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lesserjoke's review against another edition
2.0
This is the final book in Tamora Pierce's Immortals Quartet (within her larger Tortall series), and it sort of resolves the ongoing storyline from the previous books. But most of the novel strands its main characters away from the central conflict for no real reason, giving them some episodic tasks to complete on their way back to the war. The flaws from the previous books are also on full display here: both Daine's overpowered magic abilities that render all of her obstacles trivial and her really gross romance with a magic tutor who's twice her age. (It was already uncomfortable to read about these characters' sexual tension in the earlier books when their feelings were largely subtext, but Pierce makes the indefensible choice here to uncritically present the attraction of a man in his thirties towards his sixteen-year-old student as a romantic love story. They only ever make out, but they do so heatedly, on multiple occasions, none of which are at all necessary for the plot.) Tortall is always a fun place to visit, but this story as a whole was a big misfire.
disabledbookdragon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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
radominic's review against another edition
4.0
Great conclusion to a great series. I had such a fun time and got more invested than I thought I'd be. The world-building in the series has been interesting, especially in this book with the immortal realms. The new characters were also quite a treat. I loved Broad Foot, the Darkings, and the Dragons. We met Kit's(Skysong) grandparents. And as brief as it was, finally we met Daine's father who is a god. I really enjoyed these new and old characters and I'm going to miss them. I know there is a prequel book(s) with Numair's university live(and I might check that out eventually), but I'm going to miss going forward with this timeline of characters. I think that's my only qualm with this last book, I missed seeing most of the characters from the past three books, though we did get a fair amount.
And yay! I'm so glad to see the development of Daine and Numair's relationship. Again, I just wish I could see more or have a long book, but I am satisfied with what I have.
And yay! I'm so glad to see the development of Daine and Numair's relationship. Again, I just wish I could see more or have a long book, but I am satisfied with what I have.
drgnlis's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
greenwoodspicers's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
princessrobotiv's review against another edition
2.0
Lowered to 2 stars after consideration.
Overall series rating: 3.25
--
Tragically, Realms of the Gods was my least favorite installment in the Immortals quartet.
I blame Cloud's absence. The plot seriously needed some horse sense.
It felt like both Emperor Mage and Realms of the Gods suffered where execution and characterization was concerned. While I still enjoyed a lot of the thematic elements of Emperor Mage (and especially Ozorne), I can't say the same for the vast majority of Realms of the Gods. With the exception of the last two chapters - which returned to the action-driven roots of the series - this book felt choppy and tonally inconsistent.
I also started picking up on a sort of . . . I don't know . . . Increased childishness? This was true in book three to some degree as well, as I commented in that review, but this one really suffered from it. Even given the child narrator who speaks to animals, books one and two possessed a high degree of self-awareness, with well-crafted prose and a tone/plot that bridged age groups incredibly well.
But book four's rambling quest through the Divine Realms - a plot contrivance employed very transparently to shove Daine and Numair together for romantic development - resulted in an almost cartoonish interlude in what should have been the most harrowing, battle-oriented novel of the series. We lost nearly all of the political scope of the plot in order to make room for some half-baked, left-field drama with the Goddess of Chaos (never before mentioned??) and the Great Gods. With so much else happening in the world, why was this necessary? It felt so lazy.
Every scene with Daine and her parents was practically cringe worthy. In every other novel, Daine experiences some trial that challenges her understanding of the universe and of her own power. This book should have found Daine reconciling the condition of her own birth; yet every scene we get with Weiryn falls utterly flat. Daine refers to him easily and naturally as "Da," with little to no introspection regarding his place in her life, her long-held status as bastard and orphan, or his utter lack of involvement in her life up till this point. The quaintly domestic scenes between the new goddess, Sarra, and her "mate" are pointless and exasperatingly heteronormative. Neither character was developed well enough to warrant significant page-time - which really bums me the hell out, because I was so looking forward to the Weiryn reveal and Daine's first significant interactions with her father.
Finally, the Daine/Numair romance - I didn't enjoy it at all, for the following reasons.
First, Daine is simply too young. It's something I just cannot get over, and something that could have been very easily avoided by just . . . Adding more time between installments? Starting Numair out as a few years younger/Daine a few years older? The choice to keep Daine young was a deliberate one, and one I ultimately can't forgive. Exacerbating this was the fact that - even though Daine is four years older in this book than the first - her speech patterns and behavior are still largely the same, giving the strong impression of an indisputable child.
Just . . . Gross, man.
Second, the romantic development was sparse and contrived. It simply didn't fit to have Daine and Numair traveling together outside of the main battle. In fact, the romance would have evolved more organically had they spent most of the book apart, fighting their mutual enemies in separate battles but fearing and longing for each other.
Relatedly, Daine experiences - once again - no internal conflict over the new romance with Numair, a man far older than her and who has acted for years as a mentor and teacher - both which necessitate a power imbalance that required significant discussion on the page. No such discussion occurs. What we get is a brief, matter-of-fact conversation about whether Numair just wants to sleep with her or not, after which Daine pretty much immediately comes around to the idea of a romantic relationship with him, something she has literally never actively considered before.
Overall, a great disappointment to a series I really enjoyed at the beginning.
Overall series rating: 3.25
--
Tragically, Realms of the Gods was my least favorite installment in the Immortals quartet.
I blame Cloud's absence. The plot seriously needed some horse sense.
It felt like both Emperor Mage and Realms of the Gods suffered where execution and characterization was concerned. While I still enjoyed a lot of the thematic elements of Emperor Mage (and especially Ozorne), I can't say the same for the vast majority of Realms of the Gods. With the exception of the last two chapters - which returned to the action-driven roots of the series - this book felt choppy and tonally inconsistent.
I also started picking up on a sort of . . . I don't know . . . Increased childishness? This was true in book three to some degree as well, as I commented in that review, but this one really suffered from it. Even given the child narrator who speaks to animals, books one and two possessed a high degree of self-awareness, with well-crafted prose and a tone/plot that bridged age groups incredibly well.
But book four's rambling quest through the Divine Realms - a plot contrivance employed very transparently to shove Daine and Numair together for romantic development - resulted in an almost cartoonish interlude in what should have been the most harrowing, battle-oriented novel of the series. We lost nearly all of the political scope of the plot in order to make room for some half-baked, left-field drama with the Goddess of Chaos (never before mentioned??) and the Great Gods. With so much else happening in the world, why was this necessary? It felt so lazy.
Every scene with Daine and her parents was practically cringe worthy. In every other novel, Daine experiences some trial that challenges her understanding of the universe and of her own power. This book should have found Daine reconciling the condition of her own birth; yet every scene we get with Weiryn falls utterly flat. Daine refers to him easily and naturally as "Da," with little to no introspection regarding his place in her life, her long-held status as bastard and orphan, or his utter lack of involvement in her life up till this point. The quaintly domestic scenes between the new goddess, Sarra, and her "mate" are pointless and exasperatingly heteronormative. Neither character was developed well enough to warrant significant page-time - which really bums me the hell out, because I was so looking forward to the Weiryn reveal and Daine's first significant interactions with her father.
Finally, the Daine/Numair romance - I didn't enjoy it at all, for the following reasons.
First, Daine is simply too young. It's something I just cannot get over, and something that could have been very easily avoided by just . . . Adding more time between installments? Starting Numair out as a few years younger/Daine a few years older? The choice to keep Daine young was a deliberate one, and one I ultimately can't forgive. Exacerbating this was the fact that - even though Daine is four years older in this book than the first - her speech patterns and behavior are still largely the same, giving the strong impression of an indisputable child.
Just . . . Gross, man.
Second, the romantic development was sparse and contrived. It simply didn't fit to have Daine and Numair traveling together outside of the main battle. In fact, the romance would have evolved more organically had they spent most of the book apart, fighting their mutual enemies in separate battles but fearing and longing for each other.
Relatedly, Daine experiences - once again - no internal conflict over the new romance with Numair, a man far older than her and who has acted for years as a mentor and teacher - both which necessitate a power imbalance that required significant discussion on the page. No such discussion occurs. What we get is a brief, matter-of-fact conversation about whether Numair just wants to sleep with her or not, after which Daine pretty much immediately comes around to the idea of a romantic relationship with him, something she has literally never actively considered before.
Overall, a great disappointment to a series I really enjoyed at the beginning.
julieabe89's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
5.0
I love this series so much. It has such a special place in my heart. The whole Tortall universe does.