Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales

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Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales (Tortall)

by Tamora Pierce (Goodreads Author)

4.05 of 5 stars 4.05 · rating details · 9,048 ratings · 359 reviews

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.

The Dragon's Tale
D...more

Hardcover, 369 pages

Published February 22nd 2011 by Random House (first published February 7th 2011)

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Mar 31, 2013 Sophie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Tamora Pierce fans

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, read-in-2013, young-adult, wishlist

If you're new to Tortall, this book contains huge spoilers for the Immortals series and the Trickster duology, so you probably want to read those first. Tortall veterans, though, should love this book. It continues the stories of some familiar characters and creatures, and introduces others for the first time. I'm going to review each story on its own.

Student of Ostriches: Tammy takes a character who was mentioned ONCE in Lioness Rampant and gives her a complete and awesome backstory. I won't sp...more

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Aug 17, 2011 Allison rated it 5 of 5 stars

Allison Freeman

APA Citation:

Pierce, T. (2011). Tortall and other lands: A collection of tales. New York: Random House.

Genre: Short Story

Format: Print

Selection Process:

Baker, D. F. (2012). Tortall and other lands: A collection of tales. Horn Book Magazine, 87(2), 122-123.

Review:

Many of the stories in this collection have been published in other works but Tamora Pierce includes eight previously published tales and three written specifically for this collection.

Kylaia is the narrator of the first...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Timothy rated it 5 of 5 stars

So what's the protocol if you're reviewing a book, and you're married to the writer? Should I not review or rate at all since, well, I'm not about to give any of Tammy's book less than five stars, am I? I do live with her, after all - and I have to sleep sometime .... :o :o :o

EDITED TO ADD: Seriously, is it okay for me to review a book Tammy's written or not?

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Oct 28, 2012 Cassandra rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, fantasy

I originally purchased a copy of this when it was first released, but never got around to reading it. Then yesterday I was poking around the stacks at the library for the first time in ages and it caught my eye, so I figured, hey, why not?

So today I sat down and I read it, and you know what? Pleasantly surprised.

I'm not usually a big fan of short stories, and while some of these don't quite qualify as "short" (one clocks in at about 75 pages), they were great little insights. We get to see the...more

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Oct 21, 2012 JoLee rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, audio, childrens-young-adult

So obviously I am a huge Tamora Pierce fan. She is officially my most read author. I've been slowly working my way through her novels for over three years now. I've listened to all but one of them. (Cold Fire is not available on audio and I'll have to read Shatterglass for the same reason.) It took a bit more effort and interlibrary loan to get Tortall and Other Lands on audio, but it was well worth it.

Tortall and Other Lands is a fabulous collection of stories, and I wouldn't say that I'm a hug...more

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Nov 15, 2011 Christey Foster rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 09, 2011 S.N.Arly Arly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy-and-science-ficiton, strong-girls

This is a nice collection of short stories; Pierce knows her trade and her audience.

Six of the twelve tales occur in the Tortall world Pierce is so well known for. These give further voice to some of the side characters whose point of views haven't previously made it onto the page. The other stories are not placed in one of Pierce's standard worlds, and one isn't speculative fiction, though it's still a good read. "Huntress", a contemporary urban fantasy tale is something of a stand-out in the c...more

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Oct 22, 2011 Jonathan rated it 3 of 5 stars

I always find collections of short stories difficult to review (unless Edgar Allen Poe or Anton Chekhov are the writers). In the case of Tortall and Other Lands I found that I really loved the quality of many of the stories and the plot lines that allowed them to conclude nicely. However there were around three stories that I found detracted on the whole from the overall book. It particularly did not help that those stories were right near the very end when a novel should be concluding strongly....more

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Oct 05, 2011 Chelsea Haller rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Tamora Pierce has been entertaining teens for years, especially those who are female. Most of her books have avery strong feminine main character who struggles through the world of men to show that they are just as good as any male. Tortall and Other Lands : A Collection of Tales, doesn't focus on any particular character as it plays with many different characters in its many short stories. Many of the main characters are still female, but that is not the purpose of these stories, these stories...more Tamora Pierce has been entertaining teens for years, especially those who are female. Most of her books have avery strong feminine main character who struggles through the world of men to show that they are just as good as any male. Tortall and Other Lands : A Collection of Tales, doesn't focus on any particular character as it plays with many different characters in its many short stories. Many of the main characters are still female, but that is not the purpose of these stories, these stories take characters who are not centralized and puts them in a more center position.
The first short story is called “Student of Ostriches” and while it does not deal with any characters we may know from her other books it is placed in a location we are at least semi-know about. Based in the savannah outside of the Tortall kingdom with a Shang warrior making his presence known in the last third of the story. We are put into a familiar world with unfamiliar people. The basic premise of this story is learning to fight not from a teacher, but from the nature and animals around the main character. She is a mere girl who watches the savannah animals around her and learns ways to fight from them. The end of the story shows how she takes what she learns and puts it into practice to protect the honor of her sister and her family.
The second short story is “Elder Brother” and was hinted about in one of the Immortal Quartets when Mage Numair has to do a devastating bit of magic and turns an enemy into a tree. The knowledge is given that halfway around the world there would be a tree who all of a sudden was a man to keep the balance of nature. This is the story of this tree-man and how he deals with being human. Not only is the story about this, but also about a “boy” who finds him and the challenges of a world who believes females should be hidden behind veils. There are a couple of female characters in this story who show you two different views of women in this world. One wishes to escape and the other embraces it and shows the advantages of being hidden behind a veil.
The final story is completely different and is loosely based on her experience as a house mother in a group home. Showing a different side to her writing. She takes her experience and instead of telling you exactly what happened, compresses it and changes the way she handled it to fit the way her character would have handled situations. She says in her note about the story that what she writes about were similar to things that happened to her, but thankfully they had not happened over only a week long trial as what happens in her story.
While I could go through all of the stories and give you an idea of what is going on in all of them, it just isn’t as fun as actually reading the stories. The one thing these stories did all have in common is making it incessantly hard NOT to pick up Tamora Pierce’s other books again. While it is not necessary to have read all of the other books before reading this one and actually this would make a wonderful introductory book for anyone who has not read the other series yet; it does make understanding what is going on a little easier to understand. There is a story which includes Darklings and if you have not seen what they have done for the kingdom of Tortall, then there is a disconnect of why these blobs are not immediately feared and fought with.
I am a fan of Tamora Pierce and cannot wait for her next book in the Beka Cooper books. It comes out in October of this year and while I await for that one I will reread the rest of her books now that I have a taste of the stories again in my mind. Love it when a book makes me want to read the rest of the series again (and thankfully they are not very long… well most of them).(less)

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Oct 02, 2011 Monica! rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011, attention-span-is-just-fi-ooh-shiny, the-sparkles-mean-its-magic, but-wait-theres-more, yippie-kay-ai-motherf-cker, you-go-girl

Okay, as some of you may know, I love Tamora Pierce to an almost frightening degree. Were I familiar with the ground she walked on, I would most likely worship it. She’s basically my spirit animal.

So I went into this new collection in a state of hyperventilating-glee, and... eh. I must prefer to experience her books in larger, more sweeping quantities, because the short stories didn’t do much for me.

In part, I blame the somewhat erratic nature of the collection. Some are short! Some are long!...more

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Aug 28, 2011 nymfaux rated it 4 of 5 stars

From my blog: (\__/)nymfaux

...

I just about inhaled the stories all at once—but with the short story format it’s easy to read a few stories, and then pick it up again later on if you need to.

Eleven stories are included, in all—And as for picking a favorite—I won’t even try.—Ok, I tried, but I totally can’t, so here are all the things I love:

I LOVE Kylaia, in Student of Ostriches, learning different fighting and defense techniques by watching how different animals interact, while she’s tending her...more From my blog: (\__/)nymfaux

...

I just about inhaled the stories all at once—but with the short story format it’s easy to read a few stories, and then pick it up again later on if you need to.

Eleven stories are included, in all—And as for picking a favorite—I won’t even try.—Ok, I tried, but I totally can’t, so here are all the things I love:

I LOVE Kylaia, in Student of Ostriches, learning different fighting and defense techniques by watching how different animals interact, while she’s tending herds for her village. I loved Elder Brother, and finding out what happens when a tree becomes a man. I love Teky from The Hidden Girl, and how chooses not to disappear behind a veil. Nawat was such an unexpected story, and one of the most emotional—What do you do when people expect perfection? What do you do when perfect isn’t what you expected??? The Dragon’s Tale is finally Kit’s chance to tell her own story—We’ve seen and loved her from everyone else’s point of view, but now we get a chance to see what it’s like to grow up as a dragon, where you can understand everyone, but it’s such a struggle for everyone to understand you. In Lost, a misplaced Darking turns out to be in the perfect place to help a girl find her way out of a bad situation. Time of Proving tells the story of Arimu and Sunflower, where two reluctant friends discover the values of knowledge and friendship. In Plain Magic, Tonya finds out that sometimes magic can happen in the most unexpected ways. In Mimic, Ri and her mysterious lizard friend aren’t quite ready to grow up, that letting go isn’t always easy, but that it’s important. Huntress is a darker, contemporary story where Corey finds out that running with the in-crowd isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Testing is another unexpected find, a contemporary fictional story that gives the reader a more personal look into the author’s life.

Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales is full of richly woven stories that I could read over and over again…and it’s a great companion for Pierce’s other work.—And it totally makes me want to go reread my favorite stories all over again!!!!(less)

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May 22, 2011 Claire rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 12, 2011 Sharon Tyler rated it 5 of 5 stars

Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales is a selection of ten short stories from Tamora Pierce. This young adult collection puts Pierce's ability to draw the reader into the lives of her characters on display perfectly. Pierce consistently writes compelling tales for children and young adults that make the readers really care about the characters and the bigger picture of the world that they live in. While eight of the stories in this book are fantasy, taking place in Tortall and surround...more

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Apr 10, 2011 Natalie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book contains a variety of stories ranging from the fantasy world of Tortall to modern day America.
Student of Ostriches introduces you to Kylaia, a character briefly referenced in the Song of the Lioness quartet. This story was about strength, courage, and observation. I liked the Africa feel of it as well as the story.
Elder Brother was one of my favorites in this collection. After reading Wolfspeaker (Book 2 in the Immortals quartet), I really wanted to know what happened to the poor tree...more This book contains a variety of stories ranging from the fantasy world of Tortall to modern day America.
Student of Ostriches introduces you to Kylaia, a character briefly referenced in the Song of the Lioness quartet. This story was about strength, courage, and observation. I liked the Africa feel of it as well as the story.
Elder Brother was one of my favorites in this collection. After reading Wolfspeaker (Book 2 in the Immortals quartet), I really wanted to know what happened to the poor tree, and now I do. It was a rather sad story, but full of hope and promise.
The Hidden Girl is about Teky, a young woman in a world where women are kept hidden and uneducated. She wishes to change that.
Nawat made me laugh at first, then it made me cringe, then at last it made me smile. Nawat and Aly from the Trickster novels are, in my opinion, Tamora Pierce's greatest creations and I loved seeing them again. I still think they should get a third novel.
The Dragon's Tale starred Kitten from the Immortals quartet. Bored and lonely, she finds herself a friend. I liked this story. It was sweet and funny, though Afra's story was very sad. I hope that Uday gets a story of his own someday.
Lost was about a darking who helps a shy young mathematician gain confidence and freedom. Adria, the mathematician, was a truly delightful new character.
Time of Proving is a story of complete opposites, a skilled survivor and scholarly poet who knows nothing of the world. This wasn't one of my favorites, but it wasn't bad.
Plain Magic introduces you to a town of superstitious people who believe that the proper way to deter a dragon is to feed it a virgin. This one was fun.
Mimic is about a girl who loves animals, and rescues a rather strange one. This is a story of growing up.
Huntress takes place at a modern day school in America. I did not like this story at all. It was mean, nasty, and strange. I would recommend skipping it.
Testing tells you about a group of girls from troubled pasts who torment every new arrival at their teen-refuge house.
This book also contained an Excerpt from Mastiff, the upcoming Beka Cooper novel, about which I am very excited. I shall not tell you anything about it.

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Mar 10, 2011 Colleen rated it 3 of 5 stars

The stories were all good tales, but the collection itself was highly erratic in both length and depth. It went from short stories about characters we've never met to long stories about characters who we know (and hopefully love) already. For example, we get to meet the apple tree that Numair turned into a human, halfway around the world, in a short story about intolerance from all sides. On the other hand, we also get to spend quite a long time in Nawat's head as he deals with being the father...more The stories were all good tales, but the collection itself was highly erratic in both length and depth. It went from short stories about characters we've never met to long stories about characters who we know (and hopefully love) already. For example, we get to meet the apple tree that Numair turned into a human, halfway around the world, in a short story about intolerance from all sides. On the other hand, we also get to spend quite a long time in Nawat's head as he deals with being the father of newborn triplet half-crow babies.

For me, the best parts about the stories were Tamora's explorations of characters and motivations. My favorite character, Kitten (Skysong) the dragon, has her own story in this book, told from her point of view. She is bored bored bored BORED while on tour in Carthak, so wanders off with Spots the horse to find her own trouble. What she finds is not the usual den of thieves, but a runaway mage hidden by an even more magical secret. That story was a fun romp that focused on the emotions and motivations of a child-aged dragon with nothing to do and no one for playmates besides a too-smart horse.

The harder work as a reader was in the first few stories and the last two. Pierce created and explored a very restrictive, religious society where girls were not educated and most of the population bowed under what could be interpreted as Sharia laws. In both "Elder Brother" and "Hidden Girl", we visit this ignorant society from the point of view of free-thinking young women, and learn about the two very different choices they make for rebelling against that system. In the last two stories, Pierce moves to the current and modern day. One of them is about a girl who wants to be a runner, and how joining a clique can cost more than just individuality. The last story abandons fantasy completely in order to tell the only-slightly-fictionalized story about "breaking in" a new housemother at a halfway home for wayward girls.

As I said at the beginning, the depth of the stories changed a great deal as well. There were interesting filler stories about the plains cultures and the toughness expected from the tribes, about a merchant girl who loves mathematics, about how young dragons also have coming-of-age testing as well, and about the basic silliness of trying to sacrifice a virgin to a dragon. They were all well-written and enjoyable, and none of them linked back with any strength to the main Tortall stories. With that lack of linkage, as well as the erratic length and depth of the stories, I don't think that I will keep this book because I don't expect that I will revisit it enough to warrant granting it that shelf space. I'm glad I bought it, but I'll also be pleased to pass it on.

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Mar 06, 2011 Eva Mitnick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, ya

Half of these 11 stories take place in or near Tortall, the kingdom that fans of Pierce have come to know well, but four of them are non-Tortall fantasies and one of them is not a fantasy at all.

Strange to say, but though I have read both Beka Cooper books, all four of the Protector of the Small quartet, the Circle of Magic quartet, AND the Circle Opens quartet, I have never read either the Immortals or Song of the Lioness quartets. Weird, huh?

However, it does put me in a good position to tell...more Half of these 11 stories take place in or near Tortall, the kingdom that fans of Pierce have come to know well, but four of them are non-Tortall fantasies and one of them is not a fantasy at all.

Strange to say, but though I have read both Beka Cooper books, all four of the Protector of the Small quartet, the Circle of Magic quartet, AND the Circle Opens quartet, I have never read either the Immortals or Song of the Lioness quartets. Weird, huh?

However, it does put me in a good position to tell you that no familiarity of those last two quartets (or indeed, any of Pierce's books) is needed to thoroughly enjoy this collection of stories. Certainly, fans will recognize themes from Pierce's work. Girls and women in these stories use inner strength and any available resources to overcome obstacles placed in their way by society, religion, their families, or their own fears. There is plenty of Girl Power here, shining from almost every page.

Folks who have read all the Tortall books will no doubt recognize some familiar characters - I didn't, needless to say. But I did fall in love with the blobby, adaptable creatures called Darkings, and would love to read more about them. And Nawat (a crow who takes human form) won my heart, with his loyal, loving, and birdlike approach to his human wife Aly and their three new triplets. There are parallels to the Taliban and Islam, and several powerful stories that take place in dry, desolate places where self-reliance must be cultivated. The two modern stories (one a rather intense urban fantasy thriller and the other about girls in a group home trying - and failing - to "test" a new housemother) did not appeal to me nearly as much. Although they do show Pierce's range, her world-building is one of my favorite things about her writing.

Included is a snippet of the third Beka Cooper novel, to come out later this year. I can't wait!

Recommended for fans ages of Tamora Pierce ages 12 and up, and also for readers who have enjoyed Ursula Le Guin's story collection Tales from Earthsea. (less)

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Mar 05, 2011 Xan West rated it 3 of 5 stars

So, this collection was mixed for me.

The contemporary tales didn't work for me. I needed more from them, more characterization, more complexity.

I had a real hard time with the tales that were clearly a critique of veils; this issue is really complex and it is troubling to take it on so simplistically from a western point of view. I had a similar issue with "Time of Proving".

I enjoyed the story "The Dragon's Tale" very much, and loved the way it took me back to characters I have great affection f...more

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Mar 03, 2011 Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, fantasy, medieval

This amazing collection of tales fills in the blanks on events which happened before or after several of Tamora's Tortall books, but it would also stand on it's own just as a collection of great Fantasy short stories. Although I enjoyed them all, my favorites are: Student of Ostriches, Elder Brother, The Dragon's Tale and Lost.

Although I've reread the entire Tortall series at least once a year since I discovered it 8 years ago, I also have a few favorites that I pick up at random when I want to...more

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Feb 25, 2011 Erin rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Tortall Fans

As soon as I saw the title, I knew I had to have it. I pre-ordered it months ago, and had forgotten about it until I got an email letting me know my book was here. Excitedly, I sat down to read it, swearing that it was just a short-term thing, because short-stories are not meant to be devoured in one sitting.

Except that's totally what happened.

I really liked most of them, a few were better than others.

It starts strong, with quite a few which are clearly set in Tortall or neighboring lands which...more

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Jan 25, 2011 Alanna (The Flashlight Reader) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arcs

It’s been over twenty years since readers first learned of Tortall in Tamora Pierce’s first novel Alanna. In the fifteen books that followed, readers have met numerous characters and magical creatures from the land of Tortall. In the book, Tortall and Other Lands, several of Tamora Pierce’s short stories are collected and published for the first time in print.

Several of the stories have new characters that we have not met before. In the story “Nawat,” readers are reacquainted with Nawat and Aly...more

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Sep 28, 2011 athena rated it 2 of 5 stars

Hola... I have been reading as much as possible! Tortall and Other Lands, a Collection of Tales is by Tamora Pierce. These eleven short stories concern a myriad of different topics, from continuations of her previous fantasy books to modern, more realistic stories. I will tell you about my two favorites and two least-favorites. Bad first. Nawat is the story of a half-man and half-crow being, who is shunned for his humanity. Huntress is the other one. It is about a girl whose family worships old...more

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Aug 21, 2011 Colleen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

An interesting point -- Pierce's feminist POV really pops from the pages in these shorter stories. Most of all in a pair in which she is grappling with a fantasy-version of Islamic culture. But knowing her agenda hardly hurts the narrative, or her ulterior cause. I like the way her back-to-back protagonists played off each other. In fact, that was an aspect of this collection I was surprised to like. I *knew* I would enjoy stories like "Nawat," which explores the post-happily-ever-after for the...more

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Feb 26, 2011 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Tamora Pierce Fans

Shelves: young-adult, short-stories, fantasy, fiction

I'm a fan of Tamora Pierce's young adult fantasies, which I discovered as an adult after a friend who loved her books from childhood was horrified when I asked her Tamora who? She can fall into a preachy political correctness, which can be seen from time to time in these shorts, but she also writes among the strongest female protagonists in fantasy, yet alone Young Adult. She's the perfect counter to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga with her active, kick-ass heroines and creates imaginative magic...more I'm a fan of Tamora Pierce's young adult fantasies, which I discovered as an adult after a friend who loved her books from childhood was horrified when I asked her Tamora who? She can fall into a preachy political correctness, which can be seen from time to time in these shorts, but she also writes among the strongest female protagonists in fantasy, yet alone Young Adult. She's the perfect counter to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga with her active, kick-ass heroines and creates imaginative magical realms.

My favorites among her books are The Protector of the Small series with Keladry and the two Trickster novels with Aly. Those books are set in Tortall (as are most of her novels) as are six of the stories in this anthology. In addition there are three other tales of high fantasy, one urban fantasy and one short work of mainstream fiction.

The relatively low rating I'm giving this book reflects that I just didn't find her shorts as compelling as her novels. It's not that like some I'm no fan of the short story--there are authors who I think shine in the short form, even surpassing their long fiction--Stephen King and Isaac Asimov spring to mind. But I don't think Pierce's talents of world-building and character development are displayed to most advantage in the short form, and if you're new to her, I wouldn't start with this book. I don't think these stories have the "punch" of really strong short stories, instead many of them made me wish they could be longer and more fleshed out--although in that regard I guess that proves Pierce certainly writes characters you want to linger with! (I'd love to see more of Adria of "Lost" or Arima of "Time of Proving" or Ri of "Mimic" again someday.)

That said, if you are already a Tamora Pierce fan, there is a lot to enjoy here. If you love her Immortals series, then you'll probably grin at "Elder Brother" which tells of the tale of Qiom, the apple tree Numair inadvertently turned into a man, and "The Dragon's Tale" from the point of view of "Kitten" the young dragon Daine adopted.

"Nawat" about the half-crow/half-human triplets born to crow-man Nawat and his mate Aly of the Trickster books is the longest tale in the book--novella-length at 70 pages. At times I found it a bit TMI squicky rather than humorous as obviously intended and all too weird in its mix of human and beast, but ultimately oddly touching.

My favorite Tortall-based story, based on characters from the Lioness Quartet, doesn't really have a fantasy element at all. The pleasure of that story opening the book, "Student of Ostriches" is precisely how the Kylaia teaches herself martial arts from the close observation of real animals. A wicked kick from the ostrich and a punch from giraffes and she "learned more kicks from zebras, a double hand strike from lions, and a back-of-the-fist blow from elephants."

I also found Pierce's one urban fantasy tale, "Huntress" genuinely scary--maybe because the Central Park setting hits all too close to home for a native New Yorker like me.

And at the end there's a teaser from the next Beka Cooper novel Mastiff that has me salivating at the thought of the release of the entire novel.(less)

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Feb 01, 2013 Brittany rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've read all of Pierce's "Tortallans" series ("Song of the Lioness", "The Immortals", "Protector of the Small", "Daughter of the Lioness", and "Beka Cooper"), and I have to say that this short story collection was probably one of her best additions to the series. I'm still pretty sad about what happened in the "Beka Cooper" books, especially because of the way Pierce had to go to tie that series in with the rest of her novels (and I have to wonder what would have happened if she'd written her b...more

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Dec 24, 2012 Zabe Nokomis rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone. EVERY ONE needs to read this series.

Tamora Pierce will always have a fond place in my heart. She might not make it to Hollywood, and she might not knock elbows with the greats like JK and Miss Meyer but I promise you, she's every bit as good. She reminds us that there are just some stories that are too big for the big screen. She created a whole new world, successfully and managed to use it as inspiration for SEVERAL series I will reccommend as long as I believe in Literature, which as a writer, will be forever.

Garth Nix and Tamo...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Andrea Learning rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 12, 2011 Gwendolyn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales is just that.

Old friends and new; short stories that have appeared in other anthologies, as well as new stories appearing for the first time in print.

As the title of the collection implies, not all of the stories take place in Tortall, nor are all of the characters you will meet within these pages familiar ones for readers of her novels.

What is unusual in this collection is that unlike most anthologies, the stories come first. The authors comments...more

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May 16, 2012 Stephanie Jobe rated it 5 of 5 stars

The world and people continue beyond the book. Some of these simply take place in the world of Tortall in familiar places or with familiar circumstances like the Shang warriors. One takes place as a result of events in one of the novels, another was a future story about main characters. There are some modern stories which are quite a change from what we are used to. Some of them even overlap with each other. I’m going to try to do this one story by story…

“Student of Ostriches” This one I had alr...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Tortall and Other Lands is a collection of short stories by the wonderful and inspiring Tamora Pierce. It features stories with new characters and many with our favorite old characters. Most of the stories are set in the Tortall universe, a place all Pierce fans know very well, but there are also 5 stories not set in Tortall, they take place in a variety of other locations (some real and some fantasy).

Since there was such a fantastic mixture of stories I wrote a separate review for each one.

Stu...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Alan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Tamora Pierce's first short story collection highlights the Tortall stories for a logical reason. The books set in Tortall are arguably her best know books, and using Tortall in the title is an intelligent selling point. The most emotionally moving stories in this collection are the non-Tortall stories. While some may call Testing and Huntress simple tales, I not only thoroughly enjoyed them I would highly recommend these stories and the entire book to parents. Especially parents who have young...more

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The (Not-So) Aust...: Tortall - Land of the Lioness	4	27	Jan 11, 2013 02:01am

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Fantasy

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Short Stories

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About Tamora Pierce

Hey, folks! I just discovered that apparently I have given some very popular books single-star ratings--except I haven't. How do I know I haven't? Because I haven't read those books at all. So before you go getting all hacked off at me for trashing your favorites, know that I've written GoodReads to find out what's going on.

I return to my regularly scheduled profile:
Though I would love to join gro...more Hey, folks! I just discovered that apparently I have given some very popular books single-star ratings--except I haven't. How do I know I haven't? Because I haven't read those books at all. So before you go getting all hacked off at me for trashing your favorites, know that I've written GoodReads to find out what's going on.

I return to my regularly scheduled profile:
Though I would love to join groups, I'm going to turn them all down. I just don't have the time to take part, so please don't be offended if I don't join your group or accept an invitation. I'm not snooty--I'm just up to my eyeballs in work and appearances!

Also, don't be alarmed by the number of books I've read. When I get bored, I go through the different lists and rediscover books I've read in the past. It's a very evil way to use up time when I should be doing other things. Obviously, I've read a lot of books in 54 years!

I was born in South Connellsville, PA. My mother wanted to name me "Tamara" but the nurse who filled out my birth certificate misspelled it as "Tamora". When I was 8 my family moved to California, where we lived for 6 years on both sides of the San Francisco peninsula.

I started writing stories in 6th grade. My interest in fantasy and science fiction began when I was introduced to ‘The Lord of the Rings’ by J. R. R. Tolkien and so I started to write the kind of books that I was reading. After my parents divorced, my mother took my sisters and me back to Pennsylvania in 1969. There I went to Albert Gallatin Senior High for 2 years and Uniontown Area Senior High School for my senior year.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, I wrote the book that became The Song of the Lioness fantasy quartet. I sold some articles and 2 short stories and wrote reviews for a martial arts movie magazine. At last the first book of the quartet, Alanna: The First Adventure was published by Atheneum Books in 1983.

Tim Liebe, who became my Spouse-Creature, and I lived in New York City with assorted cats and two parakeets from 1982 - 2006. In 2006 we moved to Syracuse, New York, where we live now with assorted cats, a number of squirrels, birds, raccoons, skunks, opossums, and woodchucks visiting our very small yard. As of 2011, I have 27 novels in print, one short story collection, one comic book arc ("White Tiger: A Hero's Compulsion") co-written with Tim, and a short story anthology co-editing credit. There's more to come, including a companion book to the Tortall `verse. So stay tuned!(less)

More about Tamora Pierce...

Books by Tamora Pierce

Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness, #1)

In the Hand of the Goddess (Song of the Lioness, #2)

Lioness Rampant (Song of the Lioness, #4)

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Song of the Lioness, #3)

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Quotes from Tortall and Other Land...

“Without reading, we are all without light in the dark, without fire in the cold.” — 19 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8396340-tortall-and-other-lands?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1366162196l/8396340.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8396340-tortall-and-other-lands?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales by Tamora Pierce[/url]

Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales (Tortall)

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