Customer Reviews

Warsworn (Gollancz S.F.)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Warsworn is the follow up tale to Warprize, a beautifully written saga about Xylara and her beloved Keir. In Warprize, Keir, famed Warlord of the Firelanders, lays siege to Xylara's kingdom. With her cooperation, Xylara is offered up as part of the terms of surrender. Xylara thinks she is to be Keir's slave, but what she discovers instead is that she has stepped into a role that rivals that of a Queen, for Keir's people honor and respect her. But what surprises her the most is Keir's intent on wooing her. They fall in love but circumstances threaten to tear them apart. Keir is willing to do what's best for Xylara's people, which is to give her up, but Xylara has other plans in mind. She appoints an overseer for the kingdom and joins Keir as he leads his army home.

Warsworn opens with a dilemma. Supposedly a town has shut its doors to Keir's army. Thinking this is a rebellion of some sort, Keir is prepared to raze the place to the ground, but Xylara stops him when the signs point to a plague. Because Xylara is a master healer, she's determined to do her duty, which is to enter the town and do what she can to help. She stubbornly forces Keir to acquiesce but also lies to him about the waiting period for the quarantine. Keir is livid but he lets her go.

The events that follow is a domino affect of Xylara's arrogance. The plague spreads to the camp and takes out a tenth of the army. Along with those who fell under the plague are several of the principal characters; some of my favorites. Xylara learns a hard lesson from this, and her and Keir have to rebuild the trust in their relationship that she so blithely destroyed. But what waits for them is a far greater challenge: Keir's enemies at his home have been regrouping to move against him. The delay with the plague has given them an advantage, allowing for time to present evidence of Keir's supposed ill-informed decisions and their consequences. Keir is summoned home before the warrior-priests to respond to the charges brought against him.

This was a hard book to get through, mainly because some of my favorite characters died in this installment. Xylara, whom I liked very much in Warprize, earns no sympathy points from me. Regardless, I continue to remain in awe of Elizabeth Vaughan's gift in weaving such a complex story with rich, enigmatic characters. She allows the characters to evolve, learn from their mistakes, and even struggle with beliefs they once held so dear. I can't wait for the next installment.

Our tale begins where the first book, "Warprize", left off. Lara, the Warprize, and Keir, the Warlord, are traveling to the Heart of the Plains so that Lara's status may be confirmed in a ceremony. The two have thousands of warriors accompanying them. However, they come to a city with its gates closed and the symbol for plague is upon the gates. Being a Master Healer, Lara goes inside to help the victims.

Soon the plague spreads throughout the warrior encampment. In the midst of the sick and dying, Iften, a rival warrior, gathers his followers and challenges Keir for the right to rule their tribe. Keir is still weak from his recent sickness. If Keir loses, he will not be the only one Iften will see dead quickly.

***** Mark my words: This trilogy will win massive awards! There is no doubt in my mind that this trilogy is one of the best I have ever read! You do not have to read the first novel to understand and enjoy this one; however, you will not enjoy this episode nearly as much unless you do. Each character, even the secondary ones, has their own strong personality. I could not help but get close to them. They are so well developed that I kept forgetting they are not real people. Author Elizabeth Vaughan has won me as a fan and I eagerly await the third book (WARLORD). An outstanding accomplishment from an author that is quickly making her name well known! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

This is a transitional book in the series, but I was disappointed because the emotions do not connect in this sequel. There is limited action and too much misunderstanding and mistrust. I really liked Lara in Warprize, but she is not nearly as likable in this book. Keir is also only a shadow of the strong character portrayed previously. I hope the next book will be more on the level with Warprize.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. Warprize was my favorite book of last year, and I was dying to see how the second one continued the story of Lara and Keir. I was, unfortunately, rather disappointed with this book. I gave it three stars because it was just ok to me. The romance between Keir and Lara was pretty bland, and maybe that's because their love for each other is never at all questioned and therefore without any conflict or suspense.

The book itself was hard to get into. I picked it up and put it down several times before I forced myself to read it. The problem was that the beginning of the book with Lara's doubts and complaints just wasn't interesting. It did pick up with the plague, but the fact that Keir let her go into a plague ridden town was totally unbeleiveable. He had all of his people to think about, including the woman he loved, and his willingness to risk her life and thousands of lives seemed totally out of character.

Overall, I was disappointed, but it is still a far better novel than most of what is out there. And yes, I will be buying the third one.

The first novel in this triology was solid gold, but the sequel didn't rank a bronze.

The plot is long-- action sparse-- and for a herbalist/healer she really didn't look for obvious clues to aid in treating the plague. Characters we grew to love are killed off for little or no purpose...and the love affair that was so deep and touching is now whittled down to nil.

I was dejected at how different this novel was from the last--the characters flattened, the deaths non-sensical and the subplot of treachery in the ranks minimalized to tom foolery.

I was counting the days until this sequel hit the shelves, all I can say is I hope the final installment returns to its roots.

Warprize, the predecessor to this book was probably one of, if not THE best book I read in 2005. I read it multiple times and got several of my friends to buy it and they loved it - it was that good. I was soooo excited about this book, which was to start up from where our two main characters, Kier and Lara reconciled at the end of Book 1. This book almost seemed written by a different person. First of all, the topic of the plague was not interesting and the decisions the heroine made in relation to going into the plague village where just ridiculous. I spent the whole book yelling at Lara's character for being so stupid!! There is one thing to have a character make a mistake so that someone else can save the day or that a lesson can be learned but her stupid errors lead to the death of thousands, the weakening of her husband's power, the deaths of really endearing characters and all for nothing! I'm getting upset writing this review. The main character was so dumb it defies logic and there was no redeeming lesson that overcame her blind mistakes.

The relationship with her and Kier and their interaction is very minimal and that was quite disappointing since it was so great in the first book. There were a few interesting scenes that occurred when we were introduced to the warrior priest who were discussed in book 2 and hopefully they will be flushed out even more in Book 3. When the 3rd book comes out I am planning on buying it - I've got to see how this all ends and what happens when they get to the plains and to the heart of Kier's civilization. Book 2 was just the journey, and they are not there yet. I just hope the 3rd book returns more to form and is more enjoyable. Definitely buy book 1. You'll love it so much you'll probably want to buy this book anyway - though you will probably be disappointed. So you may want to wait till reviews come out for book 3, before you invest your time in this frustrating read.

I enjoyed Warprize, which had enough of the original thrown in to offset any stereotypes. However, in Warsworn, Lara deteriorated into a weak, helpless character whose only interest seems to be rolling in the hay with her Warlord. It's hard to believe that this is the same altruistic healer we first encountered in book 1.

What's more, the whole plague plot turned out to be a long, predictable side trip--little more than a messy interruption to what now seems a shallow relationship.

I appreciate more nuanced romances... This one is all about heavy breathing and sex. What about their relationship outside of the covers? This one left me feeling cheap... and hesitant to take up the final installment of the trilogy.

I loved Warprize and I loved this book too (although not quite as much, but it's hard to top that first book). You absolutely must read Warprize before you pick up this book because the events in this book pick up where the previous book left off.

I disagree with some other reviewers that thought the events in this book were pointless. Yes, there was some character death, but I thought that it served in developing the conflict between Lara and her acceptance as Warprize into the Firelander society. Things are more difficult for her and Keir now because some of their allies have died or turned against them because of the devestation that the plague wrought, a "City-Dweller" affliction. And of course Lara can't know everything, even if she is a very skilled healer, the times the book takes place in (even though it's an alternate universe) are clearly very primitive and it's hard for a healer/doctor to heal if they've never studied or encountered the disease before.

A very touching, sometimes tragic continuation of the series and leaves you wanting more...fortunately there's a third book: Warlord!

I'm not good at trying to tell people about why a book is good or not. I can tell you I set down and read this book in one afternoon and snapped at anyone who tried to interupt me. I can tell you that I laughed, cried and then smiled at the end. I would recommend that you read Warprize first then continue. I have put the release date for the next book of March 2007 on my diary so that I'll look for it when it comes out.

Wow...another wonderful story that begins where the first ended. All I can say is that Elizabeth Vaughan should never stop with these two. In book two Xylara tells a little white lie which almost tears them apart. She must face the results of that small lie and what her actions create. And fix the damage for the love of her man.