The Poppy War

 

This one, I didn't finish.

The basic plot of this book is a young girl, Rin, who grew up with her "auntie" and "uncle" in the country of a China-esque country. In order to not be sold off into marriage she studies her heart out to take the governments exams to try to get into an academy. While she aces the exam and escapes a life of forced marriage and hiding the drugs her "relatives" are dealing, she finds herself way out of her league. She's studied for two years, but the rest of the students at this war academy have had their whole lives to train in marital arts, the classics, and other areas that she has no training in whatsoever. With pompous arrogance on ever side of the students and teachers who hate the country trash, she must prove herself not only to them, but to herself as well. And then she discovers she has shaman magic.  

With a difference in country and cultures, this book reminds me very much of Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness series and her Protector of the Small series. Only girl in a group of boys at school and she must show that she can stick with the boys and beat them or get "kicked out of school." There is even the "I'm starting my period" moment toward the beginning reminding her that she is very much a girl amongst the arrogance of men. For those coming into a new generation, sure enjoy it (for as far as I read anyway). 

It is highly based on the politics and wars of 20th Century China which there isn't much of on bookshelves. Her country goes from Imperial "China" and fighting wars to defend their borders, to stopping a civil war and joining rebels to build a republic, and fighting enemies with more modern technologies. Being a history buff, I enjoy the other culture interpretations of history (in a fantasy sense too) and so I was really excited about it. Though I just read a brief article with the title of "What if Mao was a teenage girl?" And that was kind of off putting. He is not a world leader I like in any which way, so comparing Rin to Mao... makes me a bit wary. 

But I had to put it down because there was too much swearing. Not as much as others (comparatively, it could be considered "light") but there to many F-bombs dropped for me. Some of the other swear words I can deal with, but when it comes to the heavier language... I prefer to not. There are too many other books I'd like to get to. 

It was well written from 15% I got through. For those who don't mind/care, go for it. If you enjoy diving into cultures and enjoyed the Song of the Lioness or Protector of the Small, I think you'd enjoy this one too. History buffs, have fun. 

Page

The second book in the Protector of the Small series by Tamora Pierce was okay.

Keladry has become a Page and is no longer on probation. This is the story of the next three years and the trials of being a page. Still dealing with bullies, going on the summer camping trips that result in adventures, get a new animal to follow her, and training to become a knight of the realm. The big thing that are different is that Kel hires a maid to work for her, Lalasa. Lalasa is a girl who has been abused by men all her life and is scared of most everything. Kel takes her under her wing and starts teaching her to defend herself against unwanted attentions. Along side her regular training, as the older boys become squires and new boys come in to be pages, Kel starts gaining feelings for a boy (though I won't tell you which).

It has very much the same feeling as In the Hands of the Goddess from the Lioness Rampant series. The fighting of bandits or wars against another country, kidnappings, training, and the "joys" of developing into a woman. There isn't even the joy of George being there, though. Cleon is okay with his flowery words to Kel and Neal is sarcastic, but I haven't grown any feelings for either of them. Not that they are bad characters, but they seem to be lacking something that is supposed to make me like them.

Out of the series, this book seems to be the one that is too similar to other books for me. It's alright, and it needs to be there for the progression of the story; it's just not one that I would pick to read on its own.

When I was younger and read this, I didn't know what was going to happen throughout the story. I wasn't well enough versed in storytelling to catch onto the very heavy foreshadowing that is laid out throughout the story. For an older audience you could definitely tell what was going to happen and how she is "protecting the small" in this segment of Kel's story. It was good, but for an older audience it would give no surprise as to what would happen.

The ending of the book on Balor's Needle was well done enough and I was glad she accomplished what she did. It gives that sense of fulfillment in the climax of the story.

For a younger audience it would be a good story. It is a young adult novel with a good purpose behind it. It would be one that I'd suggest for a young to mid-teen.

P.S. I really like her mother. I wish there was more about her mom then there is. Fix that Tamora. Fix it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.