Angie
Proceed With Caution:
This book contains brief mentions of abduction and rape, gore, and a natural disaster.
The Basics:
Lauren's Barbarian is the first of the Icehome series, a spinoff to Ice Planet Barbarians. It takes place around book #15-ish, which is basically the end of the series. You don't have to read it to understand what's going on here, but I'd still recommend it for the full Ice Planet experience.
My Thoughts:
Based on Lauren's Barbarian, I know I'm going to love this series! It was another fun start, but it's clear that author had really found her groove by the time she started this series. The world-building is fantastic, both the new stuff and the established stuff. We seem to have a very diverse cast of new characters, which is always a plus. Obviously, Lauren is the first of the new tribe that we really get to know. She's one of the three women who disappeared when the beach tribe was being established.
Lauren and Marisol weren't actually missing though. They were trapped on the spaceship as it was being sent to sea to be destroyed. Luckily, they were able to escape and washed up on a tropical beach! But it's not the paradise that it appears to be. It's an active volcano! Very active! However, the aliens who live there don't realize it. They think the earthquakes are normal and that the "smokey mountain" is dead after it previously blew its top and killed almost everyone. They are so lucky that Lauren realized what was going on and prepared them for what was to come.
Other than the exciting natural disaster survival plot, Lauren's Barbarian has a sweet romance. K'thar immediately resonates to Lauren when he finds her on the beach and takes her back to his clan. The two can't speak to each other, but they make it work through simple words and gestures. I mean, she had to get the point across that the island was about to be destroyed and they needed to get the heck out of there! There's not as much sex as I'm use to from these books, but it does work given that they have other things on their minds.
I really enjoyed Lauren's Barbarian. It's so fun to get to see new places on the planet and learn about different types of aliens. Other than the blossoming romances, I know there's going to be some interesting lore to come as the tribes learn more about their ancestors and where they all came from.
