Tempests and Slaughter (The Numair Chronicles, #1) in Tortall Read-Along

Feb 19, 2018 April Sarah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned

Video Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua1Z6...

I loved reading this first book. It brought back all the feelings I had as first read through the Immortals series with Numair. I can see how He becomes the man he does.

There are so many subtle setups happening throughout this story. Each time I saw something that I knew was going to have relevance later, I couldn't stop squealing.

I also had to grin at the fact that Pierce is not afraid to mention the joys of boys going through puberty. She d ...more

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Feb 27, 2018 Nevergreen rated it it was amazing

Despite this book having a few faults and inconsistencies, I loved it and I love Tamora Pierce so 5 stars! My rating system has never really made sense, so why start trying now?

I have been highly anticipating this book and it took me 2 whole weeks after I had a copy in my hands before I could bring myself to start it because what if it wasn't as good as I had hoped? What if it was and then I had to wait another year for the next one?

I love Arram and am glad I finally got to learn more about Var Despite this book having a few faults and inconsistencies, I loved it and I love Tamora Pierce so 5 stars! My rating system has never really made sense, so why start trying now?

I have been highly anticipating this book and it took me 2 whole weeks after I had a copy in my hands before I could bring myself to start it because what if it wasn't as good as I had hoped? What if it was and then I had to wait another year for the next one?

I love Arram and am glad I finally got to learn more about Varice, Ozrone, Lindhall and what happened to start the events that lead to the Immortals Quartet. I am also glad one of my predictions about this series turned out to be right and I can't wait to see what happens next in that plot line. As is typical with a Pierce book, this book is very character focused and slower-paced then what most people will be used to and many might be thrown off by the seeming lack of plot. But for me what was great about this book is knowing where you end up and getting to see how you get there, something that new to Pierce readers will miss out on.

I was happy to see the diversity in this book, but (in my white, cis, LGBTQIA spectrum eyes) it was not the best. Pierce took the fact that universities attract and hire the best to include a lot of other countries, which was great, but knowing what I know, it meant that in a country that should have a lot of PoC characters there were a lot of white characters and the PoC characters were not always explicitly stated as being such. Compared to other Pierce books in this world there is a vast improvement, but there is still a long way to go.

Pierce has never been one to shy away from teens experiencing puberty in her books, but it wasn't as effortless in this book as in others. In part because she is not the same sex as her main character, but there was a lot of puberty stuff happening in the beginning and then nothing really after, whereas normally she sprinkles in little things that tell you, hey it's ok that things are weird. Also Arram started at like 10, whiiiiiich I think is super early for guys, but again her girls started at around this age too and coming from someone that did start around this age, it is still kinda early for us girls too.

Objectively speaking, this book is about a magic school but the magic system is not really explained at all, doesn't make much sense and is not too consistent with what we have seen in other books. I would have liked more and I hope we do get more in future books.

Two more things that irritated me. One, Arram at the beginning of the novel had been at school and in Carthak for both 1 year and 3 years. An editor really should have picked that up. I expect it's an artifact of the series shrinking from 2 books to 1 then back up to 3 over the course of the writing. Two, this is the first book that the days of the week are named and are the same as our own, which I didn't really like.

However, despite all this negative, I did really, really love this book and I can't wait for more. Is it my favourite book of Pierce's? No, but I still loved it and I need more Arram and more Musenda right now. ...more

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May 23, 2018 Hope rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, magical-system

This book had numerous small nods to other books and characters in Tamora Pierce's Tortall universe.

The changes in the young protagonists and where they end up as adult characters we met earlier in the Wildmagic series can be explained as having changed over time into adults, and experiencing shaping situations that will no doubt further unfold in this Numair series.

I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of an Egypt-like land. I'm a big fan of Tamora Pierce from way back. But her latest books ...more

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