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A review by mayhplumb
First Test by Tamora Pierce
3.0
I enjoyed this book, but I guess I'm just disappointed because I didn't enjoy it as much as The Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett (which I also read for the first time recently).
It's my first Tamora Pierce, recommended by a friend as the best series by her. It gets bonus points for being a YA book with a female protagonist but no love interest; also that she had some feminine aspects to her personality, instead of being a total tomboy stereotype. I enjoyed Kel and Neil and look forward to reading the next in the series to learn more about them. There were some other details I enjoyed -- e.g. the sparrows and the jousting bits, to not give spoilers.
However, the book was pretty weak in some other ways. The plot didn't feel very original, but perhaps that's just because it's a YA book, and the idea of fantasy taking place in an Arthurian society has been done a lot. The Immortals sound interesting, but they're not very developed (maybe I would get that from one of the other Pierce series?). I wish the adults -- or even some of the other pages -- had more developed characters. It kind of hit all the obvious areas for a girl going into a boy's world, but didn't go much beyond that. The writing was over-descriptive in that YA way.
It's my first Tamora Pierce, recommended by a friend as the best series by her. It gets bonus points for being a YA book with a female protagonist but no love interest; also that she had some feminine aspects to her personality, instead of being a total tomboy stereotype. I enjoyed Kel and Neil and look forward to reading the next in the series to learn more about them. There were some other details I enjoyed -- e.g. the sparrows and the jousting bits, to not give spoilers.
However, the book was pretty weak in some other ways. The plot didn't feel very original, but perhaps that's just because it's a YA book, and the idea of fantasy taking place in an Arthurian society has been done a lot. The Immortals sound interesting, but they're not very developed (maybe I would get that from one of the other Pierce series?). I wish the adults -- or even some of the other pages -- had more developed characters. It kind of hit all the obvious areas for a girl going into a boy's world, but didn't go much beyond that. The writing was over-descriptive in that YA way.