The Stern Chase: The Brotherband Chronicles, Book 9

Somebody damages most of the Scandian ships at port and runs off with the leader's ship. Luckily, the Heron was off in another area getting worked on, and was ready for sailing. They go off to try to find the ship. The Iberians have left a trail of destruction in their path, making them easy to follow. Eventually, the brotherband defeats them and gets their ship back. There is also an episode where a bear does some of the dirty work for them. There are deaths as is common in the culture, yet very little gore or violence. The brotherband has respect for life (but is not above letting enemies fall.) There is a wedding at the end with some twin "bride's men". It would not be surprising to see further adventures of this. band.

Return of the Temujai: The Brotherband Chronicles, Book 8

The Temujai are the version of the Mongols in this installment in the Brotherband spinoff of the Ranger's Apprentice series. They are intent to destroy the Skandian homeland. The Skandians have other thoughts. They do some work with their boat (including moving it over land and dealing with damage.) Rather than respond brutally, they try to be more hospitable captors and score a (somewhat temporary) truce with the enemy. In the process they show how a rag-tag group with strong internal support network can continue to succeed.

The Caldera: The Brotherband Chronicles, Book 7

Caldera starts with some of the crew members competing in the contest for the best warrior. The two identical twins end up "stuck" as neither can best the other. Stig is in the lead and almost a sure thing to win. However, his father mysteriously returns during the night. He asks the brotherband to help him rescue a young emperor who has been kidnapped. They end up sneaking out in the middle of the night to set on the adventure. They face some battles at sea and barely escape a volcano in the process of performing rescue. They realize the courtly life is not for them, and they return back home after rescuing the boy emperor. Stig's dad stays back in the empire to continue working as the boy's guard. While I was hoping for a peaceful reunion with Stig and his father, that never really happened. Stig even used some threats of blackmail to ensure that the reward money was properly shared. There were also open questions about the "Empress". Did she really want the boy back? Or was she just making nice before she would do something nefarious?
The book also had a short story from the Royal Ranger series. Maddie protected some farmers from a giant cat. She did that by healing the cat from its injury to encourage it to return back into the woods and not bother the easy prey.

The Ghostfaces: The Brotherband Chronicles, Book 6

The Heron band starts out by sailing away to try to avoid a storm. However, they get stuck in a storm that seems to go on and on. There water supply goes low as they are in the middle of the ocean. They decide to gamble on sailing into the unknown ocean in hope of finding land. They barely do in time.
The end up finding a place. They build a fort and set in for the winter. They also defeat a bear and strike up a relationship with the local inhabitants. (There are a few bits of romantic interest.) They also discover there is another from their land with them. His ship was not as lucky. They run into the "ghost faces" and only one survived. Eventually, the winds shift, the battle the ghost faces and head home. They decide not to share the detailed navigation instructions with others to keep the people at peace.
This seems to be a fictionalized version of Viking incursions into America. Here it is explained as people making friends, but specifically not wanting others to go back there. I guess that is as good an explanation as any for an interesting bit of history with little record.

Scorpion Mountain: Brotherband, Book 5

The fifth brotherband book has the brotherband team engaging more closely with the Ranger's Apprentice team. They visit the castle and meet the King and princess. Hal invents spectacles to help a team member. The team travels to a desert land to try to lift an assassin cult's death sentence on the princess. They build a "land sail" to travel across the sand. They defeat the bad guys, complete there adventure and make it back safely. It is all the typical story. There is just enough conflict to keep things interesting, but you know that the good guys will win in the end.

Slaves of Socorro: Brotherband, Book 4

Slaves of Socorro is a "standalone" Brotherband book that starts to tie in more closely with the Ranger's Apprentice series. The crew of the Heron set out on their first mission. They are to be the treaty duty ship for an Araluen treaty. They also discover that their former brotherband nemesis has turned rogue. They give him chase, but he gets away. They meet up with a Ranger who wants them to go see the King. However, they end up going to a slave port to try to rescue some people that were taken in slavery. There is a lot of death and destruction, but all the good guys survive. The team also adopts a big dog that comes in handy to save the day. It was surprising that they just let a whole ship full of their nemesis sink. (Though they did have to be cajoled into not saving them.) The various talents of the team members continue to come in handy as they complete their adventures.

The Hunters: Brotherband Chronicles, Book 3

The Hunters concludes the three book arc of Brotherband books. The crew completes the adventure by way of a "ship duel" with the pirate. The author enjoys messing with gender roles. The "girl" is the sharpshooter, while one of the viking warrior knits. The other band members initially make fun of him, but all really want the hats that he makes. There are numerous escapades as they sail down a river, are arrested for murder, break out of jail, burn a corrupt official's boat, sail down rapids, pretend to be pirates, and eventually sink the real pirate's ship in a public duel. It is recounted "elegantly" in a musical saga at the end. This book is filled with adventure after adventure and a nice "mid-end" to the Brotherband books.

The Invaders: Brotherband Chronicles, Book 2

In the second Brotherband book, the boys go through a training regimen before setting off to find the pirates. They happen to run into a girl who is floating away from the village that has just been overtaken by pirates. Of course, she ends up being a sharp-shooter with her unique weapon. (You just knew that had to happen in this series.) They end up teaming up with a group of locals and other Skandians to try to get the treasure back. Alas, the pirates are able to ram a ship and the brotherband save the ship rather than chase the pirates. This leaves us with more possible adventures in the future. Meanwhile the girl is trying to avoid the overtures of the local pompous would-be-leader and joins the boys on their quest. Just as the boys were getting their chemistry down, leave it to a girl to mess things up.

The Outcasts: Brotherband Chronicles, Book 1

The Outcasts is the first of the BrotherBand series. This series is set in the same universe as the Ranger's Apprentice books. However, it focuses on the lives of the Viking "Skandians". Some of the characters are recognizable from the Ranger's apprentice series. However, they don't play a huge role here. The book starts with a quick trip through history to set up the background of some of the characters. The focus is on Hal, a boy raised by his non-Skandian mother after his Skandian father has died. He is an "outcast" because of his mixed parentage. He also becomes friends with Stig - another boy without a father. (However, while Hal's father had died in battle, Stig's had run away after stealing money.)
Eventually, Hal becomes a leader of a group of Brotherband outcasts. They are the crew of boys that nobody else wants. They compete in the events and take advantage of some planning and tickery to win the competition. (Who didn't know that would happen?) But, they blow it in their reward as an important jewel is stolen. At the end they set out on a quest for redemption, having grown much closer together. They are joined by the one-armed, former town drunk - who was also a great fighter for the day. This ties in some of the fun characters from the Ranger's apprentice world in their own adventure. This one is a fairly standard "outcasts coming of age" story. It sets things up for a fun series.