You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
missflyer 's review for:
Emperor Mage
by Tamora Pierce
After the thwarted coup, Daine, Numair, Alanna, and a number of important Tortallan dignitaries journey to Carthak for peace talks with the Emperor Mage Ozorne. Considering the emperor is known to hold personal grudges and this involves his pardon for Numair to come and not suffer a death sentence, the entire entourage is on edge. Daine is fortunate in that she doesn't have to attend the treaty negotiations since she is there just to help cure the emperor's beloved birds of a curious illness. Nothing is ever that easy for her though - the badger has "gifted" her with some new magic without telling her about it, magic that tends to get away from her when she's supposed to be keeping a low profile. As if it wasn't hard enough to hold her tongue when she would rather use its sharp edge to stand up for her friends and the downtrodden, or turn a blind eye to the slaves who serve throughout the palace. The emperor's nephew and heir, Kaddar, is kind enough to offer to give Daine tours of the palace and environs. And he is just easy enough to get along with that Daine really must watch herself, that she doesn't say too much about her opinions of the way Carthak runs and risk the negotiations.
Now if bones would stop leaping to life when she touches them, she might manage to keep low. However, when the gods make you their vessel to get a message across, keeping a low profile is not an option. How you relate their message, though, is another matter entirely...
It has been too long since I read this book. Yet the various clues at foreshadowing were simple to put together, either from long buried memory or just familiarity with this world and how magic and tricks work. And even if the trick was foreshadowed and I knew what the trick was, it still did not have me worry any less for the character involved! That is when you know something is well written and has pulled you entirely in - you know what is going on, yet you still fear for the character as if you didn't know how it would turn out.
Daine has really grown since we first met her, and yet, she is the same: still stubborn, still determined to help others, and steadfastly only does things in the way she sees fit to do them. She is really coming into her own, with confidence, knowledge, and still enough innocence and trust to round her out. She is 15, and growing up, so there are little tidbits here and there about her blossoming feelings - the presence of which also explains how her later choice has always seemed right/well made, and never coerced or squicky.
Carthak is quite the empire, even though we mostly only see its capital. With echoes of our Ancient Egyptians, the near-desert society is rich in color and quite different from Tortall and the lands of the north which Daine is most familiar with. Carthak also manages to draw great talent, such as Numair's teacher Lindhall, with his halls of bones and his micro-habitats for living exotic animals. Beneath all the glitter and gold, though, darkness lurks, not least of all from Ozorne. The gods are not happy with him and what he has done while leading Carthak, and they will be heard and heeded.
There is just so much to this book, I'm barely scratching the surface of what it does and what emotions and connections it pulls from the reader. Definitely read the first two books in the series, as they do build on each other, not least of which is how Daine is growing into her own as well as into her wild magic.
Quote:
“Yes, but haven’t you seen how often people look for someone to blame? Not to find a way to keep some bad things from repeating itself—just to blame.” – page 290
Now if bones would stop leaping to life when she touches them, she might manage to keep low. However, when the gods make you their vessel to get a message across, keeping a low profile is not an option. How you relate their message, though, is another matter entirely...
It has been too long since I read this book. Yet the various clues at foreshadowing were simple to put together, either from long buried memory or just familiarity with this world and how magic and tricks work. And even if the trick was foreshadowed and I knew what the trick was, it still did not have me worry any less for the character involved! That is when you know something is well written and has pulled you entirely in - you know what is going on, yet you still fear for the character as if you didn't know how it would turn out.
Daine has really grown since we first met her, and yet, she is the same: still stubborn, still determined to help others, and steadfastly only does things in the way she sees fit to do them. She is really coming into her own, with confidence, knowledge, and still enough innocence and trust to round her out. She is 15, and growing up, so there are little tidbits here and there about her blossoming feelings - the presence of which also explains how her later choice has always seemed right/well made, and never coerced or squicky.
Carthak is quite the empire, even though we mostly only see its capital. With echoes of our Ancient Egyptians, the near-desert society is rich in color and quite different from Tortall and the lands of the north which Daine is most familiar with. Carthak also manages to draw great talent, such as Numair's teacher Lindhall, with his halls of bones and his micro-habitats for living exotic animals. Beneath all the glitter and gold, though, darkness lurks, not least of all from Ozorne. The gods are not happy with him and what he has done while leading Carthak, and they will be heard and heeded.
There is just so much to this book, I'm barely scratching the surface of what it does and what emotions and connections it pulls from the reader. Definitely read the first two books in the series, as they do build on each other, not least of which is how Daine is growing into her own as well as into her wild magic.
Quote:
“Yes, but haven’t you seen how often people look for someone to blame? Not to find a way to keep some bad things from repeating itself—just to blame.” – page 290