Review of the Slaves of Socorro

The Slaves of Socorro (Book 4 of the Brotherband Chronicles)

Author: John Flanagan

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Puffin Books

ISBN: 978-0-14-242726-2

Summary (from the book jacket) 

Hal and his fellow Herons have returned home to Skandia after defeating the pirate captain Zavac and reclaiming Skandia’s most prized artifact, the Andomal. With their honor restored, the Herons turn to a new mission: tracking down an old rival turned bitter enemy. Tursgud—leader of the Shark Brotherband and Hal’s constant opponent—has turned from a bullying youth into a pirate and slave trader. After Tursgud captures twelve Araluen villagers to sell as slaves, the Heron crew sails into action . . . with the help of one of Araluen’s finest Rangers. 

Review 

The Heron Brotherband is sent to find Tursgud, who they find has captured Araluens and taken them to the slave market at Socorro. Accompanied by Ranger Gilan from the Ranger’s Apprentice Series, the Herons set out to free the slaves. 

My overall impression of this book was very good. It contained a lot of that snappy, humorous dialogue I love in John Flanagan books. The characters are endearing, and Kloof’s role at the end (but I’m not giving away any spoilers here) took me by surprise. Gilan is a nice addition to the crew, though I feel he deserved a larger role than he was given, because for the most part he was there but not doing much. Tursgud, the villain, makes a brief appearance at the very beginning and end of the story, but other than that he is strangely absent, and in his place is the slave market overseer Mahmel.

Although I find the Brotherband Chronicles is not quite as good as the Ranger’s Apprentice series — parts of the books are bogged down by technical sailing terms that are slow and boring while I care more about the story — Slaves of Socorro is still a fascinating read. However, this book definitely needs to be read after the first three books in the series or it will not make much sense. What I really loved about Slaves of Socorro as opposed to the other books in the series is that while there are some interesting fighting scenes, much of the book was focused on strategy and planning over action, though for fans of bloody fighting scenes, there are still a few.  

Cover: 4/5
Writing style: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters/character development: 3/5

Overall Score: 4/5