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.

The Ruins of Gorlan was originally a set of short stories written by author John Flanagan for his son Michael to encourage him to read.

Flanagan was careful to make the distinction that Horace was not stupid, since he was, in fact, a straight thinker which helped balance Will's wild thinking.

[1] Morgarath, the exiled lord of the bleak, barren Mountains of Rain and Night has been waiting fifteen years in his dark realm, carefully planning his revenge against the Kingdom of Araluen.

Will distracts the boar, also tries to kill it by shooting at its heart but fails, and is saved by inches from death by Halt's well-timed arrow.

Finding that Halt is battling the Kalkara alone (and not faring so well), Sir Rodney and Baron Arald manage to knock one into the fire, but are badly injured by the other.

Steven Engelfried of School Library Journal enjoyed the description of Ranger crafts and meetings with bullies and a wild boar which "help to establish the boy's emerging character".

Engelfried said the "well-paced plot moves effortlessly toward the climax, letting readers get to know the world and the characters gradually as excitement builds".

[3] Carolyn Phelan from Booklist praised how Will is a normal hero without any magical skills making him a very original and believable character.

Phelan also recognised the setting as "a colorful place, threatened by an evil warlord and his fierce minions, but it's the details of everyday living and the true-to-life emotions that are memorable".

[4] Kirkus Reviews found that "Flanagan does nothing to boost his typecast characters, familiar themes or conventional, video-game plot above the general run, but readers with a taste for quickly paced adventure with tidy, predictable resolutions (Kalkara and bullies vanquished, Will and Horace become heroes and buddies) won't be disappointed".

As of 7 January 2008, Warner Bros. Pictures has obtained the film rights for The Ruins of Gorlan and is in discussion with Canadian director Paul Haggis.

In January 2024 it was announced Skydance had picked up the rights to the franchise and was planning on adapting the first two Ranger’s Apprentice novels into a movie.