Trickster's Choice

Tamora Pierce is at it again in the Trickster's series. This book is based on Aly, Alanna's only daughter.

Aly has the Sight from her father and a heavy dose of magical power from her mother. Unlike her mother, she has no inclination of being a knight of the realm, but instead wants to be a spy like her father. However, being the only girl in the family and knowing the world of spywork first hand, her parents keep her only in the back rooms transcribing notes and reports from spies in the field. Aly wants more. She wants an opportunity to prove herself. And, boy, does she get one.

While sailing north to get away from her mother's temper, her small dingy gets overtaken by slavers and she becomes sold into slavery in the Copper Isles--which is known for its crazy nobility. However, the family she is sold to has a God looking after it, her father's very own patron God, and has a touch of destiny about it. She makes a deal with the Trickster God: keep the children of the Balitang family alive throughout the summer and he will make sure she gets home to Tortall safely. How hard can keeping a bunch of high ranking nobility safe be right?

This is just not my favorite series of Tamora's, which is sad. I think it has great promise and if I remember correctly, the next one is really good. I hope it's really good. This is actually the first book I picked up from Tamora Pierce which my friend made me put down and pick up Alanna: The First Adventure instead. Don't read this if you haven't read the other books first. You will miss out on a lot of things and be very confused on many of those same things that are presented.

This series is a big change for Tamora and her writing. Here she is doing something very different from her past series. It is her first first-person-point-of-view novel as well as her first single book of such a length. Tamora has slowly been getting long, but this has more words in it than even Lady Knight. With this expense I feel she runs into some problems. I feel like she didn't do enough with the first person POV. There felt like very little emotion, that we normally get through that type of POV, wasn't there. There was very little internal dialog or thought that was conveyed which made it feel like Tamora had simply switched it from third to first by changing the "she"s to "I"s and kept writing. There is supposed to be more of an internal view when it comes to first person that I don't think she grasped here.

The other part I didn't so much like was the long periods of time where nothing seemed to really be happening. This is my second read through (though the first time I read it was probably fourteen years ago (yikes)) and from the time when I first read it to now, I could only recall a few things that happened. They were at the climax and at the very beginning. They were basics. Like crows turning human, the guys name is Nawat, and Aly was a slave. I didn't remember much from the first book at all like I do in other stories where I revisit these awesome moments in my mind over and over (I do this a lot with the Stormlight Archive or in The Immortals series.). I honestly didn't remember that she was a spy (until my friend commented on it and I was like "What? Really?"), because there wasn't much spyness to it. She could pick locks, she searched through people's stuff and waited. I guess that is a lot of what spies do. They wait. But in the need of an engaging novel, it didn't have very high stakes when she was spying. There was not a thought to her getting caught because she was just so good. There was never that tention or her needing to hide in a closet or behind curtains because someone came back to their rooms early. Most of the time I can bust out a Tamora Pierce series in a month, all four books, but this single book nearly took me a month to read by itself. I needed to grab some graphic novels while I was at it because Trickster's Choice was slow and I needed a pick-me-up.

I do also think that when it came to the "slave situation," things were over simplified. It was very much glossed over with "the Duke and Duchess were very kind to everyone" then the grand generalizations of "bad things happened to other slaves by other masters." There were one or two mentions of what 'bad things' were, but not enough to really compare and get a feel for the real world of the Copper Isles.

Now, Tamora's writing in it I think was lacking. It was slow and not as engaging as The Immortals series or Protector of the Small. But there were really good characters. There was a whole cast of different people with different personalities and different things they were good at. Dove and Sarai were dramatically different and very easy to tell apart--whereas sometimes in the past it is hard to tell sisters apart and they almost come in a set. This is not the case for them. The duke and duchess were very different from their peers in that they were kind to everyone in their household, servants, slaves, men-at-arms, etc. They were supposed to be different which made it easy for the reader to like them. I do wish we were given a reason as to why they were so kind to all, not just "because reasons" or "because plot," but something more solid. Kypiroth, the Trickster himself, was fantastic. Very much reminded me of my favorite George in manors and humor. Nawat was very sweet being a crow who turns human to help Aly (reasons are given, so although it's odd it's still valid). His constant talk of fledgelings, hawks, snakes, and mobbings alongside his devotion for her and his own quirkiness made him endearing and someone I really liked. I do wish the little raka committee that Aly becomes a part of differentiated the people a little bit more. The names got to be kind of obnoxious and it was hard to tell some of the men apart.

I do have another qualm with Aly, herself. She's too good at what she does. At the beginning when they are traveling to the outer estate and all is quiet in the woods, she knows better than the Duke's guards and people who are three times her age who had done this before she was born. Yet, she knows better. That rather irked me. She is smarter than practically everyone around her even people who are supposed to be veterans in one thing or another. There also isn't a time when she actually fails. She's perfect and doesn't do things wrong. There are people who die towards the end, but the characters were all prepared for that or plot for the second book needed to happen. I wanted to cry for them especially one character, but I didn't. Aly wasn't even there when the death happened. I wan't emotionally invested because Aly wasn't invested. I also think her Sight is a cop-out for description. There is no other use for it, really, except to describe things for the reader. Other than that it is almost completely unneeded. She doesn't use it for finding mages or looking into locks or something. She hardly uses it at anyway. I feel like she could have used it better.

I wish I liked it more. I will, of course, be reading the second book in Aly's series because it was better. Read on, readers. Read on.

Tortall: A Spy's Guide

This book is a compilation of guides and letters with relevancies to all of the series that Tamora Pierce has published set in Tortall. There are letters from George to Myles, reports from other members of the Tortallian spy network, guides on how to be spies, notes on immortals and killing devices, and more. Pretty basic.

For those who are initiated into the series already, pick it up from a library and check it out. If you want to go on a nostalgia trail without wanting to read all of the series again (which, why wouldn't you want that awesome journey?) this would be a good one to pick up. It's a really quick read.

 If you aren't initiated yet, there are technically no spoilers so it's safe to then go back, but I'd suggest starting out with Alanna: The First Adventure before you think of picking up anything else and start out the right way.

It was good for what it was. We got a little after story for Alanna and a few things about her kids, but there wasn't much gained in the story or plot of any previous series. In general there was no plot here at all. Mainly it was a recap of events that happened previously which you would have gotten if you read through the series in general. Part of it is supposed to be the "Cooper files" where I was expecting bits on Beka or more on Aly, but there was little to no information at all. Very much a put down.

I was hoping this would be "George's story" or some of the like while Alanna is out doing her daring dos. But there were only a few letters, mainly too him, instead of a story that he gives. *sigh*

The setting is obviously Tortall, but there are no land descriptions, only setting ones. The plot is pretty much non-existent on its own. The characters, while they are people we love, you have to really know them before stepping into this book. While new readers could probably guess-timate who they are and what is going on, I don't think they would enjoy this on its own just picking it up from the library or bookstore shelf. This is a series for the initiated as a work of nostalgia.

Part of me is also sad that it isn't just a Tamora Pierce book, but that there are three other writers that got in on it (it feels like they might have done a hardy portion of the work here). I could tell a difference, subtle though it was, between writing styles, which I could chalk up to "different people are writing different letters/guides, so it's okay." It was kind of a let down though.

For what it was, it was good. The set up and pros in it was cohesive and interesting to read. The guide to actual spying was pretty cool, but there were some parts what I willingly skipped because I knew about them well enough already. I very much like the overall timeline at the end of the book as well as young Thom's list of Tortallian Royalty, he's got humor that boy. The way it was presented was probably one of its biggest assets. Letter can be hard to write in a story, especially when that is all that the book compiled. There are little side comments on many of the documents from the Whisper Man or evidences of where wines were spilled or children got to important documents. Also, on documents from important people it has each of their seals, which is a fun little tidbits. The font is not the typical font style either, it has more of a cursive feel to it which makes the feel of the letters more authentic and letter-esque.

Would this be a book that I would buy for my collection? Probably not. (I'm kind of picky.) Does it add very much to the world? A little, but nothing I'd rave about.

Lady Knight

Lady Knight, the last book (#4) in the Protector of the Small series by Tamora Pierce.

Squire Kel has overcome her Ordeal and has become the second Lady Knight Tortall has seen in centuries. Just as she's become a knight, war breaks out in the north against the normally clannish Scandarans. They have joined together under one dangerous man and has assaulted Tortall with killing machines that no one has seen before.

Kel is given the unwanted task of commanding and housing refugees from the war stricken borderlands. She is to keep them safe from raiders and occasional assaults from people Scandarans who make it past the border patrols. This happens far more often than it should. Kel trains the nearly 500 refugees to fight so then the 50 or so soldiers aren't the only line of defence against the enemy and their killing machines. Nothing ever goes smoothly for Kel, and this is no exception.

I didn't feel I could give this full points because the beginning dragged a lot for me. It was very slow going at the start up until Kel leaves for Fort Mastiff the second time. Once Tobe finds her again things picked up for me a lot, but that seemed to be about half way through the book. I wish it would have gone faster or been more engaging for me throughout the first part.

The characters were different enough in this book that it was easier to tell them apart. I remember the first time I read this that the "Cast of Characters" at the end helped me keep them where they were supposed to be in my head. Very helpful. But their names were different enough and personalities real enough that they seemed just that, more real. I think I enjoyed the variety new and consistency of old characters that were given here.

Setting was better than in previous books, which made me happier and we were even given more maps to follow along with.

My only other complain is that *spoilers* at the end when Kel goes after the bad guys and gets the refugees back, that the death of the magician was so quick. Hardly a fight with him. The "dog" has a pretty good fight, but the mastermind behind it all... it fell flat for me. I get that it could be a writerly thing to do because the mage was such a pansy in the first place that Kel could have dispatched him in literally a paragraph besides the dialog. But there was a really big build up for it, since Squire, that I just wanted a bit more.

Other readers might complain that the travel time into Scandar was long and could feel like it dragged, but I thought it was pretty good. Her trying to get others to go away is what took forever for me. Travel time is hard to write and keep engaging, but for this particular journey I think Tamora did pretty good.

A good book and a good way to end the series. I'd probably go through and reread it again in a while.

Squire

Squire is the third book of the Protector of the Small series and is probably my favorite one so far. It has been years since I've read it and didn't remember a lot about it, so it was fun to read it almost as if for the first time.

Kel has survived being a page and has nearly mastered one of her greatest fears. She's been accepted by good old Raoul of Goldenlake (and something else). Lord Raoul is commander of the King's Own who go and assist everyone around the realm. They fight bandits, pirates, rogue immortals, and, when forced, show up for parties when the King demands it. Kel gets to do what she has always wanted, fight and help those around her who cannot help themselves. Through these fights and battles she starts to prove herself and when the Royal Progress occurs (letting the whole kingdom see the prince and his soon-to-be bride from the Yamani Isles) she gets to show off her skills in jousting as well. (I kept having flashbacks to A Knight's Tale and had a great time watching it again.)





Kel gets first hand experience of what it will be like to be a knight while following Raoul and those under his command. The glory and the woes. Kel has started to have feelings for a particular boy and there are complications with the match--the separation that comes with squirehood/knighthood and her trying to decide which she wants more, her shield and the knight life or to be at home the matriarch of her husband's estate which would eventually need looking after.

There are many things that are brought up in this series. Women's place in a "man's world." The need for reformed laws. Politics and how tippy-toe it has to be sometimes to get things accomplished. Accomplishing goals when the odds are against you. Gender and class equality. Fighting for those who can't do so for themselves, obviously. Having bad people, finally, get what's coming to them--which I forgot had happened. There is a lot that was said in this book toward cultural reform in many different avenues. I find this book very relevant for today and its debates as well as discussions of the past. It is a good series to start a discussion with the younger generations (and older) about many things, not only how Tamora Pierce presents it as ideals--as Kel is reminded through the books--but also on why it was a certain way in ages past as wells as how things can change for the better for all people.

Setting is a thing Tamora struggles with in these first three series, I've accepted that. I also know she does get better with her next group of books. So I'm content enough. Sad it wasn't fixed her, but I guess it worked.

The plot, though, was great. It was engaging and constantly moving. In The Song of the Lioness series, we didn't get much from Raoul. He and Gary always seemed so much alike, it was sometimes hard to tell them apart. As they grew older their differences became more apparent which is fantastic. I've learned to love him so much more. I was also so glad to get to know Buri more instead of having it just focus on Queen Thayet. These unappreciated characters got more love and attention here, which was fantastic. I also really enjoyed the way the story flowed. Adventures and love complications throughout the story, not too much love to bog us down, but enough to make it feel like they were real teenagers. Tamora Pierce does have a way with the characters she creates when she gives them enough time on the page, sadly there are some who do seem to fall by the wayside and get muddled amongst themselves and it's hard to remember who is who. For Raoul, she definitely redeemed herself.

This series, I'd recommend for older youth, at least fourteen or fifteen. There is a bit more gore and sex is talked about more thoroughly than I'd want my thirteen year old to read. In Alanna's books, it happened, but when I was younger I didn't know what was going on because they weren't getting as handsy like Kel does. This may be over shooting it and my opinions are different than others, but take my recommendation as you will, as you always have.

First Test

First Test is the first book in the Protector of the Small quartet by Tamora Pierce. Taking place just a few years after the ending of The Immortals series, Keladry of Mindelan wants to be a lady knight just like Alanna the Lioness.

However there are problems, the training master doesn't want girls to be knights and convinces King Jonathan to have the girl go on probation, unlike any of the boys that train to be knights of the realm. This, obviously, rubs Kel the wrong way but she is persistent and determined to become a knight like her hero. Many of the boys in the castle don't think she should be there and there are many times she is beat up in fights she goes looking for. Her own code of chivalry outshines many of the older boys she is around.

This is a book that any feminist would love. I wouldn't classify myself as such, but I enjoy it anyway. Kel is a very bound and determined girl who won't take no crap from any of the boys. She is willing to stand up for anyone who can't/won't stand up for themselves. She's pretty cool.

I will say for the first time I read this, about a decade ago, I didn't like Kel. This series reminded me too much of the Song of the Lioness with dealing with bullies, going through the same things that Alanna did as a page, etc. But in this reread, I've started to like her more. There are differences between Alanna and Kel that I'm content. Kel was trained when she was young by the Yamani (Oriental stereotype equivalent) to be stone faced and show no emotion. She has plenty of emotion, just that she doesn't show it outwardly. Whereas Alanna had emotion burst at the seams as she punched people. This book also has immortals in it and Daine and Numair make appearances, alongside Alanna. So I've changed my original opinion and rather enjoy Kel.

Tamora Pierce still has the same problem in this series though as she did in her earlier two series: her setting. It always seems to be lacking. She says hall or forest or mess hall or classroom and most of the time gives us nothing else. Is it dark, are there torches lighting the way, firs or quaking aspens or pine trees, etc.? There are some many things that can make the world more lively that she loses because there is such a lack of setting. If we were to make a world out of just her descriptions a lot of it would be blank and empty. I know she gets better, but I, myself, really enjoy a lively world.

Read it and enjoy though. It's pretty good.

Realms of the Gods

This one, even though this is the end of the series where the large climax and final judgements are made, is my least favorite of The Immortals series by Tamora Pierce. The mood of the novel changes so dramatically, so very quickly. It is the darkest of the books and it starts out dark from the first pages and it ends dark again.

In the story, Ozorne got away and has amassed a giant army with the help of the Goddess of Chaos (whom probably should have been introduced previously, but wasn't) and has been causing a lot of havoc in Tortall. When Numair and Daine go out of the fort they were defending, they find that the Skinners are too much for either of them to handle and are only saved by Daine's mother and father and taken to the Realm of the Gods. Finally reunited with her mom and finally really meeting her dad, she still finds it weird and feels she doesn't know this woman who is now the Green Lady. Also, knowing that her friends are still in trouble back home, Daine wants to get back home to help. So her dad gives her a map of the Realm and sends her on a journey to the dragons, because they can't send her back themselves.

In my opinion, this journey seems a little unneeded. We do get introduced to Gold Fleck and the other darklings, Numair and Daine finally tell their feelings (which I will get to in a moment), and they meet up with Stormwings from previous books. However, the whole Hero's Journey that happens I think should have been done differently. The glimpse that we got of the realm was small and all they did was travel through it. Nothing they did their enhanced or hindered the people in the other realm, except for when they sent other Lesser Gods away to help out. Daine and Numair didn't do much. I feel like they should have been able to do something besides let things get steamy. In this Realm we got to know the Dream God who let them know what was going on in the human realm. this seemed like a cop-out to me. "Here have information, but not enough that I have to get too into it." :/ Come on. Make your book a little thicker and give us the actual fear that people were feeling. If you're going to have it be dark, give us chances for happiness too. In the other books there was humor and laughing even at just small parts. Give us the people we spent time with and got to know... In the end, I thought it was boring. Unneeded or needing to be advanced.

For the relationship between Daine and Numair, it was the only thing that grew on their journey. There were small things that Pierce did to say, Numair kind of likes her. But this was the first book that actually had him show any affection and after these small moments, he's kissing her face off and things start getting steamy. Pierce should have done a few more tell tell signs of it in book three, more than just telling the crown prince off. I think it would have been more believable.

Pierce got much better at setting than when she first started, I'll give her that. But it took me longer to finish this one than the others. It finished off the series and wrapped everything up, even with the God and their own battles, but I'm dissatisfied with it.

Emperor Mage

Emperor Mage has always been my favorite of the series and I think I discovered what I love most about it.

After finding evidence that Emperor Ozorne is the perpetrator behind the happenings in the north, in books 2, he pack peddles and tries to offer piece so then he won't have the whole of the civilized world at his throat. Alanna, Gary, Sir Gareth, Numair, and Daine and their friends join them in meeting with the Emperor. While they are there, they find that not all is happy. The God's are angry with the Emperor and have been throwing bad omens at him that he isn't listening too. Famine, more wars, and rats (to name a few) are being ignored. But now that his beloved birds are sick he calls for Daine's aid. She is able to heal them and sees that he cares for them. How can someone so kind to animals be such a horrible person?

But not only is she troubled about the Emperor but now she is visited by the God of Carthak, the Old Hag, and she won't let up. Suddenly dinosaurs are coming to life and she kills herself while doing it...

I enjoy this books so much for two very important reasons: the Emperor is a complex person who is indeed horrible, but also is very charismatic and compassionate, if you are the right person. He sees himself as doing the right thing, as all bad guys should--bad bad guys don't have conviction in what they are doing to destroy the world and those tank the novel. At some points you do question if he is the bad guy or simply "misunderstood." And two: Numair and Daine's development. Throughout the last three books, it's been very subtle. She has been very young and him about... 15?? years older than him. Any romantic relation between them would have been perverted. She was 13 in the first book and that would have been too much of an age gap. But as she's getting older, the gap seems to lessen. They go from very much teacher-student exploring wild magic to very much caring about one another. They aren't fully there yet, but toward the end when Daine believes the Emperor has captured Numair, she very much freaks out and causes a lot of destruction all because she "loses her temper." It was magnificent. That might be a third reason I like the book. The chapter called "Daine Loses her Temper." The climax of the book was fantastic too.

There were some problems though was how jumpy it was. In the middle of the book it jumped a lot and I felt like the descriptions of events lacked so then they were kind of confusing. I also felt, while her temper was building and she was able to see what was going on while she was otherwise occupied was a cop-out and unneeded. It was as if Pierce needed a way to have her know things, when there would have been easier ways to find it out. Pierce could have given us full scenes and actually shown us, the reader, the reason why Daine lost her temper. Make us feel for the characters more. Help us to shed a tear. I think that part could have been better handled.

Even with this fault, I can look it over and enjoy this book. I don't know if other's enjoy it as much as I do, but it is still probably my favorite in this series.

Wolf Speaker

Book number two of the "Immortals" by Tamora Pierce was always a quick read for me.

Daine returns to her wolf pack that helped her when she was younger, but now they need her help to stop the humans who are ruining the water, woods, and scaring off the game. With Numair at her side they confront the Lord and Lady of Dunlath but find there is more going on with them and their guests, whom Numair has a history with, than they origionally thought. When Numair and Daine get separated by a magical barrier, Daine is on her own with her animal friends to figure out how to stop these traitors to the crown. Not only does she get help from her Pack and the other animals that reside in the woods, but from Immortals and humans alike. Basilisks, Coldfangs, Horraks, Ogers, and Stormwings make their appearances though not all are Daine's friends.

As I said, it always seemed to go quickly--maybe through simplicity or the fact that I got engrossed into it or a combination of the two. This is for a younger YA audience who is stepping into fantasy, as I was when I first read it. It explains very thoroughly how her magic is used and applied and how Daine grows and experiments with her powers that she discovers.

It is a very simple and straightforward novel that is very plot driven. Daine is really the only one who develops throughout the novel because we don't necessarily see any of the other human characters and their actions. Numair throws lightning at the barricade and they come up with plans, but that is about it. It is very centered on Daine and her relations with the animals around her. All of the animals are very willing to help her out without any saying they won't, even if it was against their nature or something. They all were curious which simplified things too much for me. No need to persuade or beg or say "okay, I'll try somewhere else." It was all too easy for me.

I'd reread this if I was going through the series again or if I was looking for something that was very plot or quest based, but I don't know if I'd read it again simply to read it.

Wild Magic

Another revisit to an old friend. Wild Magic is the first book in Tamora Pierce's second Tortallian Series "The Immortals." Daine is probably my favorite lead character in the Tortallian Universe with Numair being a close tie with George for the lovely side kick. I love the chemistry that evolves with them as they grow as characters and as people.

It starts out with Daine (though it always comes out Diane in my head) meeting up with Onua, a horse-mistress for the Queen's Riders, and becomes her assistant. They are traveling south to the capital, Corus, when they come upon the steel-winged, harpy-looking-things they name Stormwings, that are attacking a very large hawk. They distract the Stormwings, killing some and making vengeful enemies of others, letting the hawk get away. Daine finds the hawk through mysterious ways, she tries to heal the hawk through traditional means, but nothing seems to work. Alanna, the Lioness, shows up to help and the hawk turns into a man who had shapeshifted to flee traitors he was spying on. Alanna and her company leave and let Numair (the man/hawk), Daine, and Onua make their way, more slowly, to the capital again. They become closer friends on their travels, but Daine has things in her past that are haunting her. She also finds, through Numair's help that she has a strange type of magic that makes her "knack with animals" more than just a knack. With suddenly fantastic--heavy on the fantasy part of the word--creatures suddenly appearing and attacking, Daine has to learn to use her Wild Magic to help save her new friends and find a home among them.

It's a very simple book. One that has a taste of the beginning Alanna: The First Adventure books where it starts explaining the mundane works of life, but Pierce incorporates the plot into it. There isn't an entire chapter of "this is what they did in everyday life because I guess I should explain that." Instead there is plot woven through it as well as the excitement you expect from a fantasy novel. Pierce definitely progressed in her store writing abilities with this one.

Setting was much better in this book than in previous books and it flowed better.It didn't bog us down, but gave us an idea of what this somewhat cliched fantasy world was actually like.

Of course there was the reappearance of George, Jon, Alanna, Thayet, Buri, and a few others, which is awesome. And it incorporated them into the story, not just letting them hover in the background like they do in "The Protector of the Small" series that I didn't really care for, but will be reading again anyway. They brought their wit and charm and experience into the story which filled it. I think Daine and Numair do a great job in the later books in the series of standing on their own two feet to make the story, but this one made it more relatable and lovable to the first series. It expanded the circle that is the Tortallian Universe and incorporated the pieces we were already given.

I love Daine and Numair. They are amazing and I love them as they grow and... spoilers. Won't say it. They are amazing. I very much enjoy these books.