in Australia.

<i>The Sorcerer in the North</i> Book by John Flanagan

The Sorcerer in the North is the fifth book in the Ranger's Apprentice series by Australian author John Flanagan. It was released in Australia on 4 November 2006 and in the United States on 4 November 2008.

<i>Oakleaf Bearers</i> Book by John Flanagan

Oakleaf Bearers, or The Battle for Skandia in the United States, is the fourth novel in the Ranger's Apprentice book series, which was written by Australian author John Flanagan. Its story continues from where the previous book, The Icebound Land, ended.

<i>Into the Wild</i> (novel) 2003 novel by a team with the pseudonym Erin Hunter

Into the Wild is a fantasy novel about the lives of fictional cats, written by a team of authors using the pseudonym Erin Hunter. The novel was published by HarperCollins in Canada and the United States in January 2003, and in the United Kingdom in February 2003. It is the first novel in the Warriors series. The book has been published in paperback and e-book formats in twenty different languages. The story is about a young domestic cat named Rusty who leaves his human owners to join a group of forest-dwelling feral cats called ThunderClan, adopting a new name: Firepaw. He is trained to defend and hunt for the clan, becomes embroiled in a murder and betrayal within the clan, and, at the end of the book, receives his warrior name, Fireheart, after a battle with another clan. The novel is written from the perspective of Fireheart.

<i>Eraks Ransom</i> Book by John Flanagan

Erak's Ransom is the seventh novel in the continuing Ranger's Apprentice series by Australian author John Flanagan. The book was released in Australia on 1 November 2007 and in the United States on 5 January 2010. It is set between book four in the series, Oakleaf Bearers, and book five, The Sorcerer of the North.

<i>The Royal Ranger: A New Beginning</i> Book by John Flanagan

A New Beginning, originally titled The Royal Ranger, is the twelfth and final novel in the Ranger's Apprentice series, written by Australian author John Flanagan. It was released in Australia on 1 October 2013, in New Zealand on 4 October 2013, and in the United States and Canada on 5 November 2013. In 2018, it was renamed A New Beginning and it became the first book in the Ranger's Apprentice sequel series, The Royal Ranger.

<i>The Tournament at Gorlan</i> Book by John Flanagan

The Tournament at Gorlan is the first novel in the Ranger's Apprentice: The Early Years series written by Australian author John Flanagan. It was first released in Australia on 16 September 2015, and in the United States on 6 October 2015. The series serves as a prequel to the Ranger's Apprentice series, and is a direct sequel to a story in The Lost Stories.

Ranger's Apprentice: The Early Years is a book series by John Flanagan. It is a prequel to the original Ranger's Apprentice series. The series follows Halt and Crowley and is preceded by the short story "The Hibernian" in the book The Lost Stories, which is the 11th installment to the Ranger's Apprentice series.

References

  1. Random House Australia – John Flanagan , retrieved 29 December 2009
  2. 1 2 "John Flanagan". Famous Authors. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  3. search.ebscohost.com http://search.ebscohost.com/?authtype=cookie,ip,uid . Retrieved 5 April 2019.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. 1 2 3 "Q&A with John Flanagan". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  5. "John Flanagan an interview with John Cohen". Reading Time. 49 (1): 4. February 2005.
  6. Lodge, Sally (13 October 2011). "John Flanagan Adds to Ranger's Apprentice and Launches New Series". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  7. Schwake, Connor. "John Flanagan". www.worldanvil.com. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  8. Laura Parker (8 May 2008). "Hollywood exceeds an author's fantasy". The Sydney Morning Herald: 16.
  9. "Children's Series Books - Best Sellers - Books - June 16, 2019 - The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 5 April 2023.