The Ruins of Gorlan

Will is fifteen, small for his age, and about to be Chosen — the ceremony where Castle Redmont’s wards are picked by the Craftmasters to learn a trade. He wants Battleschool. He gets Halt, the grim and mostly silent Ranger, and a cloak that seems to make him disappear.

The Ruins of Gorlan is the series opener. It introduces Will, Halt, Horace (who does get Battleschool), the politics of Castle Redmont, and the shape of the threat that turns the next several books into a slow, careful war. The first book is compact and self-contained; it’s also the hook, because by the end, most readers are already several chapters into book two.