Tempest and Slaughter

Tempest and Slaughter is Tamora Pierce's newest book (as of so far). This is the story of Numair before he became Numair, when he was a simple student in Carthak City studying to become a great wizard, back when he was known as Arram Draper.

Tempest and Slaughter follows him as he is growing and studying at the Mage's school and shows more promise than many of the other students. He is the youngest student training to become a Master and flies through the ranks of his fellow students. He is often board and that gets him in trouble. One of these incidents leads him to become friends with Ozorne ("the forgotten prince") and Varice (a beautiful girl from the north). Between plagues, school, and the gladiator arenas there is a lot for the future Numair to do especially when death comes to call and conspiracy looms in the shadows.

Numair is one of my favorite characters. In the The Immortals series and Protector of the Small, I light up every time he's in a scene. I think I enjoyed this more because I knew where many of the characters were going to be later and what they would become, more than I enjoyed the actual book. I loved the little unexpected blip toward the end when I figured out who a particular character was. It was awesome!

Getting to know the environment and setting of Carthak was interesting and intriguing. It explained a lot of where Orzone came from and why he acts the way he does in future novels.

I feel like this is really only half of the story. There is a book two that will be coming out in 2019, but without it seems like we only have half a plot. The "climax" at the end was lacking even though it kind of rounded out the story, but it just wasn't enough for me. I think Tamora Pierce could have done more than just a timeline plotline. He grew older and advanced through the ranks... There is an underlying plot with the Princes and hints of conspiracy, but we only get a nibble. It was almost as if Tamora had too much she wanted to put in the story that the plot almost vanishes. There isn't enough of it to be considered a great book, in my opinions. I still enjoyed the book, just not as much as I was hoping for.

If I would suggest this book, I'd suggest it to someone who's already read Daine and Numair's story, at least until The Exile's Gift comes out. Before then though, make sure you read at least the four books in the Immortal's series. You'd enjoy it so much more then reading this alone.