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The Invaders
(Brotherband Chronicles #2)
by
The adventure continues in the Ranger's Apprentice companion trilogy!
Hal and the Herons have done the impossible. This group of outsiders has beaten out the strongest, most skilled young warriors in all of Skandia to win the Brotherband competition. But their celebration comes to an abrupt end when the Skandians' most sacred artifact, the Andomal, is stolen--and the Herons ...more
Hal and the Herons have done the impossible. This group of outsiders has beaten out the strongest, most skilled young warriors in all of Skandia to win the Brotherband competition. But their celebration comes to an abrupt end when the Skandians' most sacred artifact, the Andomal, is stolen--and the Herons ...more
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Hardcover, 429 pages
Published
May 1st 2012
by Philomel Books
(first published 2012)
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Start your review of The Invaders (Brotherband Chronicles, #2)
As a YA novel The Invaders is intelligent, entertaining and top of its class. As a novel to recommend for anyone looking for a purely entertaining read it's very worthwhile. John Flanagan, author of the brilliant Rangers Apprentice series (see The Ruins of Gorlan one which both I, my mother and my sister - the readers in our house - love) continues the adventures of his young Skandian sailors as they set out to retrieve an artefact lost on their watch and hence their honour.
John Flanagan writes ...more
John Flanagan is a great author, but this book was SO weighed down with detail that I wanted to pull my hair out by the end. All of the nautical references and tidbits about how they turned the boat or changed the sails just annoyed me. Pages and pages of this stuff and I STILL didn't know what he was talking about! Perhaps it's just me. I've never been on any kind of sailboat and so I have nothing to reference it to. Thus, it becomes mumbo-jumbo to my brain.
I really loved the characters in the ...more
I really loved the characters in the ...more
Dec 13, 2013
colleen the convivial curmudgeon
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
middle-grade,
action-adventure
3.5
Picking up immediately from the end of the first book, with the Herons in search of the Andomal, the beginning of the story was actually a bit slow to get started. See, they end up getting caught heading out during a bad time of year, and have to hole up for awhile to avoid the storms and while there's some character development happening and improvements to the ship, not much happened that felt like it was moving the story forward.
This take a marked turn, though, when the crew of the Heron r ...more
Picking up immediately from the end of the first book, with the Herons in search of the Andomal, the beginning of the story was actually a bit slow to get started. See, they end up getting caught heading out during a bad time of year, and have to hole up for awhile to avoid the storms and while there's some character development happening and improvements to the ship, not much happened that felt like it was moving the story forward.
This take a marked turn, though, when the crew of the Heron r ...more
This book keeps you guessing in classic John Flanagan fashion. I can never say anything bad about these books because it is just so well written. I feel like i've been to Limmat, watched as the fire bolts were shot, seen the friendships develop, experienced life on the Heron and I'm very in love with Hals character. (Although Will will be foremost in my heart.)
As much as I enjoyed the first book of this series, and the main series it spun from (Rangers Apprentice), this book just didn't really engage me. It felt quite long and meandering until the final few chapters of action. Perhaps I just wasn't in the mood for the story? I can't put my finger on it because I find Flanagan generally a pretty easy and enjoyable read.
I will try book 3, but perhaps not for a while.
I will try book 3, but perhaps not for a while.
That was pretty good. I really enjoy how John can write fights so bluntly but keep them from being overly gory. Over all I think this was a really great story and I can't wait to continue the series
💯 in love with this series and this book! Listened to the book twice back to back.
I'm not sure I liked this one better than the first book in the series, but it was still good. It was a little more slow-paced than I thought it would be, but it is actually kind of an in-between book with another cliff-hanger at the end. The slow parts in the beginning don't really take away from the story either, they just lend to strengthening the camaraderie between the Herons and it was fun to watch Thorn train them. I'm still not quite sure what I think about Lydia. I almost felt that she
...more
Yes, it really took us almost 6 months to get through this book. We just weren't listening in the car for a while. I still don't like these as much as Ranger's Apprentice, but the action is picking up.
This was a solid sequel to "The Outcasts." The Herons are on their own now (with Thorn), and I loved seeing how they worked together as a team, anticipating Hal's commands and everyone willing to step in and do their part and cover whatever needs come around. Hal has some brilliant ideas to give them the upper hand in their battle.
The addition of Lydia was nice, she seems interesting enough (very much like Cassandra/Evanlyn-beautiful yet independent and courageous, and also skilled and resource ...more
The addition of Lydia was nice, she seems interesting enough (very much like Cassandra/Evanlyn-beautiful yet independent and courageous, and also skilled and resource ...more
Although 'The Invaders' had a slower pace than the first book, the character development which takes place throughout the book makes up for it. Again I enjoyed reading about the dynamics between the Herons, and their interactions with the newly introduced characters.
A great in-between book and I'm looking forward to the conclusion of their first big adventure in the next book.
A great in-between book and I'm looking forward to the conclusion of their first big adventure in the next book.
Teach someone a task then let them do it. Trust yourself. Don't let someone tell you can't do it because it's never been done before.
Book one ends with Hal and his crew of sailors fleeing in disgrace from the city they grew up in order to retrieve the Andromal, the sacred artifact of the Skandians, that was stolen by pirates when Hal's crew was supposedly guarding it (they fell asleep). Hal knows that they will be pursued and dragged back home to be punished for leaving the city. They flee under cover of a storm and find a sheltered inlet where Thorn, an adult Skandian warrior who came with on the crew, begins training them o
...more
The 2nd book in the series and arguably the most enjoyable (to me). (spoiler) After fearing banishment from their homeland, the brotherband crew sets of to survive by themselves to return what was lost. Now that the introduction has ended, we face the real goals and plot of the rest of the series. The book does a fine job visualizing what's happening on the island, and makes you feel involved in the planning and staging. Multiple new characters and introduced and we get nice previews of the char
...more
Impressive. Flanagan has a talent for turning sequels into great stories in their own right, and The Invaders doesn't disappoint. In fact, the character development, friendships, battle strategies and action scenes are almost better than the first book in this series.
Though written in the third person, the story has the tone of an older person laughingly retelling the adventures of young friends, perhaps someone like Thorn, appreciating their bravery and daring, and not esteeming them less f ...more
This book had an interesting storyline, but was one of those books in a series that doesn't move it forward very much. The only thing the book really did was to introduce a new character.
About the character, I must admit that while she had some fun traits, I don't think her personality was very developed. When she has a major loss, we didn't really see any sadness. Besides that, Flanagan tried to make her tough by having her complain about a person who liked her. Combined with some other trai ...more
About the character, I must admit that while she had some fun traits, I don't think her personality was very developed. When she has a major loss, we didn't really see any sadness. Besides that, Flanagan tried to make her tough by having her complain about a person who liked her. Combined with some other trai ...more
Reader thoughts: I liked seeing the practical advice from Thorn to Hal (don't let your crew get bored and complain and fight each other! Keep them busy!) and other leadership tips. I liked seeing Hal struggle with how to keep his band together. I liked seeing how they made allies.
(view spoiler) ...more
(view spoiler) ...more
I had a problem with the first book in this series, which was the lack of female characters in the story. Thankfully, Flanagan fixed that(ish) in this one! For the first 166 pages, there was not a single female character (not even a minor one). That was seriously lacking and disappointing. However, a badass female character (that is not a minor one), who challenges gender roles, is introduced in this novel! She is still the only female character who has a part in this story (I think the only oth
...more
The Invaders, written by John Flanagan, is the second in the Brotherband Chronicles, a series I would recommend to both casual readers and those who truly want a story to sink their teeth in. I highly recommend it to any who have read the Ranger's Apprentice series or the first in the Brotherband Chronicles. I loved this story, taking a take on fantasy without magic and with themes more akin to medieval times, this book is a nice refresher and great for a change in pace for all fantasy book love
...more
5 STARS
I really enjoy John's books. They are hard to put down
till your finshed. I got the book in the mail yesterday
and stayed up till 2:00 am.
This is book 2 and starts just a few days after book 1 ended
The Herons Brotherband are racing to find the Zavac
the pirates that had stolen the Andomal and brought
thier disgrace.
They are also fleeing from Erak the Oberjarl of Skandia's
who had given them orders to turn all their weapons and
even the Heron's ship. But they sneaked away and
plan to get the a ...more
I really enjoy John's books. They are hard to put down
till your finshed. I got the book in the mail yesterday
and stayed up till 2:00 am.
This is book 2 and starts just a few days after book 1 ended
The Herons Brotherband are racing to find the Zavac
the pirates that had stolen the Andomal and brought
thier disgrace.
They are also fleeing from Erak the Oberjarl of Skandia's
who had given them orders to turn all their weapons and
even the Heron's ship. But they sneaked away and
plan to get the a ...more
This action-packed fantasy novel about a young group of shipmates who are out to recover a stolen artifact will probably sit well with young fans of Flanagan, since it has all the major ingredients still intact: a squeaky clean action/adventure fantasy story with no magic, just set in a different world. I found myself not enjoying it nearly as much as I did the first book in the series, though - maybe I wasn't in the mood for it, since I noticed a lot of writing that felt clunky, and a lot of te
...more
This loses one star for the violence, which isn't awful, but my 11-yr-old felt it needed to go down because of it. In fact, said 11-yr-old and I were fighting over this book the entire time. We even resorted to hiding it from each other. He took it to bed a couple of times to read under the blankets with a flashlight and I'd have to go in there and "confiscate" it...you know, because he's not supposed to stay up late....not because I wanted to read it.
Another great installment. This series is a ...more
Another great installment. This series is a ...more
Hal and his rogue gang from the Heron brotherband, assisted by Thorn, set off on Hal's boat to recover the Skandian's treasured Andomal from the pirate Zavac, which was stolen due to Hal's mistake. Zavac and his crew on the Raven capture a ship and torture the captain to reveal that a port town (Limmat) has an emerald mine. Capturing the city by subterfuge, a few locals escape to the marsh, including the beautiful, resourceful Lydia, who is rescued by Hal and his crew. The oberjarl sends off a t
...more
Another yet amazing book in the already thrilling Brotherband Chronicles. For those of you who don't know it is like the brother series to Rangers Apprentice which is also very good and I would suggest it for anyone that likes action thrill and romance. To get back on topic the invaders was very good, new characters were added, and crazy folds in the plot happened. For me there was never a dull moment in this book and I didn't set it down until I was done.
THIS BOOK WAS SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!!! I personally love all of John Flanagan's books, and this did not disappoint me. If it weren't for other activities, I would have finished it one sitting (I still finished it in one day). I especially liked the action and suspense, as well as the personalities. All the characters had a mind of their own, and they all worked well together.
I would recommend it to anyone, especially if you like John Flanagan's books.
I would recommend it to anyone, especially if you like John Flanagan's books.
John Flanagan draws me in with his great characters. He keeps me hooked with great action and a need to find out what happens! He has a habit of leaving things unresolved for another book, but somehow I always forgive him for it. He makes the wait worthwhile. I am enjoying Brotherband Chronicles almost as much as Ranger's Apprentice. Highly recommended!
Another great story from Flanagan. I love his attention to detail and weaving of the storyline.
In this second Brotherband Chronicles book, Hal and the Herons follow Zavac's ship to a port town that needs their help. But when Svengal and the Wolfwind's crew catch up to them, is that the end of their quest to retrieve the Andomal?
Summer 2012 #bookaday
In this second Brotherband Chronicles book, Hal and the Herons follow Zavac's ship to a port town that needs their help. But when Svengal and the Wolfwind's crew catch up to them, is that the end of their quest to retrieve the Andomal?
Summer 2012 #bookaday
This is the tale of group of boys from a country called Skandia who are hunting a pirate to get back the treasure of their town, the Andomal. The pirates flee to a town called Limmat, and the with the help of the local townspeople, and their own countrymen, they try to rid the town of pirates.
I liked this book because it has adventure and action.
I liked this book because it has adventure and action.
Classic Flanagan. Great detail without being tedious. I actually like this series better then Rangers Apprentice but that might be due to my great love of Nordic history (you know Skandians are based on Vikings, admit it ;)
This was a great thinking book. My mind wandered so much-- it was such a productive time. Unfortunately, that doesn't say much for the book itself.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mrs. Anderson's E...: The Invaders by John Flanagan | 1 | 2 | May 18, 2016 08:29PM | |
| Technology | 1 | 6 | Jun 10, 2015 09:17PM | |
| Brotherband Lovers | 22 | 66 | Sep 22, 2014 11:07PM |
Readers also enjoyed
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
For mysteries by this same author, see John A. Flanagan.
John Flanagan grew up in Sydney, Australia, hoping to be a writer. It wasn't until he wrote a highly uncomplimentary poem about a senior executive at the agency where he worked, however, that his talent was revealed. It ...more
For mysteries by this same author, see John A. Flanagan.
John Flanagan grew up in Sydney, Australia, hoping to be a writer. It wasn't until he wrote a highly uncomplimentary poem about a senior executive at the agency where he worked, however, that his talent was revealed. It ...more
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Brotherband Chronicles
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