John Flanagan grew up in Sydney, Australia, hoping to be a writer. John began writing The Ruins of Gorlan, the first in the mega-selling Ranger’s Apprentice series, for his son, Michael, and is still hard at work on the series and its spinoff, Brotherband Chronicles. He currently lives in the suburb of Manly, Australia, with his wife. In addition to their son, they have two grown daughters and four grandsons.