A review by lesserjoke
The Realms of the Gods by Tamora Pierce

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.