Trickster’s Choice and Trickster’s Queen by Tamora Pierce

It’s always a good sign when your buying a book and a cashier–not even your own but one from the counter over–spots it and tells you how much she liked it. The last of the Tortall novels (until Mastiff comes out next year), this one tells the story of Aly Cooper, daughter of George Cooper and Alanna the Lioness, taking place a few years after after the Protector of the Small series. It’s not easy to be the daughter of the one time King of Thieves and the King’s Champion. Her parents want her to find her own cause, and she knows what she wants to do: be a spy. Her parents refuse to let. When she runs away from home in a sulk after arguing with her mother, she is captured by pirates and told into slavery in the Copper Isles where slavery rules and hate between the races there rule. There she is recruited by Kyprioth, the Trickster god, to protect two noble born girls of mixed race who have an important role in the country’s future.

This series highlights once again how much better Pierce is with the space to write out her stories. With the added pages, Pierce created a likable, deep character in Aly who is believable (her skills come from likely sources and they are explained so that we don’t just have to believe without the information to back it up) and is easy to root for. Her character arc is solid and realistic.

The tension between the luarin (whites) and raka (blacks) is palpable though it could have used some more background. It may not be the most unique plot line, but I think Pierce tackled it in a new, different way, allowing us to feel engrossed in the world of spies without losing the heart of the story. The best part of it is the realization that it is only in unity that they can take back the kingdom.

For fans of the Tortall series overall, you get glimpses of all of your favorite characters and have an idea of where their lives have gone since we last heard from them. (Would have been nice to see a bit more of Kel, but I’m glad she made an appearance and I’m always interested in more Alanna stories.)

This is one of Pierce’s most complex and intricate plots yet. You never quite knew who would be the final bad guy and who was the worst person to suspect and definitely one of my favorite books of hers yet. I can only hope we revisit Aly again.

Beka Cooper: Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce

Now that I have figured out where Beka fits into the Tortall world’s history, I am much happier. Taking place sometime before Song of the Lioness, when Lady Knights were still allowed, Beka is the ancestor of George Cooper, Alanna’s husband.

We’ve learned about Beka’s first adventures while training to become a Dog (police officer) in the Lower City. Now we rejoin her, once she’s become a full Dog but has yet to find her permanent partner. She rescues and abused scent hound and is sent, together with Clary Goodwin (her former Dog trainer and now sometime partner) up to Port Caynn to uncover a plot of counterfeit coins that threatens to destroy the economy.

It’s hard to really see the relation between this book and the other Tortall series, besides some common places and terms.The magic seems different and odd and the king and knights are more a side note than part of the story, but still the world is engrossing. Beka is a character who will never give up, no matter the danger or the hopelessness. She still struggles with her family, intimacy, and shyness, but she must learn to navigate a new city and dig to figure out just how deep the scam–and corruption–runs.

The thing I love most about these books is that they are more fleshed out than her other books. As Pierce said herself “Publishers discovered with Harry [Potter] that kids will read a lot of fantasy, and they’ll read big books.” I’m glad about that. What I always felt her other books were missing were the space they needed to fully develop. They always felt a little too rushed for me, but the Beka Cooper books are longer and seem to envelop the world more completely.

My only regret is that we didn’t get to see more of Beka’s time as a Puppy, but there are certainly worse things to be sorry about. There are also some characters from Book 1 that I would have liked to see more of (Aniki and Kora and the Rogue), but I think we can expect their return in Book 3. I missed Pounce a great deal (and wonder if he is related to Alanna’s kitten, Faithful).

What surprises me most about Pierce’s different books is that I enjoy them so much despite not building up to one big finale. I usually prefer a series to have an overarching story, in the way that Harry Potter did, but Pierce makes her books about the main character and brings them to life.

The Immortals: Wild Magic, Wolf Speaker, Emperor Mage, and The Realms of the Gods by Tamora Pierce

Yet another book series I wish I had read before reading the Protector of the Small series, this tells us about Veralidaine Sarrasri, known as Daine. She too has a peripheral role in Kel’s story, but takes front and center here. We learn about how Daine comes to Tortall, discovers her magic, and finds love, just in time too, because Immortals that have not been seen in centuries have suddenly begun appearing again.

Book 1: Daine has always had a way with animals. More than a way, really. Running away from Snowsdale, the only home she’s ever known, she gets a job as a horse handler’s assistant for the Queen’s Riders. She finds Tortall much more welcoming than the home she escaped and meets Numair, a great mage who realizes that her skill with animals is actual a little known form of magic called Wild Magic. He takes it upon himself to teach her how to use her magic. But she has a secret, one which makes her hesitant to use her magic. Meanwhile, the kingdom is on the brink of war with Carthak–a kingdom that has the biggest army and navy around–and Immortals have returned to threaten them.

Book 2: Daine is called on to help by the wolf pack that saved her life. She and Numair go to Dunlath to find out what they need and uncover a much bigger danger, one not only to the wolves and the other forest creatures in the area but also to King Jonathan himself. New Immortals show up and not all of them are dangers to the kingdom as she thought. Daine also learns that perhaps her life and her destiny is meant to impact something bigger than she ever expected.

Book 3: Daine, Numair, and a small delegation from the king are sent to Carthak in hopes of forging a peace and preventing war. Daine is sent to heal the Emperor’s birds, which he seems to care about more than his own people. She’s not allowed to insult or anger him, even though he keeps Immortals in cages and keeps slaves. Numair must be careful, as the Emperor (his one-time friend) holds a grudge against him since their days in the mage university. But does Carthak’s Emperor really intend to make peace? Daine must figure it out, as well as learn to use the new power that the badger bestowed upon her–the power to raise the dead. It seems that her destiny–and the Gods–are not done with her yet.

Book 4: Daine and Numair are helping fight the growing number of Immortals besieging the kingdom when they are sucked into the Divine Realms. There she discovers the truth about her father and reunites with her mother, but they desperately need to return to Tortall where they are needed. The situation, they discover, is much worse than they first thought, as Chaos threatens to overrun the Greater Gods. Daine must also deal with an old enemy and new feelings.

I like this series too, as I have liked all of Pierce’s work so far, but there is one message that worries me a bit: the not surprising relationship that develops between Numair and Daine. The thing that bothers me about it is that it romanticizes a relationship between teacher and student (which nowadays is more than a little frowned upon and usually results in dismissal if not legal action). It’s true that in those types of time periods girls grew up and married earlier, but it still bothers me (even knowing–thanks to Kel’s story–that their relationship lasts and it isn’t just something born out of being around each other all the time).

This series gives us a while new insight into the Gods and Goddesses that we hear so much about in the other books. We again get glimpses of the characters that we learned to love in the other books.

There is one more set of books I need to read (about Aly Cooper, Alanna’s daughter and the descendant of Beka Cooper) plus the coming books from Beka Cooper’s series, but I hope to see even more from Tortall and the characters we’ve all met.

Song of the Lioness: Alanna the First Adventure, In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, and Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce

So once I realized, after reading Protector of the Small and Beka Cooper, that there were other books in the Tortall world (and that I had not read it in order–a big no no for me) I of course had to go back and read the others. As an added bonus, the actual first series was about Alanna the Lioness who, despite so little actual time in the books was one of my favorite character in Kel’s story.

Book 1: Alanna and her brother Thom have been all but ignored by their father the scholar are about to be shipped off. Thom, as the son, is to be sent to train as a knight and Alanna, as the daughter, is to be sent to the convent. But Alanna has no interest in being trained as a lady and she has a skill with weapons, while Thom is more interested in developing his magic (both siblings have a very strong magical Gift) and has zero coordination. They come up with the perfect plan: switch places! Can Alanna make it through training without anyone discover her secret? (Girls are not allowed to be knights.) She is tested in more ways than one when she must use the magic she fears to protect the Prince and heir.

Book 2: Done with her page years (which look nothing like Kel’s–they seem to have restructured things after Alanna’s time, largely because of her), Alanna becomes the squire for none other than Prince Jonathan. Her biggest challenge: reconciling her dislike for the Prince’s cousin, a powerful mage and next in line for the throne, Duke Roger, with the fact that everyone, but her, loves him. Including Prince Jonathan, who will not hear a word against him. Plus, though she wishes to escape her magic, that becomes increasingly impossible when a Goddess reveals that she has plans for Alanna.

Book 3: Finally a knight, Alanna has revealed that she is a girl to the court and decides to put some distance between herself and the capital while everyone gets used to the idea. Besides, all she’s ever wanted was to be a knight and have adventures. Alanna finds herself in the south where she is forced into a duel to the death in order to be accepted by the Bazhir, but this is the least of the troubles she must face. The Bazhir have their own prejudices against girls, which Alanna has no patience for. She brings with her a whirlwind of change and with it, she helps forge a new alliance for Prince Jonathan’s rule.

Book 4: Alanna decides once and for all to prove herself as a worthy knight (despite having already becoming famous for some of her deeds) by recovering the long lost Dominion Jewel, a powerful jewel that can do enormous good in the right hands. She plans to get it for King Jonathan’s use in order to secure the kingdom of Tortall. She must also make peace with herself, accept love that she’s been hiding from, bring a Princess to Tortall, and defeat an old enemy. Things never are easy for the God’s chosen.

While I don’t really see much evidence of the “famous temper” that Alanna the Lioness has, I found myself enjoying this story just as much as Pierce’s other books. It’s interesting to look at Alanna and Kel together (the only female knights of their time), both incredibly determined and strong. The two must overcome very different challenges–Alanna’s stemming from her fear of magic and love and hiding her gender, Kel’s stemming from her fear of heights and the fact that everyone knows she’s a girl and many don’t want her to succeed.

It’s nice to finally know all of Alanna’s story and I definitely find her to be my favorite Tortall world character. Through all the other serieses (how do you pluralize that?), I look forward to the small glimpses we get of her and wish for more.

Protector of the Small: First Test, Page, Squire, and Lady Knight (Books 1-4) by Tamora Pierce

Yet another enjoyable series by Tamora Pierce. Also set in the Tortall universe, this series is all about knighthood.

Book 1: Alanna the Lioness became a knight by pretending to be a boy through training and managed to become such a strong knight that she became the king’s champion. The king ruled that girls could now train to be knights if they desired, but for ten long years, no girl ever dared. Until Keladry of Mindelan. But the training master is not thrilled to be training a girl and convinces the king to put Kel on a one year probation (and forbid Alanna to see her). The odds are stacked against her and it doesn’t help that the boys aren’t happy to have a girl training alongside them. With so little support, can Kel make it through her first year?

(Skip ahead to after book 4 if you don’t want anything ruined.)

Book 2: Having managed to surpass all expectations, we follow Kel through the rest of her time as a page (three years). It seems like even though she’s made it passed year one, she may not make it through the rest in order to become a squire. She may have made some friends, but that doesn’t mean everyone is rooting for her success. Many are still reluctant to believe that a girl could ever be as worthy a knight as a boy (regardless of Alanna the Lioness’s successes). What I don’t like about this one is that so much time is compressed into such a short amount of pages, making it harder to get engrossed in her story. Despite book 2 feeling rushed, I found myself really liking it.

Book 3: Finally, Kel has made it through her page years and is a squire. But will any of the knights in the realm want to take on “The Girl” as their apprentice? It certainly doesn’t look like it, until Raoul of Goldenlake, chief commander of the King’s Own, decides to take her on. (As a close friend of Alanna’s through training, he knows what a girl can do.) Her time as a squire isn’t easy, in no small part because of the baby griffin she acquires along the way and a first romance. But the real thing worrying her is the Ordeal of Knighthood, which all Squires must complete in order to become a knight. Like the last book, this one felt a bit rushed, but is also filled with lots of intrigue and excitement. (Without ruining it, I will say that the best part of this book for me was the ending, when the one meeting you’re waiting for finally happens.)

Book 4: Kel has finally managed to become a knight, but a haunting image given to her by the Chamber of Ordeal haunts her. She is told that she must find a man who uses children’s spirits to fashion dangerous war weapons. The kingdom is drawn into a war with the Scanrans. She wants to go out and find this man but is instead relegated to a run a refugee camp. She is torn between her sense of duty to the refugees she protects and the quest the chamber has set for her that could help Tortall win the war.

Kel is like Beka Cooper, of Pierce’s newest Tortall series, determined to protect the innocent, strong and uncompromising. These characteristics serve her well because without them, she would have no chance of making it through her first year, much less the entire training to become a knight. Kel is a fun and admirable character, making her easy to root for in this male-oriented society.

Pierce has shown herself to be an excellent writer and I look forward to the rest of the books I can find by her.

Beka Cooper: Terrier by Tamora Pierce

I will be honest. When I first started reading this, I absolutely hated it. For one thing, it’s in diary entry, which I always think is a waste in an adventure story. For another, we start with two journal entries from two people who are not main characters. And yes, they were meant to set the scene, but I just didn’t care for it (especially the mother who spoke with such an accent that half the time I was guessing at what she was saying).

But then we got to the story and things became much more interesting. I’m a sucker for kids-in-training novels, so long as they are well written, which is what drew me to this novel in the first place. Plus there’s magic, which is another thing I love.

Beka Cooper grew up in the poor part of town, until she and her family were taken in by a wealthy Provost after she helps him find a dangerous gang. (She tracked them after they hurt her mother and she wanted them to be punished.) While her sisters are attracted to the more elegant lifestyle being given to them in the Provost’s home, Beka is more interested in becoming a Dog (which is the word for Police in this book). A Puppy (trainee) assigned to the best pair of Dogs on the force, Beka is stationed in the Lower City, one of the most dangerous places (but also where she grew up). But rather than being just an ordinary Puppy, Beka has some secrets that help her in her fight against crime: 1) An intelligent “cat” (certainly not an ordinary cat), 2) the ability to speak to dead spirits that attach themselves to pigeons, 3) the ability to listen to the sounds and emotions gathered up by dust spinners, and 4) a knack for befriending people in important positions (the provost, a mage, a swordswoman and a swordsman, and the granddaughter in law of a powerful man in the city). But perhaps her best quality of all, is her inability to let go of a case once she’s begun working on it. And between all her informants, she discovers two large mysteries: a mysterious kidnapper calling himself Shadow Serpent after children’s tales meant to terrify kids and a group of workers who are hired to dig and then murdered.

Beka quickly learns how dangerous being a Dog (and especially, being a Puppy with a penchant for trouble) really is.

What I love about this series is how Beka, despite all her obvious strengths, still has trouble with simple things like speaking in public and blending in with the rich world where her siblings remain. I like the shy but bold persona, which isn’t common in most hero in the making stories. The heroes often have a weakness but shyness and insecurity is rarely one of them.