Chronicles of the Warlands 1-4 by Elizabeth Vaughan

After reading Stolen Songbird, falling in love with it, and then realizing I would have to wait until spring for book two—well, I was looking for a fantasy series with more than one book. I wanted several. I’m a total binge reader (obviously) and a series? A series is awesome. A series is the best. So, after perusing Fantasy recommendations on Goodreads, I stumbled across Elizabeth Vaughan’s Warprize. After reading through the reviews, I realized that Warprize seemed to be on of those books where people either loved it or hated it.

So I rolled with it.

And I fell into the first camp, finishing Warprize in one day. The story is about Xylara, a healer (who happens to be a princess) who heals the prisoners of war. She learns their language, and establishes a relationship with them, realizing they’re not the firebreathing Firelander monsters she thought they were.

In a mission of peace, their Warlord comes forward to sign a treaty with Lara’s brother, the king. In exchange for peace, the Warlord requests Lara for his Warprize. Her brother agrees, and she’s sent to live with the enemy.

Without giving too much away, the rest of the series focuses on the relationships she fosters with the Firelanders, how her healing ability is perceived and used, and so much more.

I really enjoyed the way the world was constructed—it was full of rich detail and complex characters. Vaughan did a great job at paying attention to the side characters and their respective stories and personalities.

I’m not a sex-crazy reader or anything, but I did find the sex scenes to be random. Some were very vivid, and others merely hinted at what was going on. Some consistency would have been good. The build-up to each scene led me to believe it would be very erotic, but that wasn’t the case (for most of the time).

I was definitely in love with the first two books in the series—Warprize and Warsworn (both recieved 5/5 on Goodreads). The last two–Warlord and Warcry–were good, but not as good. They received 4/5.

I enjoyed Vaughan’s writing, and I think I’ll definitely read the other two books she has written.