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A review by princessrobotiv
Wolf-Speaker by Tamora Pierce
4.0
I'm surprised at the lower ratings on this book when compared to Wild Magic, because honestly, it was really similar - but without feeling stagnant or repetitive. In fact, I thought there were a lot of elements that improved - specifically, Daine's characterization and the focus given to the development of her moral conscience (and deconstruction of her building prejudices).
It's natural and almost expected for a fantasy series to introduce a set of clear "monsters" for which our heroes can fight without any need for hand-wringing. It's why zombies as a genre became so popular: we can get all the gorey action without needing to question whether any of our faves are actually murderers. Likewise, we don't need to worry about commentaries on war or relatedly, racism/xenophobia as you would with human foes.
This seemed like the path Pierce was taking with the Stormwings in book one. Their looks and mannerisms were so clownishly and distastefully "Other" that we didn't even blink to see Daine, a child, kill them. We rooted for Zaneh to get wrecked.
It would have been easy to continue in this fashion; to never critically examine the morality of killing these creatures even in a series so intimately connected to animals of all types. But Pierce didn't; instead, she buckled down and did the work.
Daine acts like a brat constantly in book two. Her curious, empathetic nature remains intact, but we begin to see the consequences of her experiences as a fledgling warrior-mage (and as a favored friend of the crown). She passes judgment so easily that both Numair and Cloud have to preach tolerance at her just to keep her from killing creatures on sight, purely from past negative experiences. She judges Maura harshly and loses her temper with the kid more than once, even though Maura is acting bravely and loyally for her age and experience. When she hunts with the pack as a wolf, she loses herself in the transformation and her own anger and has to be put in her place by the other wolves.
All of this is great to see, especially when the gradual change in viewpoint is executed with such subtlety.
I found the pacing to be pretty on par with book one, with some slow spots that could have done with small edits. The cast of characters became a bit large and hard to manage at times, especially in regards to the animals.
But the end battle was imo even more exhilarating than that in book one. Daine's unyielding sense of duty to the land and its creatures fitted perfectly with the book's ecological themes and her internal conflict in regards to her conception of monstrousness. The showdown with Numair and Tristan was great (though I'd wish we'd had just a smidge more play-by-play action - I love Daine working independently, but I want to see Numair's master status at work).
My reservations about Daine/Numair continue, but once again, I found a lack of romantic intention on either side (critically necessary). There was one moment when they were staying at the inn that bordered on gross, but didn't quite stray there. . . so I'll give it a pass.
Still really enjoying the series and excited to move onto book three!
It's natural and almost expected for a fantasy series to introduce a set of clear "monsters" for which our heroes can fight without any need for hand-wringing. It's why zombies as a genre became so popular: we can get all the gorey action without needing to question whether any of our faves are actually murderers. Likewise, we don't need to worry about commentaries on war or relatedly, racism/xenophobia as you would with human foes.
This seemed like the path Pierce was taking with the Stormwings in book one. Their looks and mannerisms were so clownishly and distastefully "Other" that we didn't even blink to see Daine, a child, kill them. We rooted for Zaneh to get wrecked.
It would have been easy to continue in this fashion; to never critically examine the morality of killing these creatures even in a series so intimately connected to animals of all types. But Pierce didn't; instead, she buckled down and did the work.
Daine acts like a brat constantly in book two. Her curious, empathetic nature remains intact, but we begin to see the consequences of her experiences as a fledgling warrior-mage (and as a favored friend of the crown). She passes judgment so easily that both Numair and Cloud have to preach tolerance at her just to keep her from killing creatures on sight, purely from past negative experiences. She judges Maura harshly and loses her temper with the kid more than once, even though Maura is acting bravely and loyally for her age and experience. When she hunts with the pack as a wolf, she loses herself in the transformation and her own anger and has to be put in her place by the other wolves.
All of this is great to see, especially when the gradual change in viewpoint is executed with such subtlety.
I found the pacing to be pretty on par with book one, with some slow spots that could have done with small edits. The cast of characters became a bit large and hard to manage at times, especially in regards to the animals.
But the end battle was imo even more exhilarating than that in book one. Daine's unyielding sense of duty to the land and its creatures fitted perfectly with the book's ecological themes and her internal conflict in regards to her conception of monstrousness. The showdown with Numair and Tristan was great (though I'd wish we'd had just a smidge more play-by-play action - I love Daine working independently, but I want to see Numair's master status at work).
My reservations about Daine/Numair continue, but once again, I found a lack of romantic intention on either side (critically necessary). There was one moment when they were staying at the inn that bordered on gross, but didn't quite stray there. . . so I'll give it a pass.
Still really enjoying the series and excited to move onto book three!