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A review by robotnik
Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce
slow-paced
3.0
I SEE TRISTAN IS STILL A LITTLE BITCH, EVEN WHEN HE WAS A TEENAGER.
It was so nice going back into this world. It's been a hot minute since I've read Emperor Mage, which is the book that much of this book takes from but a lot of it started coming back to me as the book progressed. Emperor Mage was always my favourite of Daine's books too.
I think the big thing I wanted to say in regardless to that is that I feel this isn't the book for anyone who hasn't read Emperor Mage and the rest of the Immortals quartet. This is, of course, a prequel where Numair (or Arram as he's currently called) is attending the University of Carthak (which does not rip off Harry Potter in any way, an opinion I've seen more than once. Hogwarts isn't the only magic school out there, and the University of Carthak comes from a series that predates Harry Potter, thanks for coming to my tedtalk). There are a whole ton of references that made me go "oooooooh" as someone who's read the previous books. From the relationship between Arram, Ozorne and Varice to the Stormwing statue to the animal gods and so much more. All of these things would be lost on a new reader and honestly mean nothing to them, particularly if they have no interest in going into the Immortals later.
That, coupled with the fact that 99% of this book is just Arram's day-to-day life at school rather than a proper plot, would likely turn off new readers. I admit, it was boring at times. Not always, but at times.
There's no big climax to this, but this feels like a setup to something bigger. Knowing how the world state is ten years later, I'm thinking that's the correct idea.
If you've read the previous Pierce books in Tortall? Recommended. It's fun going back and seeing Numair when he's younger. If you haven't read the Tortall books, particularly the Immortals, this is honestly probably a skip.
I still liked it, though.
It was so nice going back into this world. It's been a hot minute since I've read Emperor Mage, which is the book that much of this book takes from but a lot of it started coming back to me as the book progressed. Emperor Mage was always my favourite of Daine's books too.
I think the big thing I wanted to say in regardless to that is that I feel this isn't the book for anyone who hasn't read Emperor Mage and the rest of the Immortals quartet. This is, of course, a prequel where Numair (or Arram as he's currently called) is attending the University of Carthak (which does not rip off Harry Potter in any way, an opinion I've seen more than once. Hogwarts isn't the only magic school out there, and the University of Carthak comes from a series that predates Harry Potter, thanks for coming to my tedtalk). There are a whole ton of references that made me go "oooooooh" as someone who's read the previous books. From the relationship between Arram, Ozorne and Varice to the Stormwing statue to the animal gods and so much more. All of these things would be lost on a new reader and honestly mean nothing to them, particularly if they have no interest in going into the Immortals later.
That, coupled with the fact that 99% of this book is just Arram's day-to-day life at school rather than a proper plot, would likely turn off new readers. I admit, it was boring at times. Not always, but at times.
There's no big climax to this, but this feels like a setup to something bigger. Knowing how the world state is ten years later, I'm thinking that's the correct idea.
If you've read the previous Pierce books in Tortall? Recommended. It's fun going back and seeing Numair when he's younger. If you haven't read the Tortall books, particularly the Immortals, this is honestly probably a skip.
I still liked it, though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Slavery