Book Review - The Protector of the Small Quartet

S'up folks tis Saturday and therefore it's only SIX FREAKING DAYS TIL MY BIRTHDAY!! *dies* I know I've been whining a lot about turning 20 but my inner four year old is soo freaking excited cos being away from home for my birthday means I'll get cards and stuff through the mail and I *love* getting stuff in the mail! Anywho on Thursday I'll do a nice rambly post and do a vlog showing any bookish or funky presents I receive so be ready for that :D

But I'm procrastinating the true purpose of this post - to review the second book/series in my Favs Fortnight event. Warning this post will contain *extreme* amounts of gushy adoration and a healthy dose of ranting about mean-publishers-who-don't-publish-my-favouritest-author's-books-in-this-country HUMPH!

Title: The Protector of the Small Quartet
Books in Series: First Test, Page, Squire & Lady Knight
Author: Tamora Pierce
Date: 25/9/2010 AM (Finished re-read of last book)
Source: Bought
Description: Keladry (known as Kel) is the first girl to take advantage of the decree that permits girls to train for the knighthood. The only thing that can stop her is Lord Wyldon, the training master of pages and squires. He does not think girls should be knights and puts her on probation for one year. It is a trial period that no male page has to endure and one that separates the friendly Kel even more from her fellow trainees. But Kel is not someone to underestimate. . . . (Description from Amazon.com)


Rant: It won't take long promise :P
At the risk of sounding hideously pretentious and snooty I have to say that Tamora Pierce is a *vastly* under-appreciated author in Britain because to my utmost sorrow her books are not actually in print anymore in this country and a few others that I can't recall right now. But even when they were in print I cannot remember seeing them displayed and advertised with any vigour (granted this was back in 2004ish when YA book marketing wasn't anywhere near as extensive as it is now). I think that with the influx of Paranormal and the ridiculously named "Dark fantasy" novels in the YA market, there just isn't as much demand for the medieval-esque/high fantasy series like what Tammy writes - to actually find these kind of books you'll need to either be very determined to hunt down copies through online sellers or second-hand bookshops or you'll have to write the damn books yourself. Heck if you can't buy what you want to read then write it - it worked for Tolkien and C.S. Lewis right? Do you think that if I wrote enough pleading emails to Scholastic (who published the copies which I own) that they'd reprint Tammy's books with either the same funky covers or EVEN MORE AWESOME ONES?!?


Review: For real now
Out of all of the 25+ books that Tammy has written over the past 20 years, the Protector of the Small quartet is quite possibly my absolute favourite set of stories (although the Trickster Duet is a very close second). In fact just in general the style of book that Tammy writes is one of my favourite to read. The medieval-esque fantasy world that she writes the PotS quartet and several others in - Tortall - is such a fabulous world and with it being the kind of country where old-fashioned knights and heroes are needed, the books are infused with a wealth of knowledge about horse husbandry, weaponry and other knightly aspects. I will not lie to you, the tiny amount that I know about horses that was gleaned from reading Tammy's books (and also in part from behind the scenes footage from my LOTR dvds) was actually kinda useful when I went horse-riding for the first time. Ok so I had no clue how not to bounce around in the saddle when my horse decided to start trotting without warning but I reckon the horse knew I was a green rider and I scolded him for his mischief.


*anyway*
Keladry of Mindelan, or Kel as she's more often known is the protagonist in this quartet. She's really quite unique compared to Tammy's other Tortallan heroines - Kel has no magical Gift whatsoever which when contrasted with Alanna's vast Gift, Daine's Wild Magic, Aly's Sight and Beka's intriguing Air magic, makes Kel a very special gal. What she achieves is a result of her own determination and physical effort - she doesn't have magic to back her up, or gods helping her out, just her own strength and will-power to succeed. 


As a role model she's fabulous; she always works harder and longer than she's required to, her sense of ethics and morals is the strongest and most admirable out of *any* fantasy heroine. She's fiercely loyal to her family, friends and those in her care and she will always do her duty by them. She's wise beyond her years and knows better than to dwell on things that she can't change, she can only strive to overcome them. When she sets her sights on a goal - the whole plot of the series being her goal to become a knight - she goes after it whole-heartedly and with every intention of succeeding *without* resorting to cheats and short-cuts. 
She's also brilliantly funny and witty, I find myself laughing constantly at her dry good-humoured quips and I envy her ability to stay cool-headed and reasonably polite when dealing with idiotic folk who have their heads stuffed up their collective backsides. Best of all she's still human - her fear of heights was nearly her undoing on several occasions during her Page years and even when she does get over the main terror she at least is sensible enough to respect the danger that heights still present. 


In case you think I'm never going to stop gushing over my girl-crush of Kel (it's *nawt* a crush I just wish I could be her!) I am now moving onto the other ah-mazing characters which appear in this quartet.
If you have read some of Tammy's other Tortall books (if not then get on it or I'm sending the hounds after you) then you will be happy to see several of her previous characters popping up for varying chunks of time. Alanna, Daine, Numair *sigh*, Jonathon, George, Raoul, and several other people all put in an appearance. Raoul gets the most screen-time as it were because he is the man who takes Kel on as his Squire in the third book (aptly titled Squire *guffaw*). Kel's time spent riding with the King's Own, who are kind of the King's police enforcement teams and back-up for the regular army, is brilliant to read about. The camaraderie between the men and Kel makes for some great funny scenes and "seeing" Kel tilt (joust) against Raoul is possibly the funniest thing I could ever dream to see on film one day.


I know that this review has gone on for *waay* too long but I'll try to keep this last bit shortish. So why should you read this quartet? Because if you love books with a fantastic cast of characters whom you can laugh and fall in love with then this is for you. If you love a rich and vibrant fantasy world that you just wish you could dive into then this is for you. If you want books that you can re-read over and over and *never* tire of then this series and any of Tammy's other books are so perfect that I think you should go out and buy them right now!


I have literally poured my heart into this review because only then will people who have never even heard of Tamora Pierce understand how much she has affected my reading and to be perfectly honest my life. I don't think that any author has inspired me to rave about their books quite as much as Tammy has and I really hope that one day I can get to meet her (although the chances of that when I live in the UK are slim indeed) so I can tell her just what a fabulous influence she has been for me - although this will invariably come after I've hyperventilated for 15 mins in true fangirl style :P


So to sum up - READ THESE BOOKS!! *ahem*


My rating: 5 Stars out of 5 (plus 30 more stars)


Phew! It has taken me an inordinate amount of time to write this whole review out and I reckon I can safely say that unless I get serious Writer's Block sometime soon I am gonna have no problem at all churning out 1,667 words a day for NaNoWriMo considering this review alone is nearly 1,200 words. 


But anyway a massive congrats to anyone who has made it down as far as this - I commend your perseverance and I promise to try and keep the next few reviews a good deal shorter but I just can't help myself when it comes to Tammy Pierce books :P


Until Tomorrow then
LadyV

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Book Review - The Glass Trilogy

Good morn to you all! I was thinking of doing a Teaser Tuesday post for today but since I've got a fair bit going on at the moment with getting my timetable sorted out for next week I'll just stick with the series review I've got for ya.

Series Name: The Glass Trilogy/ Opal Cowan trilogy
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Source: Bought
Description: As a glassmaker and a magician-in-training, Opal Cowen understands trial by fire. Now it's time to test her mettle. Someone has sabotaged the Stormdancer clan's glass orbs, killing their most powerful magicians. The Stormdancers—particularly the mysterious and mercurial Kade—require Opal's unique talents to prevent it happening again. But when the mission goes awry, Opal must tap in to a new kind of magic as stunningly potent as it is frightening. And the further she delves into the intrigue behind the glass and magic, the more distorted things appear. With lives hanging in the balance—including her own—Opal must control powers she hadn't known she possessed…powers that might lead to disaster beyond anything she's ever known (Description of Storm Glass taken from GoodReads)


Review:

One thing that I consistently love about Maria's books is that her characters are always wonderfully vibrant and interesting - even the villains. Quite often the line between who's a good guy and who's bad is rather blurry so someone who may seem like a total evil jerk at the start of the book can end up being quite likeable by the end.
In the Opal Cowan books it's great how we get to see characters from the Yelena books since you really become attached to guys like Ari, Janco, Leif and Valek (although he won't appear until Spy Glass). In Sea Glass it's mainly Janco we have the pleasure of seeing but no matter as I think he's lovely and with his uber lock-picking skillz he's a valuable asset to Opal who, for some reason, is extremely prone to getting captured, kidnapped, or tortured. 

I'll admit to not being as fond of Opal as I am of Yelena - although her glass magic is really cool and fascinating, as a person she's just not that mature and often makes rash decisions that get her in serious trouble. She can be insolent and petulant if people either don't trust her or if they belittle her since she looks a fair bit younger than her twenty years (I know how she feels :P).
That being said, despite her flaws Opal is still a good person and has her loveable moments. I love her sarcastic sense of humour and her wish to make a difference despite her limited magic. I think her ability to fight with sais is totally bad-ass and I would *so* love to be able to do it. She's loyal to her friends and family and has a kind heart so she often wants to help out those in need. Her sense of morals and principles mean that even though she's got the power to drain a magician without them doing a thing to attack her, she wouldn't ever use that power unless in self-defense because her moral compass knows it's totally wrong.


Unlike in the Study books, Opal actually has several romantic interests to confuse herself with - the Stormdancer Kade, the glass magician Ulrick who gets soul-switched with the Daviian Warper Devlin who once tortured Opal. Without giving away any spoilers I'll just say that who she ends up with is definitely very interesting and I am quite happy about it :P

Out of the three books I think that the last book, Spy Glass is my favourite, not least because we finally get to see more of Valek (ok that might be a factor hehe) but because Opal has progressed over the series into a stronger and more mature individual. She's no longer the "doormat" that Devlin proclaimed her to be in the first book, she's learnt to stand up for herself and not let people use her and her magic whenever they like. It's more pleasant to read about a character whom you don't wish you could shake a bit of sense into every so often.


With regards to the actual stories themselves I did like how Maria expanded on the Warpers who appear in Magic Study and Fire Study and developed further the darker branches of magic in Sitia and provided an interesting variety of bad guys whose motives are not always apparent when we first meet them.
It's kind of a shame that we've reached the end of this second trilogy set in the Ixia/Sitia universe, I'm really hoping that Maria has plans to write more books set there after she's done with her new dystopia series (I've got the first book Inside Out to read while I'm at Uni).
Overall I'll give this series a solid 4 out of 5 stars for being thorougly enjoyable and chock-full of fantastic characters. I heartily recommend it to fans of fantasy books and anyone who's read the Study trilogy.
On a related note - how freaking *gorgeous* are the UK covers I've sprinkled throughout the review?! I know the US covers are interesting enough but seriously I think we hands-down win the cover battle! Opinions anyone?


Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (for the series as a whole)


Originally I was just gonna do this review for the second book, Sea Glass but then I read the third one and thought bugger it I may as well sum up my thoughts of the whole trilogy even though it's been over a year since I read Storm Glass. 


Anyways I'm planning on doing my review of Rules of Attraction to post on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's big internet switch-on *huzzah* You have no idea how odd it's been not being able to go online whenever I want so I'm gonna have a massive session on Thursday afternoon (I'm terrified of how Youtube subscriptions videos I'm gonna have to watch).
Happy Tuesday folks
LadyV

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