From John Flanagan, author of the worldwide bestselling Ranger's Apprentice -- an all-new adventure featuring the Brotherband crew and one of our favorite Rangers!
Hal, his Brotherband crew, and the Ranger Gilan have freed the twelve Araluens sold into slavery. Returning to Araluen, Gilan is given a new mission by King Duncan: protect his daughter’s life. Princess Cassandra has survived one attempt on her life already, and now whispers of a second attempt have reached the kingdom. A deadly sect known as the Scorpion Cult is thought to be behind the assassination threat.
Not waiting to see if the knife will strike true, the Brotherband again team up with Gilan to track down the would-be killers.
In this fifth book in the Brotherband Chronicles, old friends reemerge to take on new enemies as the worlds of Ranger’s Apprentice and Brotherband join forces in battle!
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful.
GOOD BOOK BUT!!
By punkfan from nj
GOOD BOOK BUT!! I wish there was another star for the rankings, because I did love this book but not as much as book 3 of Brotherband. I do not like to compare the two series, Ranger's Apprentice and Brotherband, because I try to separate the two as much as possible. However, I will always like RA more but BB is still a good series. Here's my huge problem with this book, the same with book 4 "Slaves of Socorro". Flanagan is teasing us RA fans way to much!! We have three great books about a new group from a different part of Flanagan's world (Skandia) and having adventures focusing on boats and pirates, and yes I love it! Something new, something different to help me get over RA being done, but still read Flanagan's great works and still be able to live in his world.But here is the tease. He is bringing RA characters into play, but there all the secondary characters (Primary characters being Will, Halt, Horace). I would rather keep the two series completely separate or bring them together completely. I would get upset reading this book when Gilan thinks about something that Halt always use to tell him. Or when characters in Arrida say how great Will Treaty is. Flanagan gives us the secondary characters (Gilan, Cassandra, Duncan, Crowley) which I am fine with, but then Flanagan brings up the primary characters a lot and its just a tease! I believe that they are unnecessary lines in the novel and are no help to the story. Instead they just tease us RA fans.My one confusion with the book is that Flanagan messed up the timeline during this novel. BB and RA take place at the same time, which I find interesting but enjoy. The timeline is messed up because Flanagan writes that Cassandra and Horace are married, which does not happen until at the end of book 10. Duncan says that his special task force (Will, Halt, Horace) cannot handle the Scorpion Cult because they are in Hibernia handling an insurrection (the Outsiders, Book 8). So I believe that this is a mistake. I'm fine with this mistake , I'm more writing it so others who may be confused, know that there not alone. BB book 5 takes places during RA Book 8, and Horace does not propose to Cassandra until the end of book 10.PLEASE DO NOT THINK I AM DISSING FLANAGAN AND BB. I love reading these books, I get them right away when I they are released and I enjoy the books greatly. RA will always be better to me, and I simply wish that Flanagan would either keep them separate completely or bring it together completely.My last remark is from a review I read on here from someone else saying how RA missions were always more meaningful than BB missions. RA, saving Araleun from Morgorath, the Picta invasion, all being killed in Nihon-Jan. BB trying to get a Skandian artifact, then doing missions for Araleun. But here is my rebuttal to the author who said this. The Herons, the main group in BB, are on a BOAT!! What do you want Flanagan to write about? 12 people on the Heron go invade a whole country? Erak does not allow much raiding anymore, and the Herons will defiantly not be raiding I think. Also Flanagan writes about missions to protect, not to attack, so the Heron won't be going to attack somewhere else. Also, Flanagan needs to write about the boat, and naval battles, because if he does not than BB is exactly like RA just with different characters. I bet that no one wants that. So that explains why the Herons fight pirates and slave holders, because a boat will always be involved and allow for naval battles. I am fine with the BB antagonists and enemies! Zavac was a perfect enemy who I rank right next to Tennyson (Most dangerous enemy to Ra, because he almost killed Halt).This book is another great work by Flanagan, that involves land and naval battles. The Scorpion Cult was a scary enemy, and Flanagan described them in a very scary way, which I enjoyed. I wish Gilan had a tougher duel, but that's ok. No duel will ever be as great as Horace and Morgarath. Please read this book, and read this series. It is great and I am forming a bond with all the Heron crew, just like what happened with RA. I hope the series continues and the Herons continue to help keep Flanagan's world safe from harm. Good job Flanagan! Just please stop teasing me with RA lines about Halt, Will and Horace.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful.I love them. The people in them are good
By Baltoreader
I have purchased all of John Flanagan's books, Rangers Apprentice and Brotherband. I love them. The people in them are good, they try to do the right thing, not just randomly kill people like other series.I hope this isn't the end of the series. Can't wait for the next one (I hope)
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Worth reading, but...
By Ryan Kreiser
John Flanagan has always been one of my favorite authors. His stories usually interest me because of the odds which the protagonists overcome to achieve victory. For this reason, my favorite books by Flanagan, which I would recommend to anyone, are the Battle for Skandia and Emperor of Nihin-Ja books of the Ranger's Apprentice series. This book, while enjoyable, was rather boring by comparison. While the premise was good, none of the conflicts seemed very difficult for the protagonists to overcome.
