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Series: The Orc Prince Trilogy by Lionel Hart

Greetings and welcome to Reviews That Burn: Series Reviews, part of Books That Burn. Series Reviews discuss at least three books in a series and cover the overarching themes and development of the story across several books. I'd like to thank longtime Patron Case Aiken, who receives a monthly shoutout. Full Audio Here   An elven prince. The son of an orc warlord. In two warring nations, their arranged marriage brings peace. They never expected to fall in love. Prince Taegan Glynzeiros has prepared since childhood to fight and lead armies against invading orc forces, the enemies of elves for hundreds of years. But after a successful peace treaty, the elven prince will not be fighting orcs, but marrying one. The first words he speaks to Zorvut are their wedding vows. Despite being considered the runt amongst the orc warlord’s children, Taegan finds him to be intelligent and thoughtful—everything the stereotypes about orcs say he shouldn’t be. He doesn’t want to fall in love, but Zorv...

The Andalite Chronicles by K. A. Applegate

The Andalite Chronicles is the story of Aximili's brother, Elfangor, how he fought, hid, lived/loved, and returned as a hero. We learn more about Taxxons, Alloran's fate, and why Visser Three hates Elfangor. A solid prequel/midquel at the same time, don't miss it.

I'm appreciating on this read-through how the story threads pick up from the Hork-Bajir Chronicles to the Andalite Chronicles to create the conditions in the background when the whole Animorphs series starts. These should definitely be read where I have placed them if it's your first readthrough, but it is possible to read this as a prequel to the entire series if it's not your first time.

I really like Elfangor's story and how much it communicates by what he does and does not assume is normal. There really is a different perspective to the story when the narrators are not human, and this one is very well done.

As a mix between a prequel and a midquel, this is difficult to discuss without spoiling major revelations in the main series, but if you really don't care about series spoilers this could be read on its own as a self-contained (and really great) story.

A blue centaur-like alien (Elfangor the Andalite) stands with a sun framed behind his head

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