Vankara, an island nation founded by runaway mages, finds itself besieged by a series of mysterious plagues which decimates half of the world’s population. When the Queen of Vankara falls ill from one of the plagues, she calls upon the talents of Sarah Harker. As a shifter, Sarah is physically able to transform into another person but only if she is touching them at the moment of their death, gaining not only their physical form but also some of their memories. Queen Emma Vankar entrusts Sarah with the responsibility of protecting the people of Vankara from the ever-growing greed of those in parliament and from the ambitious hands of Aleksander Chromis, dictator of the Chromis Empire and ardent suitor for the queen’s hand in marriage. To help Sarah become the ruler Vankara needs, the queen enlists the help of her trusted political advisor, Gabriel, and her estranged lover, Captain John Fallon. Sarah soon finds herself at the center of a mystery when she discovers the cause of the plagues, uncovering a diabolical conspiracy to conceal the truth of their origins.
When Sarah Harker agreed to use her shifting ability to transform into Queen Emma Vankar, she never imagined she would have to lead Vankara in a war against the Fae. After learning the truth behind the cause of the plagues, Sarah and her small contingent return to Iron City to find it besieged by Nuala’s troops and her corps of formidable dragons.
The unexpected invasion has left Vankara weak and vulnerable, unable to defend itself without outside assistance. In order to defeat the Fae, Sarah must form alliances that will help her drive them back over the Iron Wall. To counteract the dragons under Nuala’s command, Sarah is forced to journey to the sky islands where dragons originated. There she must convince the most ancient of all dragons to lend her their help in the war against the Fae but gaining the dragons’ trust won’t be an easy task. Sarah will have to delve deep within herself in order to earn their trust, and what she discovers about her past and those around her won’t only change her life but also the fate of Vankara.
When Sarah returns to Vankara, she instantly realizes that war isn’t the only conflict she’ll have to deal with back home. Her relationship with Gabriel is strained when he learns the truth about who she is and the secret Dracen has been keeping from him all this time. With the revelation of who Gabriel truly is to her, Sarah must decide what her feelings are for him. She relies heavily on the strength of her new relationship with Fallon to retain her sanity. Not only must she deal with the personal conflicts in her life, but she must also find a way to come to terms with a new, and potentially destructive secret that reveals itself in an unexpected way.
As Sarah and her new allies, the dragons, prepare for war, she remains mindful that everyone is relying on her to lead them to victory. Gregoire, the commander of the dragons, is on a personal mission to stop his brother, Tyr, from accomplishing his goal of enslaving humanity under dragon rule. Needing to set right his brother’s wrongs, Gregoire is prepared to do whatever must be done to stop Tyr. War is never an easy undertaking—much less one that was unprovoked. With her new allies standing beside her, Sarah prepares to take back her country from Nuala, Queen of the Fae, and finally bring peace to her island nation.
Once upon a time, a little girl was born on a cold winter morning in the heart of Seoul, Korea. She was brought to America by her parents and raised in the Deep South where the words ma'am and y'all became an integrated part of her lexicon. She wrote her first novel at the age of eight and continued writing on and off during her teenage years. In college she studied biology and chemistry and finally combined the two by earning a master's degree in biochemistry. After that she moved to Yankee land where she lived for four years working in a laboratory at Cornell University. Homesickness and snow aversion forced her back South where she lives in the land which spawned Jim Henson, Elvis Presley, Oprah Winfrey, John Grisham and B.B. King. After finding her Prince Charming, she gave birth to a wondrous baby girl and they all lived happily ever after.
In love with these books, steam punk style, story line and the Dragons!! I have enjoy it to the fullest and the fact that every month we as readers get a new chapter on the Dragon Alliance book is such an awesome treat! I love all of S J West books can’t pick a favorite they are all my favorites. If you love to experience a whole new world full of magic, royalty, dragons, action, steam punk and romance these are the books for you.
Lyzzette I so agree with you on these books. I have no clue WHY they capture me and totally take me away! I look forward to being able to read this. Heck.. If she will post the 3rd book to her site and charged $5.00 to be able to read it online as she write it.. I would even do that. There is just SOMETHING about this series.. and yes.. like you I love ALL of her books <3
Sandy writes a chapter every month of the 3rd book for us to read for free. go check it out and join the Vankara Nation Crew 😀 http://vankara.weebly.com/
3rd book? have I missed something? I am still reading her second book “Dragon Alliance”. I lo ed the first book.. it really peaked my interest.. but the second one.. WOW.. it really pulled me in and I so look forward to when she posts a new chapter.
“Vankara Nation Crew”? 🙂
oh no i’m sorry I got confused she has the 2nd book online I’m sure Sandy will hook us readers up when she starts on the 3rd book she is pretty awesome with that. 🙂
I have enjoyed this story immensely and it will be going into my grand-daughter’s library. Excuse me while I go and give a 5 star rating for the first book in the series.
These books would be really awesome as graphic novels. Just a thought..
Is there a book release date for the 3rd one in the Vankara Saga series? Can’t wait
I will finish WoA after I write the third book in my Alternate Earth Series. At this time, I would say expect the third book sometime this Fall 😉
I desperately want these books in hardcover! Is there any place I can get them in that format, please!
I’m sorry, but they are only available in a 6 x 9 paperback.
I’ve just worked up the courage to begin the Vankara series after wolfing down all of the Watchers Trilogy series/Chronicles and the Redemption series. I feel the bar was set so high. But after reading reviews, I know I won’t be disappointed!
Hope you like it, Andrea 🙂
When is the prejected release date for the 3rd WOA book
When will the 3 Vankara book be done. It seems like I’ve been waiting forever.:_(
I know, Jessica. I do apologize for the wait. I hope to finish the next chapter soon.
I love all of these books! The entire Watchers series, and every version of them, I just finished! And now I’m reading Vankara. I am very pleased that so far Vankara is more YA than adult. I think all of those sex scenes in the various watcher series wasn’t necessary and I hope Sandra keeps going with the YA feel. I can’t wait for book 3 of Vankara series, so I am going to read the chapters posted online! Lol
Love the vankara series finished the first 2 and just finished chapter 10 on weekly..I need more 🙂