Month of Tamora Pierce

I had a bit of reading dry spell during my absence but broke it in early October when one of my co-workers loaded up my desk with 11 Tamora Pierce books. I generally think highly of Jess's taste in YA and since a student saw the books on my desk and got excited, I decided to break through my dry spell. I finished the last of the 11 early this morning.

Over all, I think Pierce writes good fantasy-based YA.What I read fell into three series all set in the same world. While she includes some gritty elements here and there, mostly it falls into a standard girl oriented format.

Beka Cooper Series

1. Terrier
2. Bloodhound
3. Mastiff

This series follows the deeds of Beka Cooper whose highest aspiration is to be a "Dog" or city guard. She was born in slums of Corus and can hear the spirits of the dead who linger on the backs of pigeons. This series, of the three I read, included the most gritty realism. Pierce does a good job describing a medieval city slum. Unlike the rest of the series, each of these books almost read like a thriller/mystery with all the action revolving around Beka's investigations. There is intrigue and betrayal and a talking cat of dubious origins. Good stuff.

Song of the Lioness Series

1. The First Adventure
2. In the Hand of the Goddess
3. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
4. Lioness Rampant

 This series picks up at least 100 years after the Beka Cooper series. In fact, Beka's several times grandson turns up as one of the main secondary characters. In this series, it's been a long time since there were any lady knights, but Alanna Trebond is determined to avoid her fate as pampered noble lady. She disguises herself as a boy and joins page training at the palace. Over the course of the series she becomes a knight and then a hero. She has several love affairs, which are tastefully handled by Pierce. This series features a lot of court intrigue. While Alanna isn't a blundering warrior type, she's not exactly a deep thinker either. It's a solid series, but I wish there were more of the intrigue angle.

Immortals Series

1. Wild Magic
2. Wolf-Speaker
3. Emperor Mage
4. The Realms of the Gods

This is the series I actually started with. It takes place soon after the events described in "Song of the Lioness" and follows a character named Daine who is a young woman with a secret. The resolution of this secret accounts for most of the first novel so I won't say much. Suffice it to say, there is more than one kind of magical ability in this world and Daine has one of the more rare and unusual. All of Pierce's series seem to feature animal companions, but this series is practically infested with them. This series also opens the door for more magical critters which is an interesting expansion.