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madgec's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Not the best in the series. The part in the immortal realms was good but the war at the end just seemed kinda randomly thrown together? I also felt that there wasn't any foreshadowing for the god of chaos book in earlier volumes
kittycat2302's review against another edition
4.0
~Spoilers for this book only~
So, I enjoyed this, actually, much more than I did Emperor Mage. However, what dropped it a star is the Daine/Numair romance. I just cannot get behind it, and find it incredibly off-putting. This is not so much the age difference, as the way in which Numair was in Daine's life for the time we knew them. He was her teacher and while I can see that they turned into partners, we never saw a real break and never saw Daine experience anything romantic at all with anyone else. Numair ultimately felt like a father figure for Daine to me, and that hits a level of squick I'm not cool with. I appreciated that after they first kissed, Numair voiced some reservations. Then, instead of talking more as was planned, he simply proposed to her in the Epilogue. Kind of the opposite of talking out reservations....
Anyway, the rest of the book was enjoyable enough for me to see past that, and I did appreciate that the book did not glamorize war at all. And I *loved* the Darkings, the Divine Realms, and the dragons. I didn't get into the Chaos part so much, but the rest was awesome.
So, I enjoyed this, actually, much more than I did Emperor Mage. However, what dropped it a star is the Daine/Numair romance. I just cannot get behind it, and find it incredibly off-putting. This is not so much the age difference, as the way in which Numair was in Daine's life for the time we knew them. He was her teacher and while I can see that they turned into partners, we never saw a real break and never saw Daine experience anything romantic at all with anyone else. Numair ultimately felt like a father figure for Daine to me, and that hits a level of squick I'm not cool with. I appreciated that after they first kissed, Numair voiced some reservations. Then, instead of talking more as was planned, he simply proposed to her in the Epilogue. Kind of the opposite of talking out reservations....
Anyway, the rest of the book was enjoyable enough for me to see past that, and I did appreciate that the book did not glamorize war at all. And I *loved* the Darkings, the Divine Realms, and the dragons. I didn't get into the Chaos part so much, but the rest was awesome.
_hex_libris's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.0
magic_at_mungos's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
bubski_mcboo's review against another edition
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
ofthebrownajah's review against another edition
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
4.0
mzmegara's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
crystalstarrlight's review against another edition
4.0
Showdown between Mortals and the Immortals
Daine and Numair have been doing their best, fighting against the forces of the now Immortal, Ozorne. In a battle at the cusp of death, they are spirited away to the Realms of the Gods by Daine's mother, Sarra, and her father, both of whom are gods. But Daine can think of only one thing: fighting in the battle in Tortall and saving her friends. Numair and Daine must then journey to the Land of the Dragons to return to Tortall and hopefully save their people.
The journey is complete! I must admit, I do find myself a little sad at the conclusion to this series. It has been a fun ride, even with the hiccups I've seen.
In the last entry of The Immortals Quartet, we have a lot of changes and a lot of developments. One of the biggest is the relationship between Daine and Numair. Even from the beginning, Wild Magic, we could sorta tell there was a spark between these two. Now, this spark officially becomes love. The weird thing is, I thought it was squicky. I really hate to say that--I've adored many romance between two people of wildly different ages (the Erlking/Dana from Glimmerglass and Jane Eyre/Mr. Rochester as two examples). *EMBARRASSING ADMISSION TIME* Frak, I've even written some fanfic about teacher/student romantic pairings!*END* But for whatever reason, maybe because Daine is SO young (13) when she first meets Numair, maybe because Numair has been Daine's teacher for so long, maybe because Daine is only 16 in this book while Numair is in his early 30's, I just was totally squicked out when they revealed their love for each other.
However, that said, the romance WAS done well (I know, sounds hypocritical--I know I don't make sense!). Numair and Daine NEVER fell insta-love. Their affections grew over the years, over KNOWING and caring for the other person. Also, Daine NEVER ONCE backed down from doing something dangerous because of her love for Numair. She continued to battle, even knowing that either she or Numair could die. And the romance NEVER halts the story and completely careens it off into "Googly Eyes" territory. With all the hokey romantic stories in young adult novels today, this was VERY refreshing.
Another big development is we get to see the Realms of the Gods and find out more about Daine's mother. It was nice to see how the gods lived, what happened to Daine's mom, and to have a mini-journey before the final battle (though, I was wondering for a moment there if Pierce would be able to pull it off--she almost didn't leave herself enough time for a good Final Battle!). I also really liked the Showdown between Daine and Ozorne. It was intense and kept me listening to the very end. I also thought it was well-thought out and, for the most part (considering I listened to this on audiobook), I could see how the scene happened.
As with all these books, I found some stuff that I didn't like (besides, of course, the relationship). I thought an awful lot of time was spent with Daine and Numair returning to Tortall. I missed a lot of the characters in earlier books--Onua, who barely gets a line in, Alanna, the King and Queen, and more. Daine is straddling the Mary Sue line; she has become almost omnipotent at this point (thank goddess she doesn't end up getting BOTH options the gods give her at the very end), not to mention with her bias towards Stormwings gone, she virtually has no flaws or weaknesses. However, I will also say, she is one of the most tolerable Mary Sue's I've ever read. Through this series, I've also discovered I am NOT a big animal person, thus a lot of the book was rather blah for me (to those that do like animals, this is your book!). I can only take so much talking, cute animals.
But there was also a lot of stuff I did like. We get new creatures, the Darkings, which I imagined to be SO CUTE and ADORABLE and AW SO SPESHUL! (Sounds like I contradicted myself again!) Daine doesn't jump headlong into marrying a guy at 16 and decides to wait it out--and he respects her decision and never forces her to be someone she is not. We get a journey AND a final battle. And our villain, Ozorne, maintains his evil scariness withOUT resorting to being a cliche.
This has been a really enjoyable series to read. Tamora Pierce has written some really enjoyable fantasy that has managed to avoid most of the pratfalls I've seen a lot of other young adult novels fall prey to--Mary Sues (depending on your view, Daine could be one or could not), insta-love, romance dominating the story, a lack of background research, no clear idea of surroundings. A good series for adults, but I definitely think that teenaged girls should check this out, as they will probably enjoy way more.
Daine and Numair have been doing their best, fighting against the forces of the now Immortal, Ozorne. In a battle at the cusp of death, they are spirited away to the Realms of the Gods by Daine's mother, Sarra, and her father, both of whom are gods. But Daine can think of only one thing: fighting in the battle in Tortall and saving her friends. Numair and Daine must then journey to the Land of the Dragons to return to Tortall and hopefully save their people.
The journey is complete! I must admit, I do find myself a little sad at the conclusion to this series. It has been a fun ride, even with the hiccups I've seen.
In the last entry of The Immortals Quartet, we have a lot of changes and a lot of developments. One of the biggest is the relationship between Daine and Numair. Even from the beginning, Wild Magic, we could sorta tell there was a spark between these two. Now, this spark officially becomes love. The weird thing is, I thought it was squicky. I really hate to say that--I've adored many romance between two people of wildly different ages (the Erlking/Dana from Glimmerglass and Jane Eyre/Mr. Rochester as two examples). *EMBARRASSING ADMISSION TIME* Frak, I've even written some fanfic about teacher/student romantic pairings!*END* But for whatever reason, maybe because Daine is SO young (13) when she first meets Numair, maybe because Numair has been Daine's teacher for so long, maybe because Daine is only 16 in this book while Numair is in his early 30's, I just was totally squicked out when they revealed their love for each other.
However, that said, the romance WAS done well (I know, sounds hypocritical--I know I don't make sense!). Numair and Daine NEVER fell insta-love. Their affections grew over the years, over KNOWING and caring for the other person. Also, Daine NEVER ONCE backed down from doing something dangerous because of her love for Numair. She continued to battle, even knowing that either she or Numair could die. And the romance NEVER halts the story and completely careens it off into "Googly Eyes" territory. With all the hokey romantic stories in young adult novels today, this was VERY refreshing.
Another big development is we get to see the Realms of the Gods and find out more about Daine's mother. It was nice to see how the gods lived, what happened to Daine's mom, and to have a mini-journey before the final battle (though, I was wondering for a moment there if Pierce would be able to pull it off--she almost didn't leave herself enough time for a good Final Battle!). I also really liked the Showdown between Daine and Ozorne. It was intense and kept me listening to the very end. I also thought it was well-thought out and, for the most part (considering I listened to this on audiobook), I could see how the scene happened.
As with all these books, I found some stuff that I didn't like (besides, of course, the relationship). I thought an awful lot of time was spent with Daine and Numair returning to Tortall. I missed a lot of the characters in earlier books--Onua, who barely gets a line in, Alanna, the King and Queen, and more. Daine is straddling the Mary Sue line; she has become almost omnipotent at this point (thank goddess she doesn't end up getting BOTH options the gods give her at the very end), not to mention with her bias towards Stormwings gone, she virtually has no flaws or weaknesses. However, I will also say, she is one of the most tolerable Mary Sue's I've ever read. Through this series, I've also discovered I am NOT a big animal person, thus a lot of the book was rather blah for me (to those that do like animals, this is your book!). I can only take so much talking, cute animals.
But there was also a lot of stuff I did like. We get new creatures, the Darkings, which I imagined to be SO CUTE and ADORABLE and AW SO SPESHUL! (Sounds like I contradicted myself again!) Daine doesn't jump headlong into marrying a guy at 16 and decides to wait it out--and he respects her decision and never forces her to be someone she is not. We get a journey AND a final battle. And our villain, Ozorne, maintains his evil scariness withOUT resorting to being a cliche.
This has been a really enjoyable series to read. Tamora Pierce has written some really enjoyable fantasy that has managed to avoid most of the pratfalls I've seen a lot of other young adult novels fall prey to--Mary Sues (depending on your view, Daine could be one or could not), insta-love, romance dominating the story, a lack of background research, no clear idea of surroundings. A good series for adults, but I definitely think that teenaged girls should check this out, as they will probably enjoy way more.
abrown410's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
2.0