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robotnik's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The Realm of the Gods is the final book in the Immortals quartet, and the last one to feature Daine as a protagonist of the Tortallan books.
I will admit that this one was always my least favorite out of the quartet. It's not that I don't like it; I just don't like it as much as the others. My favorite parts are being able to really see the other Gods and the realm from which they come from as well as Daine's continued character development (such as how she's come to terms with the fact that Stormwings can't fight what they are). But, there's some things I'm not too fond of with this book.
One is the amount of time spent in the Gods Realm. Like, yeah, this is important to Daine and her character, but we spent three books building up this war between Tortall and Ozorne and them, and yet we missed most of it because Daine's frolicking around in another universe. It would have been nice to see more than parts of the final battle.
The second is Daine and Numair's relationship. It's all fine and dandy later, and I'm cool with them in the later books, but Daine's only sixteen here and Numair's a lot older, plus he's her student so there's an imbalance of power. Luckily, Pierce did promise not to be doing that anymore.
Other than that, this book, like all the others, is a solid read. It's nice to see Daine's journey wrap-up nicely because the girl's been through a lot and she needs some time now to sit down and just be happy.
I will admit that this one was always my least favorite out of the quartet. It's not that I don't like it; I just don't like it as much as the others. My favorite parts are being able to really see the other Gods and the realm from which they come from as well as Daine's continued character development (such as how she's come to terms with the fact that Stormwings can't fight what they are). But, there's some things I'm not too fond of with this book.
One is the amount of time spent in the Gods Realm. Like, yeah, this is important to Daine and her character, but we spent three books building up this war between Tortall and Ozorne and them, and yet we missed most of it because Daine's frolicking around in another universe. It would have been nice to see more than parts of the final battle.
The second is Daine and Numair's relationship. It's all fine and dandy later, and I'm cool with them in the later books, but Daine's only sixteen here and Numair's a lot older, plus he's her student so there's an imbalance of power. Luckily, Pierce did promise not to be doing that anymore.
Other than that, this book, like all the others, is a solid read. It's nice to see Daine's journey wrap-up nicely because the girl's been through a lot and she needs some time now to sit down and just be happy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
hannahpings's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
such a drop-off in quality and content, especially after the terrific one-two punch that is wolf speaker and emperor mage. genuinely don't know what pierce was thinking here. the realms of the gods is a significant departure from both the central action of this series and the progressive, eco- and equity-centered politicking of its predecessors. it also––and you knew this was coming––puts its minor student/adult teacher romance in your face and front and center. this was my first reread of realms as an adult, and reading the relationship between daine and numair felt even more icky and disappointing than i'd anticipated. like much of this book, it just feels bad, man.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Slavery and Injury/Injury detail
bubski_mcboo's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
While I loved the author as a teen due to her influx of female heroines in the male-dominated fantasy adventure genre, I have grown out of this series due to the types of relationships the author encourages in teenage girls, which played a part in my unrealistic expectations regarding romance and my underperformance at school. Numair and Daine have implied mutual attraction throughout the series, culminating in an established relationship by the final book when Daine is conveniently legal (where I live) at sixteen but still too young to be snogging her thirty-year-old teacher, who doesn't, to my mind, have nearly enough guilt about allowing it. This is not the kind of relationship impressionable teens should be encouraged to pursue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Excrement
thaliareads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a re-read. I've always found this a nice conclusion to the series. Everything finally comes together and Daine really comes into her power.
My favorite part of this book is Daine and Numier getting to meet Kitten's family.
My favorite part of this book is Daine and Numier getting to meet Kitten's family.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Animal death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
tirragen's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The plot follows Daine and Numair almost dying before being transported to the Divine Realms, where Daine meets her father and sees her mother again. They find out that Chaos is helping Ozorne or someone in his army, and set out across various sections of the Divine Realms to see if Skysong’s dragon relatives will transport them back home so they can help in the war. Along the way, Daine and Numair end up acknowledging their love for each other and start to figure out the next steps in their relationship.
I hadn’t read this in a long time, and I’d forgotten that Daine isn’t yet an adult here. She’s sixteen to Numair’s thirty. Numair is completely aware that to pursue Daine romantically and/or sexually, due to their relationship as teacher and student and the fact that he’s almost twice her age, is likely to be unequal and mean he’s taking advantage of her trust and inexperience, even if he doesn’t intend it. After they kiss he has a short speech this effect. That sets up the idea that normally this would be a problem, but the fact that they do end up together throughout the rest of the book means that their relationship is treated as an exception to the general rule. It makes the this plot arc feel like grooming on Numair’s part, or at least not taking the necessary actions in support of his knowledge that he’s in a massive position of power over a literal child. No matter how much Numair does not want to be that kind of manipulative person as an idea, he ends up perfectly fine with continuing to pursue this relationship once Daine insists that she loves him and knows what she’s doing. I like a lot of their actual dynamic in ordinary scenes, but even if she was twenty or twenty-five when he’s thirty then there’s still the problem that he’s her magic teacher. Because of how the characters are written, things work out and he’s not screwing her over, but if he were a slightly shittier person she’d have a lot of trouble getting help or getting away.
As the final book in the quartet, this wraps up the fate of former emperor Ozorne and addresses the gods’ perspective on the former barrier between the Mortal Realm and the Divine Realms. We finally meet Skysong’s family and answer whether they’re fine with her remaining in Daine’s care. It also puts words to the attraction between Daine and Numair which has been subtly (and occasionally not-so-subtly) teased in the earlier books. At long last Daine meets her father, as well as finding out where her ma went after she died. This introduces and resolves Daine and Numair being transported to the Divine Realms. It’s the final book of the quartet but there clearly were plans for more Tortall books, so this leaves open whether or not Daine and Numair will stay together and maybe get married.
It would not make sense to start here, as the point of this is to address things left open from previous books. Even something as simple as Daine’s parentage has been slowly teased for three previous books, so getting the answer almost immediately in this one would feel anticlimactic to anyone who hasn’t read the others.
This will either not feel like a lore dump at all, or feel like a stack of lore packets in a trench coat. Almost every moment is designed to show off something about the setting, the Gods, or various immortals. It’s so embedded in the story that it’s inescapable but manages to feel seamless for long stretches so it’s usually not bothersome. For a tour of the Divine realms it’s pretty cool. I’m a little thrown by the decision to make the Platypus god say “G’Day” like a cartoon of an Australian. Overall it's an interesting but ultimately skippable end to the quartet.
I hadn’t read this in a long time, and I’d forgotten that Daine isn’t yet an adult here. She’s sixteen to Numair’s thirty. Numair is completely aware that to pursue Daine romantically and/or sexually, due to their relationship as teacher and student and the fact that he’s almost twice her age, is likely to be unequal and mean he’s taking advantage of her trust and inexperience, even if he doesn’t intend it. After they kiss he has a short speech this effect. That sets up the idea that normally this would be a problem, but the fact that they do end up together throughout the rest of the book means that their relationship is treated as an exception to the general rule. It makes the this plot arc feel like grooming on Numair’s part, or at least not taking the necessary actions in support of his knowledge that he’s in a massive position of power over a literal child. No matter how much Numair does not want to be that kind of manipulative person as an idea, he ends up perfectly fine with continuing to pursue this relationship once Daine insists that she loves him and knows what she’s doing. I like a lot of their actual dynamic in ordinary scenes, but even if she was twenty or twenty-five when he’s thirty then there’s still the problem that he’s her magic teacher. Because of how the characters are written, things work out and he’s not screwing her over, but if he were a slightly shittier person she’d have a lot of trouble getting help or getting away.
As the final book in the quartet, this wraps up the fate of former emperor Ozorne and addresses the gods’ perspective on the former barrier between the Mortal Realm and the Divine Realms. We finally meet Skysong’s family and answer whether they’re fine with her remaining in Daine’s care. It also puts words to the attraction between Daine and Numair which has been subtly (and occasionally not-so-subtly) teased in the earlier books. At long last Daine meets her father, as well as finding out where her ma went after she died. This introduces and resolves Daine and Numair being transported to the Divine Realms. It’s the final book of the quartet but there clearly were plans for more Tortall books, so this leaves open whether or not Daine and Numair will stay together and maybe get married.
It would not make sense to start here, as the point of this is to address things left open from previous books. Even something as simple as Daine’s parentage has been slowly teased for three previous books, so getting the answer almost immediately in this one would feel anticlimactic to anyone who hasn’t read the others.
This will either not feel like a lore dump at all, or feel like a stack of lore packets in a trench coat. Almost every moment is designed to show off something about the setting, the Gods, or various immortals. It’s so embedded in the story that it’s inescapable but manages to feel seamless for long stretches so it’s usually not bothersome. For a tour of the Divine realms it’s pretty cool. I’m a little thrown by the decision to make the Platypus god say “G’Day” like a cartoon of an Australian. Overall it's an interesting but ultimately skippable end to the quartet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Torture, Xenophobia, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child death, Cursing, Rape, Sexual content, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
thecatconstellation's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I loved this book and felt it was a great wrap up to the series. The criticism of Daine and Numair’s relationship is completely valid but I can’t help but love them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
redkeys's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and War
Minor: Rape
holly_mc's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and War
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Rape and Self harm
leaffolk's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War