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prairiewolf's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
sophiewilliams's review against another edition
3.0
Generally a good book. Was disturbed by the relationship between a 16 and 30 yr old though. Didn't bother me the first time I read it (when I must have been about 12) but now more of an issue to my brain.
jba_83's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ragonmoss's review against another edition
4.0
If only Numair wasn't so much older than Daine I would really really love this book. Man, I just have a hard time with that age gap.
mediaevalmuse's review against another edition
3.0
After reading and loving Emperor Mage, I was excited to see how the Immortals series would wrap up - the stakes are pretty high, and the promise of more gods getting involved made me eager to read more. While I did enjoy this book for it’s adventure through the Divine Realms, the complete separation of Daine from the core action of the series as a whole made me love it less than the other books. I also wasn’t a fan of the romance, for reason’s I’ll get into below, despite loving the characters individually. Like I stated in my previous reviews, your mileage may vary, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Overall, I had a good time reading this quartet, but I think Song of the Lioness remains first in my heart.
Things I Liked
1. Adventure Through the Divine Realms: Daine and Numair must find a way to escape the mystical realms where the gods live, and to do so, they journey through many strange lands, with dangers that kind of reminded me of the forest from The Princess Bride. I feel like Pierce’s creativity really shined in these moments. I loved the potential dangers of things like the Temptation Lake, the First Bridge, and the Sea of Sand - they were fun to read about as well as incredibly symbolic.
2. Relationship with Rikash: Although we see Daine and Rickash interact in books two and three, I really felt their allyship solidify in this book. It was touching to see Daine realize she actually valued Rikash’s friendship, and I loved the overall arc of Daine learning not to see beings as wholly good or wholly evil.
3. Darkings: This book introduces a new kind of creature called the darking, a kind of magical blob that baddies use as spies. At first I was skeptical - they seemed weird and didn’t quite fit in with the world Pierce built. But over time, they grew on me, and I loved their tiny voices and cute ways of hanging around Daine and her friends.
Things I Disliked
1. Romance: This book features a budding romance between Daine and Numair. Though I love each character individually, their relationship makes me extremely uncomfortable. For one, she’s 16 in this book, and he’s 30. But also, their relationship started out as a teacher-student one, which immediately makes romantic involvement off-limits for me. The only things that prevented me from knocking more stars off my rating were the way Pierce wrote about the relationship in the book and her author’s comments after the fact. In the book, it’s very clear that Numair’s feelings are honorable and genuine - at no point did I feel like he was taking advantage of Daine. Later, after the book’s publication, Pierce wrote that she listened to her readers and would have handled things differently if she could rewrite the book. But even so, neither of those things made the romance comfortable for me.
2. Plot: This book probably shows Daine using her magic the least out of the quartet. The Divine Realms prevent her from communicating with animals mind-to-mind, and she doesn’t shape-shift as much due to her reluctance to leave Numair struggling on his own. As a result, something just felt missing from the heart of the story. I also wasn’t much of a fan of the way our characters were removed from the action of the war in Tortall, which is the central conflict of the whole quartet. A side effect of the characters being removed is that we never see the antagonists until the end. What made Emperor Mage so thrilling for me was the way we saw protagonists and antagonists interacting, trying to figure each other out, whereas in this book, they’re mostly figures looming in the background until the big fight. As a result, I didn’t feel like the book was suspenseful or encouraging me to read on.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in gods and goddesses, mythology and folklore, and journeys through mystical realms.
Things I Liked
1. Adventure Through the Divine Realms: Daine and Numair must find a way to escape the mystical realms where the gods live, and to do so, they journey through many strange lands, with dangers that kind of reminded me of the forest from The Princess Bride. I feel like Pierce’s creativity really shined in these moments. I loved the potential dangers of things like the Temptation Lake, the First Bridge, and the Sea of Sand - they were fun to read about as well as incredibly symbolic.
2. Relationship with Rikash: Although we see Daine and Rickash interact in books two and three, I really felt their allyship solidify in this book. It was touching to see Daine realize she actually valued Rikash’s friendship, and I loved the overall arc of Daine learning not to see beings as wholly good or wholly evil.
3. Darkings: This book introduces a new kind of creature called the darking, a kind of magical blob that baddies use as spies. At first I was skeptical - they seemed weird and didn’t quite fit in with the world Pierce built. But over time, they grew on me, and I loved their tiny voices and cute ways of hanging around Daine and her friends.
Things I Disliked
1. Romance: This book features a budding romance between Daine and Numair. Though I love each character individually, their relationship makes me extremely uncomfortable. For one, she’s 16 in this book, and he’s 30. But also, their relationship started out as a teacher-student one, which immediately makes romantic involvement off-limits for me. The only things that prevented me from knocking more stars off my rating were the way Pierce wrote about the relationship in the book and her author’s comments after the fact. In the book, it’s very clear that Numair’s feelings are honorable and genuine - at no point did I feel like he was taking advantage of Daine. Later, after the book’s publication, Pierce wrote that she listened to her readers and would have handled things differently if she could rewrite the book. But even so, neither of those things made the romance comfortable for me.
2. Plot: This book probably shows Daine using her magic the least out of the quartet. The Divine Realms prevent her from communicating with animals mind-to-mind, and she doesn’t shape-shift as much due to her reluctance to leave Numair struggling on his own. As a result, something just felt missing from the heart of the story. I also wasn’t much of a fan of the way our characters were removed from the action of the war in Tortall, which is the central conflict of the whole quartet. A side effect of the characters being removed is that we never see the antagonists until the end. What made Emperor Mage so thrilling for me was the way we saw protagonists and antagonists interacting, trying to figure each other out, whereas in this book, they’re mostly figures looming in the background until the big fight. As a result, I didn’t feel like the book was suspenseful or encouraging me to read on.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in gods and goddesses, mythology and folklore, and journeys through mystical realms.
monsterfemme's review against another edition
2.0
WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY IS 30-YEAR-OLD NUMAIR FUCKING WITH HIS 16-YEAR-OLD STUDENT THAT HE'S BEEN BASICALLY A SURROGATE DAD TO SINCE SHE WAS 12 HOW DOES AN ETHICAL, DECENT 30-YEAR-OLD LOOK AT A 16-YEAR-OLD AND THINK "MMM YES SEXUAL/ROMANTIC OPPORTUNITY" AND NOT "AWWWWW LIL BB MAGE"??????? TAMORA PIERCE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WHY ARE YOU MODELING THIS GARBAGE FOR TEEN GIRLS INSTEAD OF, AS A FRIEND POINTED OUT, A NICE NORMALIZING CONVERSATION WHERE DAINE IS CRUSHING ON NUMAIR AND HE'S LIKE "I GET IT BUT ACTUALLY HERE'S WHY THAT WOULD BE INAPPROPRIATE; PLEASE GO FIND A DATE OR FOOL-AROUND BUDDY YOUR OWN AGE!" AND GOES BACK TO BEING A NICE NOT-CREEPY MENTOR FIGURE???? GOD WHY.
bethie73's review against another edition
4.0
Great conclusion to a very cute middle-grade series. My only complaint is the sudden romance between Daine and her mentor towards the end; the power imbalance of the student-teacher romance has never been my favorite.
aspain53's review against another edition
3.0
#spoilers to follow
I had issues with this book. I think that a romantic relationship between a teenage girl and a much older man, who is supposed to be her teacher and mentor is highly inappropriate! Since the audience for Ms Pierce’s books is teenagers, I find it even more inappropriate. That relationship ruined what was otherwise a fun story for me and soured me somewhat on the entire series.
I had issues with this book. I think that a romantic relationship between a teenage girl and a much older man, who is supposed to be her teacher and mentor is highly inappropriate! Since the audience for Ms Pierce’s books is teenagers, I find it even more inappropriate. That relationship ruined what was otherwise a fun story for me and soured me somewhat on the entire series.
iceoak14636's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0