This is the first in a fast-paced action adventure series that grips from the very first page. Set on the high seas teams of boys must triumph over adversity if they are going to win the ultimate race of becoming warriors. Can one of the teams - a team of outcasts - work together and combine each of the boy's strengths to beat all the other teams? It's a battle they must win. From the author of the international bestselling series, Ranger's Apprentice.
There is only one way to become a warrior. Boys are chosen for teams called Brotherbands and must endure months of gruelling battles in the treacherous sea. Hal finds himself the unwilling leader of a band of outcasts, the boys that no one wants. They are small and wiry but what they lack in size, they make up with skill and courage. Now they must battle against the other bands in the ultimate race where there can only be one winner. The icy waters make the sea a treacherous playing field. Especially when - for some - this is anything but a game...
John Flanagan began his working life in advertising before moving to freelance writing and script editing. He has written TV jingles and comedy-drama for television, and is one of Australia's more prolific TV writers. John wrote the first book in The Ranger's Apprentice series to encourage his twelve-year-old son to enjoy reading. Michael was a small boy, and all his friends were bigger and stronger that he was. John wanted to show him that reading was fun, and heroes weren't necessarily big and muscular. Now in his mid-twenties, Michael is six feet tall, broad-shouldered and powerful - but he still loves The Ranger's Apprentice. John lives in the beachside Sydney suburb of Manly.
