Library Loot - January 28

Or, in reality, January 27th as I borrowed the books yesterday.

Library Loot is hosted this week over at The Adventures Of An Intrepid Reader.

This time I've only gotten out two books:

Bait And Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit Of The American Dream
Barbara Ehrenreich

The amazon.com product description:

The New York Times bestselling investigation into white-collar unemployment from "our premier reporter of the underside of capitalism"--The New York Times Book Review
Americans' working lives are growing more precarious every day. Corporations slash employees by the thousands, and the benefits and pensions once guaranteed by "middle-class" jobs are a thing of the past.

In Bait and Switch, Barbara Ehrenreich goes back undercover to explore another hidden realm of the economy: the shadowy world of the white-collar unemployed. Armed with the plausible résumé of a professional "in transition," she attempts to land a "middle-class" job. She submits to career coaching, personality testing, and EST-like boot camps, and attends job fairs, networking events, and evangelical job-search ministries. She is proselytized, scammed, lectured, and--again and again--rejected.

Bait and Switch highlights the people who have done everything right--gotten college degrees, developed marketable skills, and built up impressive résumés--yet have become repeatedly vulnerable to financial disaster. There are few social supports for these newly disposable workers, Ehrenreich discovers, and little security even for those who have jobs. Worst of all, there is no honest reckoning with the inevitable consequences of the harsh new economy; rather, the jobless are persuaded that they have only themselves to blame.

Alternately hilarious and tragic, Bait and Switch, like the classic Nickel and Dimed, is a searing exposé of the cruel new reality in which we all now live.

I picked up this one on a whim. I've seen her other books in the Community and Culture section of the bookstore and thought they looked good before, but I was passing through the library and saw the book. I'm now most of the way through it and finding it both enjoyable and disheartening at the same time.

Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales
Tamora Pierce

The amazon.com product description:

Collected here for the first time are all of the tales from the land of Tortall, featuring both previously unknown characters as well as old friends. Filling some gaps of time and interest, these stories, some of which have been published before, will lead Tammy's fans, and new readers into one of the most intricately constructed worlds of modern fantasy.

I've enjoyed Tamora Pierces's novels for years now - I remember borrowing the Alanna books from the children's department of the library as a kid myself. This was another of those impulse borrows - I certainly didn't go to the library with the intent of borrowing this book (or any other - just to return the last set of books), just saw it on the shelf, and that was that.

Lady Knight - Tamora Pierce

Lady Knight
Tamora Pierce
Random House
Copyright: 2004
978-0375829086

The amazon.com product description:

Kel has finally achieved her lifelong dream of being a knight. But it’s not turning out as she imagined at all. She is torn between a duty she has sworn to uphold and a quest that she feels could turn the tide of war. . . .

This is a surprise! I was sure I'd reviewed Lady Knight before at least once, but it doesn't look like it. All of the other books in this series have at least one prior review on All Booked Up, but not Lady Knight. And it's not that I haven't read the book before, either. Guess it was one that just got left out thanks to a backlog of books to be reviewed.

Anyway, Lady Knight is the fourth book in the Protector Of The Small Quartet, following The First Test, Page, and Squire. The books are geared towards girls between the ages of nine and early teens in my opinion, although in my local bookstores they're found in the Teen section.

In this book, Kel has made it to her goal: she's successfully made it through training as both a page and a squire, and also survived the Ordeal. Now, her first command is to be in charge of a refugee camp, rather than on the front lines of the war. Is she being "protected" once again by people who don't thing women can be knights?

Add to that the way she feels as though she's under two conflicting sets of orders, both of which she has to obey: to stay and protect the camp and the people of it, and at the same time, to find the creator of the horrible weapons being sent against Tortall and stop him. How can she do both?

Honestly, I think this is the best of the four books in the series. It's certainly the most exciting, and at the same time, in spite of  the tension and drama, there are the moments of lightness and fun. These books may be written for the teen audience, but Tamora Pierce writes books that an audience of any age can enjoy.

Squire - Tamora Pierce

Squire
Tamora Pierce
Laurel Leaf Publishing
Copyright: 2000
ISBN: 9780679889199

The amazon.com product description:

At the age of 14 and standing five foot ten, Keladry of Mindelan is a squire. A squire serves and learns from a seasoned knight for four years, then faces a final test. That final test is the Ordeal, which takes place in a magical room called the Chamber. There, a squire encounters the parts of him- or herself that the Chamber deems the most difficult to face–be they fears, failings, or unrepented wicked deeds. Does Kel have what it takes to survive the Ordeal?

Squire is the third book in the Protector of the Small Quartet, and the sequel to Page. As with the previous books in the series, the book follows Kel through her training on her way to becoming a Knight. Now, she's made it to being a squire, but will she be chosen to serve a Knight?

It's somewhat amusing, the trend in this series: each of the books gets longer, which I think is a good thing. Of course, as Kel gets older, she's out doing more, so there's more to tell, resulting in a story that should be attractive to girls from about the age of nine through their early teens. On the other hand, I still am not overly enamored of the way the books are shaped around the message of "Girls can do anything just as well as boys". Not that it's not a message that needs to be heard, it's just that I feel like it overwhelms the story in this particular series. That might be as much because I'm outside of the target audience by a large amoun though.

This series is geared towards girls ages about ten and up, although the books are found in the Teen section of my local bookstore. Still, it's also a story that anyone can enjoy be they children or adults. I have to admit, the animals make the story as much as the people do. If that confuses you, you need to read the Immortals Quartet about Daine, which is set between the Lioness books and the Protector of the Small Quartet. Still, Jump is hillarious, the sparrows need to be seen to be believed, and Peachblossom, Kel's horse fits right in with the rest of her crazy group.

You wouldn't think that the animals are believable, but within the context of the story, they work. All of it works and fits, be it the foreign cultures overlayed on the world or the magic. It all works within rules that make it real and working within the world Tamora Pierce has created.

Page - Tamora Pierce

Page
Tamora Pierce
Laurel Leaf Publishing
Copyright: 2000
ISBN: 9780679889182

The amazon.com product description:

Kel fights to maintain the rigorous regimen of a page while confronting the prejudices that come with being a female in a man’s world and coping with a crush on her closest friend, Neal.
“Pierce makes Kel sweat for her success through perseverance, hard work,
and skill. Readers will appreciate this true example of grrrl power.”
—School Library Journal 

Page is the second book in the Protector of the Small Quartet, following on The First Test, which I reviewed the other day. I've read and reviewed the book before, and that review is here.

Kel made it through her probationary year as a page in the first book and in this book, we follow her through the rest of her term as a page, right up to her final exams. We follow her through her training in both the arts of combat and of ettiquete, but also in her interactions with the other pages and squires - some of whom don't thing that girls can be pages, squires or knights.

An exciting read for any girl who likes fantasy novels from age nine through early teens. This book, along with the other books in the series are all to be found in the teen section of the bookstore, but these four in particular seem to be written more for the nine to twelve year olds. As such, I found it to be a rather short read, being able to finish the book along with The First Test in the same evening after work.

I do like this series, more or less, but as the School Library Journal points out in the product description: "Readers will appreciate this true example of grrrl power." That's exactly what I find to be written in too obviously. For me at least, the whole "Girls can do anything" message is laid on too heavily on the story. Still, it's a good read and one I'm probably going to end up reading again in the future.

The First Test - Tamora Pierce

The First Test
Tamora Pierce
Laurel Leaf Publishing
Copyright: 1999
ISBN: 9780679889175

The amazon.com product description:

Keladry (known as Kel) is the first girl to take advantage of the decree that permits girls to train for the knighthood. The only thing that can stop her is Lord Wyldon, the training master of pages and squires. He does not think girls should be knights and puts her on probation for one year. It is a trial period that no male page has to endure and one that separates the friendly Kel even more from her fellow trainees. But Kel is not someone to underestimate. . . .

I wouldn't mind knowing how come I end up with a backlog of books to review every single time I read my way through The Protector Of The Small Quartet. In other words, this is definitely a reread and my original review is here.

The First Test is a very quick read, maybe a couple of hours at most, and in my opinion, even though it, along with the other books in the series can be found in the "teen" section of the bookstore, the story is geared more to the nine to twelve year old set.

This time as I was reading it, I was much more aware of the overlays of other cultures, particularly the Yammani, that Kel was familar with. Perhaps that's because I've been doing a bit more reading on Japan lately and that appears to be the culture that Tamora Pierce was modeling it off of. It's an interesting little thing that adds more depth to the books though, at least in my opinion.

One thing I don't care for in this series, and I know I've commented on it before with Tamora Pierce's other Tortall books is the "Girls can do anything" message. I know it's true, I know it's important for girls to know that, but I just feel that these books push it too hard, that the story is there to push the moral. Of course, a lot of that may be that I'm distinctly older than the target audience, who might not notice it as much. I just find it a bit "in your face", even though I still really like the books.

Trickster's Queen - Tamora Pierce

Trickster's Queen
Tamora Pierce
Random House
Copyright: 2004
9780375828782

The Amazon.com product description:

Aly’s adventure continues. . . . No longer a slave, Alanna’s daughter is now spying as part of an underground rebellion against the colonial rulers of the Copper Isles. The people in the rebellion believe that a prophecy in which a new queen will rise up to take the throne is about to be realized. Aly is busy keeping the potential teenage queen and her younger siblings safe, while also keeping her in the dark about her future. But Aly, who is usually adept at anticipating danger and changes, is in for a few nasty surprises.

Trickster's Queen is the concluding volume to the duology about Alianne, the daughter of Alanna from the Song of the Lioness Quartet and the sequel to Trickster's Choice. It's also another really good read. I'm kind of disappointed that I had it on my shelves for over a year before I got around to reading the book. It should have been finished much sooner than that.

While this book picks up where the first book left off, there are some very interesting twists and turns, although some aspects of the ending can be predicted from the start, others come as complete surprises. Dovasary really comes into her own in this book, as does Nawat. All of the characters are well thought out and interesting as people too, even the secondary characters.

Definitely a good book for any teen girl (or adult) who likes fantasy, it's a different type of storyline. Where the other books have girls who want to fight, Aly wants to follow her father and become a spy/spymistress instead. A good reminder that there's more than one path you can follow to do what you want. I also liked that the "girl power" message wasn't overly in-your-face, unlike some of Tamora Pierce's books.

Overall, I really liked this book a lot.

Trickster's Choice - Tamora Pierce

Trickster's Choice
Tamora Pierce
Random House
Copyright: 2004
978-0375828799

The Amazon.com product description:

Tamora Pierce brings readers another Tortall adventure! Alianne is the teenage daughter of the famed Alanna, the first lady knight in Tortall. Young Aly follows in the quieter footsteps of her father, however, delighting in the art of spying. When she is captured and sold as a slave to an exiled royal family in the faraway Copper Islands, it is this skill that makes a difference in a world filled with political intrigue, murderous conspiracy, and warring gods. This is the first of two books featuring Alianne.

 In terms of the timeline for the Tortall novels, these two are the last ones so far. Trickster's Choice and its sequel, Trickster's Queen are set after all the other books: the Lioness Quartet, the Immortals Quartet and the Keladry books.

These two books are a bit different from most of the others Tamora Pierce has written too. First of all, they're written for slightly older teens IMHO, given that Aly is older in the first book, much like the Beka Cooper series. And then, where all the other books in the world of Tortall have been written in sets of four, there are only the two books in this set.

Aside from those pieces of trivia, the important thing about these books is that they're well written, and good stories. I was reading the second book, Trickster's Queen last night, and the next thing I realized was that it was after one in the morning. Where did the time go?

Of course, that's true of most of the Tortall novels, but I liked this one more than most of them. I didn't find that the "Girls are as good as boys/girls can be whatever they want to be" message to be as in-your-face present as it is in some of Tamora Pierce's books, which I really appreciated. That's the one thing about her books that I don't really care for.

Overall, Trickster's Choice is a good, solid read that is longer than most of the other books the author's written in this world. It's also a book I'm likely to find myself re-reading in the future.

What Would You Recommend? - Tamora Pierce

Being posted early because I'm pretty sure I won't have internet access tomorrow (Friday).

This is a question I get asked all the time working in the bookstore: "What would you recommend for somebody who loved "_________"? (fill in the blank)" Usually I can come up with something, but that something can be a bit of a wild guess if it's not a book or genre I normally read. This is where you helpful people come in. If you have a suggestion, I'd love to hear it.


Tamora Pierce has written a number of very popular childrens/teen books suited for various ages and set in at least two very different worlds. I'm more familiar with the world of Tortall, which is the world that the Song of the Lioness Quartet, the Wild Magic quartet, the Keladry books and others are all set in. She's also written the Circle of Magic series, which I haven't read.

What I'd like to know is what else I can recommend to people who've already read these. I've been suggesting The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley, which is one of my favorite fantasy novels. I also recommend the Heralds of Valdemar books for older fans of Tamora Pierce, but what else could I suggest, especially for younger readers?

Books Read in April

I've got to admit this was the month for non-fiction reading. What else do you expect when it's final exams though. A round-up of my book reviews for this month, in reverse order with the most recent at the top of the list:

Daughter Of The Blood - Anne Bishop
A quote from my review:

This is the first of the Black Jewels series, and an incredible start at that. All of the characters have their quirks, the things that make them human in a brutal world.

Women of the Raj - Margaret McMillan
This was actually a book I bought for my mother.
A quote from my review:

Margaret MacMillan has written a number of bestselling books including The Uses And Abuses Of History, and Paris 1919 and, reading this one, I can see why. She has a way of making the daily details interesting and amusing to read. It was absolutely fascinating, looking at the lives that British women in India were living under the British Empire. The book is written with anecdotes, quotes, letters and the like from the women themselves. It is also lavishly illustrated with four sets of photographic inserts.

The Worlds Of Medieval Europe - Clifford R. Backman
A snippet from my review:

If you're looking for a good background book on the Middle Ages, this is a good one, and it is surprisingly reasonably priced too, at least compared to some of the other books I have.

Reading The Middle Ages - Barbara Rosenwein
This is a book of extracts from the primary source material of the Middle Ages.
A snippet from my review:

This is just as much a suitable book for someone who's just getting started in their study as it is for someone who has more background.

Bloodhound - Tamora Pierce
This, honestly is a book that I'd been looking forward to since last November when I gave in and read the teaser in the back of Terrier.
A quote from my review:

There's plenty of excitement, and as with the Alanna books it's possible to see what a good Rogue can do for the city as well as how much damage can be done by a bad one. That's another neat difference with this series: the thieves and other 'undesirables' are shown as real characters with good points as well as bad ones, not to mention actually playing a positive role in the world Tamora Pierce has created.

The Athenians And Their Empire - Malcolm McGregor
Not my favorite book of the month, I have to admit.
A snippet from my review:

...the book is quite readable, and doesn't take too long to get through. It's good as an overview of the period, but counter it with some other books as well.

Lover Unbound - J.R. Ward
The fourth book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.
A snippet from my review:

Not my favorite of the series, but Lover Unbound was a really good read nonetheless. I did find the bad language to be a bit much, which is one of the reasons it moved away from my favorite slot.

Lover Revealed - J.R. Ward
The fourth book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.
A snippet from my review:

From the outset of the first book Butch has been an interesting character and one of my favorites. Finding out more of his background and watching his interactions with the others has made this my favorite book in the series to date. The Brotherhood is protective of the human, but he wants to fight the lessers that have made themselves into such a problem.

Lover Awakened - J.R. Ward
The third book of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. As with the others, the villains were creepy and even more evil than I'd thought, while the heroes are nowhere near perfect, but interesting to say the least.
A quote from my review:

Lover Awakened is the third book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and I've heard it called the best of them. While I'm not entirely certain that that is my opinion as well, this was yet another book that I couldn't put down, and I found myself reading until one thirty in the morning yet again.

Lover Eternal - J.R. Ward
The second book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.
A quote from my review:

The sequel to Dark Lover, this was another book that I couldn't put down. The characters are gripping and the story moves fast. And the twist at the end... It's a romance novel, but for a while I was wondering as I couldn't see any way for the traditional happy ending.

On Basilisk Station - David Weber
The first book in his best-selling Honor Harrington series.
A quote from my review:

I can't describe the book from the perspective of a first time reader anymore, it's been too long for that, but this is a book that can be read again and again - as can the rest of the series.

Dark Lover - J.R. Ward
The first book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I picked it up on a whim after a co-worker said that the series looked interesting. WOW! The next day, I was at the bookstore buying the next few books in the series.
A snippet from my review:

No complaints of "I finished this book in less than four hours" here. Instead, Dark Lover kept me up past midnight at least once, and Lover Eternal, the sequel, is following the same trend (1:30 AM last night).

Bloodhound - Tamora Pierce

Bloodhound: The Legend Of Beka Cooper #2
Tamora Pierce
Random House Children's Books
Copyright: 2009
9780375814693

From the cover of the book:

Beka Cooper is finally a Dog—a full-fledged member of the Provost’s Guard, dedicated to keeping peace in Corus’s streets. But there’s unrest in Tortall’s capital. Counterfeit coins are turning up in shops all over the city, and merchants are raising prices to cover their losses. The Dogs discover that gamblers are bringing the counterfeit money from Port Caynn. In Port Caynn, Beka delves deep into the gambling world, where she meets a charming banking clerk named Dale Rowan. Beka thinks she may be falling for Rowan, but she won’t let anything—or anyone—jeopardize her mission. As she heads north to an abandoned silver mine, it won’t be enough for Beka be her usual “terrier” self. She’ll have to learn from Achoo to sniff out the criminals—to be a Bloodhound. . . .

I've been waiting for this book since about November when I made the mistake of reading the teaser in Terrier, the first book in this series. I'll state right off that it was as good as I'd hoped for, although it was a moderately fast read. Still, it took me until midnight to finish it on Friday.

As the jacket says, the main crime issue in Bloodhound is counterfeit silver coins, and although this is a fictional book, I learned quite a bit about it that I'd never thought of. Yes, I knew it could destabilize an economy, but some of the other reasons for distributing counterfeits that the author goes into were completely new to me, such as to purposely destabilize a country.

I'd love to know what breed of dog is closest to the descriptions of Achoo, just so I have a better picture in my head. Anyone have any ideas?

Like Terrier, Bloodhound is somewhat slang heavy, which is distracting to start with, but it blends into the story after a while. Thank goodness for the glossary at the back though.

As with the previous book, Tamora Pierce has written this in the form of Beka's unedited journal, right down to blotches, crossed out spelling errors and Pounce's paw-prints. The last are, I think a particularly cute touch, stepping across the page.

Both Terrier and Bloodhound show a rougher side of Tortall than any of the other books set in this world so far. I'm wondering if that's because Beka is from the lowest classes and still works among them, or if it has more to do with the fact that the book is set several generations before the start of the Alanna Quartet and following books. The same is true of the Dogs. Were they still so casual about torture and bribery in Alanna's day? It makes a nice change though to not have the characters be among royalty and the noble classes as is typical of many fantasy novels.

There's plenty of excitement, and as with the Alanna books it's possible to see what a good Rogue can do for the city as well as how much damage can be done by a bad one. That's another neat difference with this series: the thieves and other 'undesirables' are shown as real characters with good points as well as bad ones, not to mention actually playing a positive role in the world Tamora Pierce has created.

The closest to this that I can think of is Skif from Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar world, and even so, he's gone (more or less) straight after he was Chosen.

Another good book from Tamora Pierce and one that's suitable for older teens as well as being a good read for adults. Were I rating books on this blog, I'd give it five stars.

According to Tamora Pierce's website, there is a third book, Mastiff due out next year some time.

Other reviews:
Angieville: Bloodhound

Rambling about book categorization

I've started wondering how books get categorized by libraries and bookstores. The book that started me wondering is the one I posted about yesterday: The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley.

When I bought the book, I distinctly remember that I found the book on the shelf in the Science-Fiction/Fantasy section. However, when I've seen The Blue Sword on the shelf in the store in the past months it's been shelved under Teen Books. I've also found out via LibraryThing that this book is a Newberry Honor book, suggesting that it was always intended for young adults. The Ace edition which I have has nothing about any of that that I can find on it, either in the reviews, the back cover or the front cover.

That's not the only example I can think of either. Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game has been shelved in both Teen and Science Fiction, as has Tolkien's The Hobbit (Childrens' and Fantasy). When I'm selling the book, I usually direct people to the editions in Fantasy, as it has (depending on the edition) either got Tolkien's own illustrations, or is the Alan Lee illustrated version.

Library cataloging gets even more confusing. Mercedes Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar trilogy (Arrows of the Queen, Arrow's Flight and Arrow's Fall) were shelved in the young adult section of my local libraries, but in the bookstores they're classed as fantasy. The same thing is true of a lot of the more recent Star Wars novels. For some reason, although the majority of the earlier Star Wars novels are in the regular fiction shelves, most of the New Jedi Order books are to be found in the Childrens' department at the library. Every bookstore I've been in has them shelved as part of the Science Fiction section.

Even in the Childrens/Teen books there's a fair amount of variation. The Trickster books by Tamora Pierce are definitely for older teens, while the Immortals series and the Keladry books are, in my opinion at least, more suited to the true childrens shelves, yet they're still shelved as teen books (but not always with the other Tamora Pierce books). I found the earlier ones (Alanna and the Immortals Quartets) in the childrens department of my local library, so it seems that they've been moved upwards.

And then there's the Heinlein novels. Some of those, although categorized as Science Fiction seem more to be suited to the Childrens/Teen sections. (Of course, I'm not talking about Time Enough For Love or any of the ones like that. I'm thinking more of The Rolling Stones and the like) I'd love to know what their original audience was. Was it science fiction, or were they originally written for children?

What is it that gets a book categorized as one or the other? I'd like to know, simply to make it easier to make recommendations for people. I'm always hesitant when recommending to teens in case their parents won't approve of my suggestions.

Terrier - Tamora Pierce

Beka Cooper: Terrier
Tamora Pierce
Random House Children's Books
Copyright: 2007
9780375838163

Terrier is the first of two books I know about for certain that cover part of Tortall's past. The second, Bloodhound, has yet to be released. Current estimates are sometime next spring, although the excerpt in the back of Terrier says, I think, this December.

Anyway, unlike the other books set in Tortall, the Beka Cooper books are done in the form of journals. The prologue to the book, journals of Eleni Cooper (from the Lioness Quartet) and Beka Cooper's mother (I think, again) are done in different fonts to represent the different hands, and even creative misspellings. There are also the occasional pages in the book where an inkblot has been represented (with a page in the excerpt where there are paw prints from the cat stepping across the page). All of these serve to suggest that this is the actual diary, and not an edited copy put to the printers at some later point.

The slang is a bit heavy in these books, but it makes sense as rather than being of noble birth as Kel or Alanna are, Beka is from the poorest parts of the city, and is working in those regions as well.

Through the course of Terrier, Beka Cooper, one of the ancestors of George Cooper, the Rogue/King of Thieves, is undergoing her training as a member of the Provost's Guard, usually termed 'Dog'. It's not just a training period as she ends up working two very difficult cases, for which, thanks to her gifts of magic, she is uniquely suited.

Tamora Pierce has woven in some unique twists that kept me up late reading the book (and this was on a re-read). After you get used to the slang (and there is a glossary in the back of the book to help where the meaning isn't immediately obvious), you'll find the book hard to put down.

Last time I read the book, I refused to read the excerpt from the next book. This time I wasn't so smart and now I can't wait for Bloodhound to come out.

Edited on April 19th: Bloodhound is out, and it's as good as Terrier.

Squire - Tamora Pierce

Another re-read where my opinion of the book hasn't really changed, so I'm linking to my original review: http://allbookedup-elena.blogspot.com/2008/02/squire-tamora-pierce.html.

Tamora Pierce - First Test and Page

I've been re-reading the Protector of the Small Quartet. I finished the first two yesterday, and my original opinion still stands, they're very quick reads. I read the first one entirely on the bus, so about an hour and a half or two hours from start to finish, and the second one took about the same time.

My original reviews of the books are:
http://allbookedup-elena.blogspot.com/2008/02/first-test-tamora-pierce.html
http://allbookedup-elena.blogspot.com/2008/02/page-tamora-pierce.html

Squire - Tamora Pierce

Squire
Tamora Pierce
Laurel Leaf Publishing
Copyright: 2000
ISBN: 9780679889199

In Squire, the third book in the Protector of the Small Quartet, Keladry is now a squire, having made it through her years as a page. As with Page, there are some fairly large jumps in time, but they don't affect the story any.

Keladry is the first woman to openly train as a knight in over a century. Unlike Alanna, she trains openly, in spite of all those who want her to quit and try every method, fair or foul to make it happen. By this point, most of the foul ones have been tried, and now it's up to Kel to gain the respect of those who don't think women should fight.

Unlike the other main characters Tamora has written in the Tortall world: Daine, Alanna and Beka, Keladry has no Gift, just natural talent and determination. LOTS of determination. And some good friends, both on two legs and on four.

This series is one in which each of the books gets longer, which is, in my mind a good thing.

Page - Tamora Pierce

Page
Tamora Pierce
Laurel Leaf Publishing
Copyright: 2000
ISBN: 9780679889182

Page is the second book in the Protector of the Small Quartet. Kel is back and just as determined to become a knight as she was in the first book.

Keladry is the first woman to openly train as a knight in over a century. Unlike Alanna, she trains openly, in spite of all those who want her to quit and try every method, fair or foul to make it happen.

Unlike the other main characters Tamora has written in the Tortall world: Daine, Alanna and Beka, Keladry has no Gift, just natural talent and determination. LOTS of determination.

Page covers Kel's second through fourth years as a page, so there are a number of big jumps in time. Despite this though, it's filled with details of training and life from disappointments to the joys both great and small.

The First Test - Tamora Pierce

Getting a start on the backlog of books I've read this week. I've got the rest of the series after this one to write up still.

The First Test
Tamora Pierce
Laurel Leaf Publishing
Copyright: 1999
ISBN: 9780679889175

The first of the four Keladry novels, the Protector Of The Small Quartet. As with Tamora Pierce's other novels it's in the Childrens/Teens section of the bookstore, but that really doesn't matter.

This series is set after the Lioness Quartet and the Immortals series, although I'm not too sure how far after the latter set. Given some of the references made, it might have been helpful for me to read the final book of that series (In The Realm Of The Gods) before starting this series.

I found it to be a quick read (in part because I couldn't put it down) but a good one. The other books get longer.

Keladry is the first woman to openly train as a knight in over a century. Unlike Alanna, she trains openly, in spite of all those who want her to quit and try every method, fair or foul to make it happen.

Emperor Mage - Tamora Pierce

Emperor Mage
Tamora Pierce
Copyright: 1995
Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing
ISBN: 9781416903376

The third book in the Immortals Quartet, Emperor Mage is the sequel to Wild Magic and Wolfspeaker.

As with the others, this is a really good read, I'm finding. Tamora Pierce has worked a lot of real information about animal behavior into the story, which she also did for both of the first two books, but I forgot to note.

Despite being a childrens/teen story, Emperor Mage is an engaging read. However, being for younger readers (Indigo has the series in the Teen Series section) the story is rather a quick read.

The other thing is, there is a bit of a 'nobody ever dies' thing, which I won't say more about so as not to spoil the story.

Emperor Mage does something not a lot of fantasy I've read does. The gods in the story are not all happy things. There are consequences for neglecting their worship, as the characters find out here.

Answers to questions raised in the previous two books are starting to come together by the end of this one.

Overall, as with the rest of the series, I really liked it.

Wolfspeaker - Tamora Pierce

It's a double whammy today with two book reviews.

Wolfspeaker
Tamora Pierce
Copyright: 1994
Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing
ISBN: 1416903445

The sequel to Wild Magic, this is the second book in the Immortals Quartet. It's just as good, if not better, building off of the storyline of Wild Magic. Again, this is a book you could read on it's own without a problem.

My one complaint with this book is a formatting choice. There is nothing setting off mental communication/talk between animals from description or anything, making it a bit hard to figure out sometimes. And with a lot of it, reading got a bit annoying after a while.

The story wound itself up nicely while setting off the threads for the third book, which I'm looking forward to reading.

As with Tamora Pierce's other books I've read, I found myself staying up late to read more. I kept saying 'just one more chapter' to myself. Well that finally ended when I finished the book. This is a good story for children or adults.

The characters keep growing and becoming more rounded with each book in the series as well. For example, the Stormwings, while still villains are no longer completely evil.

Wild Magic - Tamora Pierce

Wild Magic
Tamora Pierce
Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing
Copyright: 1992
ISBN: 1416903437

The first book in Tamora Pierce's Immortals series, Wild Magic is set about a decade after the final book in the Song of the Lioness Quartet. This book is followed by Wolf-Speaker, Emperor Mage, and In The Hand Of The Gods.

Although it's a children's/teen book, as with her other books, I find that it can be enjoyed by all ages. I certainly do.

In part, this book sets up the world, and it's not particularly needed to have read the other books Pierce has written, as the characters are all introduced here. Also, even though this is the first book in the series, it stands on its own quite well, coming to a satisfying conclusion.

Pierce is great at coming up with unusual and interesting twists on magic for her books and characters. Daine is no exception, the main character for this series and she learns and grows in interesting ways.

Well worth the read, and a book which has stuck in my head over the years. I'm glad to have found it again.