Ranger's Apprentice

Morgarath, an exiled baron, has been waiting fifteen years, carefully planning his revenge against the Kingdom of Araluen. He prepares to unleash his power and attempt once more to take control of the kingdom. In Redmont Fief, a special day has come for 15-year-old Will and his fellow wardmates Horace, Alyss, George, and Jenny, called Choosing Day, where they all become either an apprentice to a craftmaster or work on the local farms. Will is apprenticed to Halt the Ranger, part of the country's elite intelligence group. The Rangers specialize in long-range weapons and the art of staying unseen. Will begins to train in these skills.

In the meantime, Will's wardmate Horace is in Battleschool. His life is harsh and he is bullied by three second-year Battleschool cadets. During a local holiday known as Harvest Day, Horace and Will fight, increasing their hatred for each other. However, six weeks later, Will saves Horace's life during a boar hunt, cementing a friendship between the two boys. Later, the Battleschool bullies attack Will, leading to Halt intervening and having the bullies banished from the fief. Soon after, Halt and Will leave for the Ranger Gathering, where they receive a report that the Kalkara, vicious creatures under the control of Morgarath, have reappeared in Araluen.

Halt, Will and Gilan (Halt's former apprentice, now a fully-fledged Ranger) leave to track down and kill the Kalkara. Halt thinks that the Kalkara are headed to the ruins of Gorlan. Morgarath's former castle. He tells Will to go back to Redmont, get backup, and rendezvous at the ruins. Back in Redmont, Baron Arald and Sir Rodney head out to slay the Kalkara and to save Halt. Finding that Halt is battling the Kalkara alone, Sir Rodney and Baron Arald manage to knock one of the beasts into the fire, but are badly injured by the other. Will shoots the Kalkara in the chest with a flaming arrow, which proves to be fatal. Back in his own fief, Will is considered a hero and receives his bronze oakleaf, which identifies him as a Ranger's apprentice.

A war with Morgarath is approaching, and Will, Gilan, and Horace are sent to Celtica, a nearby country, to ask for reinforcements. But every town they travel through is deserted. They find a survivor named Evanlyn, who explains that Wargals, mindless minions of Morgarath, have caused the destruction. Gilan travels to Araluen to report to the king (King Duncan). Meanwhile, Will, Horace, and Evanlyn come across an army of Wargals. They secretly follow them to the Fissure, a deep gorge, only to discover that the Celtic miners were captured. Will and his friends watch as the miners are forced to complete a bridge across the Fissure and a tunnel through the cliffs up to Morgarath's lair. This would allow Morgarath's army to attack the Araluen king's army from behind. Will comes up with a plan to burn the bridge so that Morgarath's army cannot use it. However, in the process, Will and Evanlyn are captured by a force of Skandian warriors hired by Morgarath. Horace watches from the other side of the bridge and flees to alert King Duncan about the bridge.

After Horace arrives at the Araluen camp, he and Gilan manage to warn the king and his advisers of Morgarath's plan. In the process of talking to the king, however, it is revealed that Evanlyn is, in truth, his daughter, the missing crown princess Cassandra. Though King Duncan wants to save Cassandra, he is bound to protect his kingdom first. He dispatches an auxiliary force, led by Halt, to stop another group of Skandian warriors that have come up from the coast to outflank the king's army. This is done successfully, and Halt and his troops disguise themselves as the Skandians, tricking Morgarath into ordering the Wargals to charge into the open plain. An Araluen cavalry charge demolishes the advancing Wargals, who are afraid only of horses. His army destroyed, Morgarath offers a flag of truce and prepares to challenge Halt to single combat to avenge his own defeat. Instead, he is challenged by Horace. Though Morgarath is more experienced and skilled than Horace, the young warrior manages to kill him. Meanwhile, Will and Cassandra are held as hostages by the Skandian that have captured them.

Will and Cassandra are brought back to Skandia (a country north-east across the Stormwhite Sea) by their captors and enslaved by the Skandians. In Hallasholm, the capital, Will is forced to work outside in the bitter cold, while Cassandra is taken into the kitchens. Will is introduced to warmweed, a drug that warms the body but destroys the mind, and he quickly becomes addicted. Erak, the captain of the Skandian crew that captured them, helps Cassandra escape with Will, and the two take refuge in a small log cabin for the winter. Following Erak's advice, Cassandra weans Will off the warmweed bit by bit, and Will slowly overcomes his addiction. Meanwhile, Horace and Halt set off to rescue Will and Cassandra by crossing into the neighboring country of Gallica and making their way north along the coast. Horace becomes known as "The Oakleaf Knight" as he defeats many Gallican knights in combat, thereby attracting the attention of the famed knight Deparnieux. Deparnieux attempts to capture Halt and Horace but is tricked by Halt and killed.

In Oakleaf Bearers, called The Battle for Skandia in the United States, Cassandra is captured by a Temujai warrior while scavenging for food. The Temujai are a fierce, nomadic tribe of horse warriors from the east and are masters of the recurve bow. Will struggles to rescue her until Horace and Halt arrive. Halt captures one of the Temujai and realizes they are attempting to take over the western world, starting with the Skandians. Having tried and nearly succeeded to complete the same goal twenty years earlier, they are a dangerous group. Erak and his crew happen to find the Araluens and they decide to join forces to help drive off the Temujai, since they pose a threat to Araluen as well if they manage to overtake the Skandians. They make use of Halt's knowledge of the Temujai tactics, and Will trains a force of archers for the upcoming battle against the Temujai. During the battle, the Skandians surprise the Temujai with their archers, and they are forced to withdraw. The Skandian Oberjarl (leader) Ragnak is killed in the battle, and Erak is elected to succeed him. Cassandra, acting on behalf of her father, and Erak, acting on behalf of Skandia, sign the Treaty of Hallasholm, a defence treaty.

It's been years since Will and his friends helped defend Skandia against the Temujai. After receiving his silver oakleaf and being assigned to Seacliff Fief, Will takes on his first mission as a full-fledged Ranger. A few weeks after arriving in the fief, a disguised Will is sent north to Castle Macindaw to investigate claims of sorcery. The lord of Castle Macindaw, Lord Syron, is ill and many believe a sorcerer has caused the illness. Will's friend and former wardmate Alyss, also in disguise, is sent to help him, but is captured by the rogue knight Keren who is responsible for poisoning Lord Syron. Will escapes from the castle with allies of Lord Syron, and travels into the forest to enlist the aid of the rumored sorcerer. This "sorcerer", who is in fact a gifted healer called Malcolm, agrees to help. Orman, Lord Syron's son, has also been poisoned by Keren, and is smuggled by Will to Malcolm. Will attempts to rescue Alyss, but Keren walks through the door and Will barely escapes in time.

Will's friend Horace is sent to help him handle the situation at Castle Macindaw. Together, they devise a plan to take control of the castle and rescue Alyss, with the help of a group of Skandian raiders who have been stranded in Araluen. They infiltrate the castle and Will reaches the tower where Alyss is held, but Keren hypnotises her to believe Will is the enemy and orders her to kill him. At the last moment, Will confesses to Alyss that he loves her, and the hypnosis is broken. As Keren attacks Will, Alyss defeats him. Meanwhile, the Skandians, led by Horace, take control of the castle. Later, Will returns to Seacliff Fief and receives a letter from Alyss with her own love confession.

Erak's Ransom takes place after Oakleaf Bearers but before The Sorcerer in the North, several months before Will receives his Silver Oakleaf (though the book was released after The Siege of Macindaw). Skandian Oberjarl Erak decides to go on one final raid. However, he is captured and held for ransom while attempting to raid Al Shabah, a province of Arrida. Because Erak's first mate Svengal believes that he was betrayed by a rival Skandian named Toshak, the raiding party goes to Araluen instead of Skandia for the ransom money. Princess Cassandra returns with Svengal and the rest of Erak's crew to Arrida in her father's place to negotiate prices with Selethen, the leader of Al Shabah. Will, Gilan, Halt, Horace, and thirty of Erak's men go along to protect her and deliver the ransom. After the negotiation is over, Selethen reveals that Erak was being held in Mararoc, a fort in the desert, but as they are traveling there, Will loses his horse Tug during a sandstorm. Desperate to find him, Will travels alone into the desert. He runs out of water and is saved by the nomadic Bedullin tribe. While staying with the Bedullin tribe, Will finds that Tug has been found by a young man in the tribe, who claims Tug as his own. In order to win Tug back from the young man, Will has to defeat him in a horse race. He manages to win and reclaims his horse. Meanwhile, Erak is captured by the Tualaghi, a merciless nomadic tribe of devil worshipers. The rescue party, joined by Will and the Bedullin tribe, defeats the leader of the Tualaghi and frees Erak. Finally, Will is promoted to full Ranger and is awarded a silver oakleaf. He is given the last name of "Treaty" to commemorate his help in arranging the peace treaty between Skandia and Araluen years earlier.

Will, Halt, and Horace are on a mission to stop a cult called the Outsiders from taking power. The cult offers protection to villages from "bandits", who are secretly other Outsiders, in exchange for gold. In this fashion, they have taken control of five of the six kingdoms of the country of Hibernia. Halt, Will, and Horace are sent to Clonmel, the last kingdom, to try to prevent the cult from expanding into Araluen. Halt, a Hibernian native, is revealed to be a member of the royal family of Clonmel, and he tries to persuade his twin brother, King Ferris of Clonmel, to use his troops to drive the cult out. The cult loses power in Clonmel, but the leader, Tennyson, escapes. At the same time, King Ferris is killed by a Genovesan assassin hired by Tennyson, and Halt's nephew Sean becomes king. Will, Halt, and Horace leave Clonmel to chase the false prophet, Tennyson.

After reaching a smuggler's port and managing to get information on Tennyson's whereabouts, the trio hires a ship to take them to Picta. The chase is on as the three pursue Tennyson through a drowned forest. Finally, in an encounter with Tennyson's hired assassins, Halt is shot with a poisoned arrow and is incapacitated. Picta is located near Macindaw, so Will rides to fetch Malcolm, the best healer in Araluen. They discover that Halt was poisoned with one of two extremely similar toxins. Both toxins have different antidotes, and to use the wrong one is fatal. Will captures the assassin that fired the arrow at Halt and forces him to reveal which toxin he used, which then allows Malcolm to cure Halt. The group finds Tennyson, who is trying to swindle more countryfolk. Using Halt's similarity to his late brother, King Ferris, they manage to discredit Tennyson. Will causes a cave-in that kills Tennyson and his followers. When they return to Araluen, Halt, Horace, and Will are given a heroes' welcome.

Horace and George are in guests of the Emperor of Nihon-Ja, Shigeru. Meanwhile, Will, Halt, Selethen, and Alyss observe a Toscan general's demonstration of military tactics while at a treaty signing between the Toscans and the Arridi, both allies of Araluen. The Emperor of Nihon-Ja finds out that there's been a coup against him by Arisaka, a noble who believes he should be Emperor instead of Shigeru. A Senshi (skilled swordsman) ambushes and nearly succeeds in killing the Emperor, but Horace intervenes. He decides to help the Emperor find the legendary, impenetrable fortress of Ran-Koshi while George contacts Araluen for help. Later, the crown princess of Araluen, Cassandra, appears and enlists the help of the two Rangers, Alyss, and Selethen to go after Horace. En route to Ran-Koshi, Horace's party befriends the local woodworkers known as Kikori, and they join his group on the trek to the fortress. Halt's group arrives in Nihon-Ja and learn of Horace's whereabouts. While Shukin (the Emperor's cousin who warned him of Arisaka's coup) and other Senshi sacrifice themselves to delay Arisaka's enormous Senshi party, Horace's group reaches Ran-Koshi and settles in. Soon after, Halt's group arrives at Ran-Koshi as well.

The group sets up defenses to stop Arisaka's army, successfully repelling them. Cassandra and Alyss set out to recruit a tribe of warriors allied with the Emperor, the Hasanu. Will, noting how the Kikori work together excellently, utilizes the military tactics of the Toscan general to train them. Arisaka's main party arrives near Ran-Koshi. The final battle begins, and the armies seem evenly matched until Arisaka's reinforcements arrive. As the Kikori forces regroup, Alyss and Cassandra arrive with the Hasanu. Before the battle can continue, the Emperor calls a truce and convinces Arisaka's army that Arisaka is a power-hungry fool. Arisaka is enraged and Will directly confronts him and kills him. On the return trip to Araluen, Horace and Cassandra announce their engagement. Will makes a poor attempt at proposing to Alyss, and she marches off in mock indignation.

The Lost Stories consists of nine different short stories, set at various times before, during, and after the events of the previous ten books. It includes the tale of Will's father, what happened to Gilan during the events of The Icebound Land, the story of Halt's apprenticeship in Hibernia, and several stories following the main characters after the conclusion of The Emperor of Nihon-Ja, including one where Will and Alyss get married.

Years after the events of the previous books, Will Treaty tries to cope with the death of his wife Alyss, who died in an inn set on fire by the gang leader Jory Ruhl. When Will's friends begin to notice the change in his personality, Gilan, the new Ranger Commandant, calls on Halt, Pauline, Cassandra, and Horace to discuss the situation. Halt suggests that Will take on an apprentice to take his mind off his quest for revenge against Jory. Meanwhile, Princess Madelyn (Maddie), the daughter of Horace and Cassandra, sneaks out at night to use her sling to hunt, against the will of her parents. Halt suggests that Maddie be apprenticed to Will, which would make Maddie the first female apprentice in Ranger history. At the beginning of her apprenticeship, Will gives Maddie a letter from her parents, which says she has been disinherited as a princess of Araluen, in a desperate last resort by her parents to get her under control. Will proceeds to train Maddie, and his quest for revenge is slowly forgotten. When Gilan suggests Will take Maddie on a mission, Will accepts.

Gilan assigns Will and Maddie to investigate the death of Liam, another Ranger. They soon discover a plot by an illicit slave ring who kidnaps children. Will learns that the leader of the slave ring is actually Jory Ruhl, but he manages to set aside his desire for revenge to save the children Ruhl has kidnapped. Maddie is injured in the process, and Will kills Ruhl to save her. Six months later, Maddie is awarded her bronze oakleaf, marking her as an official Ranger's apprentice, and Cassandra offers her reinstatement as a princess. However, Maddie declines, saying she wishes to complete her apprenticeship instead.

Rights to sell Ranger's Apprentice have gone to 16 countries, including North America (where Oakleaf Bearers is better known as The Battle for Skandia), the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, and Sweden.[10] In Australia, the seventh book, Erak's Ransom, reached number two on Australian children's charts.[10] The series has been on The New York Times Best Seller list for 77 weeks as of 13 December 2013.[11] By 2010, over 2 million copies had been sold.[12]

The Ranger's Apprentice series has won numerous awards. The series was one of the honour books for the Koala Winners in 2009.[17] The seventh book, Erak's Ransom, was chosen as the Books of the Year for Older Children and the International Success Award.[18] The first and fourth books won the Aurealis Awards while the third book was highly commended.[19] Then, the first, second and fifth book each earned the Children's Book Council of Australia Notable Book.[19] The first book was also the Longlisted for the Ottakar's Book Prize for 2006–2007 and the first book also was nominated for the Grand Canyon Reader Award in 2008.[19]