a spy's guide

Revisiting Corus REVIEW: Tortall: A Spy’s Guide

by with No Comment BooksReviewsRevisiting Corus

Revisiting Corus is normally a series of posts reviewing the books set in the Tortall universe. However, Tortall: A Spy’s Guide just came out on October 31st, so we’ll be interrupting our scheduled posts to review it!

I didn’t really know what to expect going into this; all of the pithy online descriptions call it “a great gift for Tortall fans!” Which gives the impression that it’s more of a fanbook than a book, without anything new to offer. It’s also presented in a library binding style (cover printed directly onto a hardback surface), which is generally done with these sorts of ancillary books. These types of books have become popular: There’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide, The TARDIS Handbook and Sherlock: The Casebook, among many, many others. These books are generally smaller and cheaper than art books or making-of chronicles, and are written in-universe, with characters compiling files for one reason or another.

dragon's tale

Revisiting Corus: “Dragon’s Tale” and “Lost”

by with No Comment BooksReviewsRevisiting Corus

In the Revisiting Corus series, I’m rereading all of the published stories that take place in the Tortallan universe prior to the release of the long-anticipated Numair novel, Tempests and Slaughter, in February. This post covers two short stories set in the Tortall universe, “Dragon’s Tale” and “Lost.”

I’ve never read these stories before, so this was an interesting dive into some new material, for me. However, both are relevant to the Immortals quartet I just finished reading; “Dragon’s Tale” is about an adventure Kitten has and “Lost” is a story about some of the darkings.

wild magic (2)

Revisiting Corus: The Realms of the Gods

by with No Comment BooksFeminismReviewsRevisiting Corus

I’m rereading all 19 books set in the Tortall universe, as well as Tortall ephemera, in preparation for Tempests and Slaughter‘s release in February. In this installment, I’ll be talking about the fourth and final book in the Immortals quartet, The Realms of the Gods.

I’ve always thought this book was fantastic. My thoughts on some elements of it have been complicated over time, but it still remains that it’s a fantastic book.

wild magic (1)

Revisiting Corus: Emperor Mage

by with No Comment BooksFeminismReviewsRevisiting Corus

In this review series, I’ve been reading all of Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books. In this post I’ll be going over Emperor Mage, the third book in the Immortals quartet.

This book is definitely my favorite out of this quartet–the lush setting, the complex intrigue that doesn’t bog down plot progression, and the wide range of animals make this an exemplary book, showing off the best of Daine and her companions. Emperor Mage takes Daine out of her comfort zone to the barren, troubled shores of Carthak. I promised in a previous post to talk about Carthak’s relationship to Egypt and whiteness in nobility, so let’s start with that.

student of ostriches

Revisiting Corus: “Elder Brother” and “The Hidden Girl”

by with No Comment BooksFeminismReviewsRevisiting Corus

Leading up to a new Tortall book coming out, I’m reading all of Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books and Tortall ephemera. In this post I’ll be reviewing the short stories “Elder Brother” and “The Hidden Girl.”

At the end of Wolf Speaker, Numair turns a man into a tree with a word of power. He mentions in that book that, as a result, somewhere else in the world a tree has become a man. “Elder Brother” is the story of that tree.

wild magic

Revisiting Corus: Wolf Speaker

by with No Comment BooksFeminismReviewsRevisiting Corus

I’m reading the 19 Tortall books, as well as Tortall ephemera, before the 20th Tortall novel comes out this February. In this post I’ll be reviewing the second Immortals quartet book, Wolf Speaker.

In reading Alanna’s books, a lot of what I focused on was how Tamora Pierce’s writing and Alanna’s arc grew and matured over the course of the books. This book doesn’t fit that structure.

star trek discovery

Star Trek: Discovery–Three Episodes and a Review

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I felt…weirdly stuck, last week. I’d watched the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, but I didn’t feel I had anything to say about them. Overall, I felt like what I’d watched wasn’t really the show, which turned out to be accurate. Now that “Context is for Kings” has aired, I have a few more thoughts, the first of which is: why did we get that two-episode prologue?

SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP!