#wolf speaker

Veralidaine Sarrasri, unlike Alanna and Kel, is not originally Tortallen. Our girl is Gallan, and when we first meet her in Wild Magic, she is recovering from bandits sacking her village, burning down her house, and killing her family and all their animals. She's also desperate to hide what she thinks is a form of madness from every human she runs across, which gets really complicated when Numair starts teaching her how to harness her wild magic. And for just a hot second, can I say how much I love Numair in this series? He has just as much character as Daine and I am never NOT here for phenonemally powerful mages who are also basically oversized puppies.

Getting to watch Daine develop relationships with Numair, Onua, Alanna and George, the royal family, and the Queen's Riders is such fun, and so well done that when Daine finally feels safe enough to explain why she sometimes seems recalcitrant about her magic lessons it feels immensely earned. These relationships also become immensely foundational to the rest of the series, as does Daine's b-plot but still really compelling arc about hating Stormwings.

The Stormwing arc really finds traction in Wolf Speaker. In my experience, most people say that In the Realms of the Gods is their least favorite Immortals book, but for me, Wolf Speaker takes that prize. Not at all because it's a bad book, but for me it's the most forgettable of the four. Daine and Numair are investigating sus nonsense in Fief Dunlath, and there are blood rain and shape shifting/mind riding shenanagins and Daine begins to have holes poked in her Stormwing prejudice courtesy of Rikash Moonsword. It's a fine book, and the subplots with the wolves and ogres are compelling, but for whatever reason this book does not stick in my head.

The book that does stick in my head and is unequivocally my favorite of this quartet is Emperor Mage. This book follows the Tortallen peace delegation to Carthak, and geopolitical and divine shenanagins ensue. Dain's relationships with Kaddar and Ozorne--and particularly how Numair and Ozorne's history colors both those relationships--are again central to the plot. The Graveyard Hag is also actively throwing broom handles between the spokes of Daine's wheels by giving Daine the power to bring skeletons to a seeming of life.

That gets absolutely amazing because the Graveyard Hag wants Daine to reanimate human skeletons, but Daine makes the PHENOMENAL point that humans forget literal walking nightmares really fast. What humans don't recover fast from is when you literally raze their centers of government to the ground, including food stores, records of all kinds, and the freaking treasury. So instead of making human skeletons dance through the streets, Daine reanimates DINOSAUR SKELETONS and wrecks absolute shop. It's amazing, I wouldn't change a thing.

The other thing I love about this book is Numair yo-yoing between being an experienced intelligence operative and black robe mage and a complete idiot. He is tangled up in plans to free slaves and overthrow Ozorne and yet he still somehow manages to forget all of that and swing at Ozorne when he suggests that Numair is banging Daine. Numair. Honey, sweetie, friend, you cannot be THAT much of an idiot. And the best part is, at least three other characters call him on that idiocy. This book is fantastic.

In the Realms of the Gods is the book that, in my experience, gets the most flak from fans. My experience has been that people object to the student/teacher dynamic between Daine and Numair deveoping into a romance and the significant age gap between the two characters as the romance develops. People also seem to feel that this book is too long and drags in places. I don't tend to find that the book is draggy and long, but that tends to be a very "your mileage may vary" thing for readers.

In terms of the age gap and student teacher dynamics, I want to start off very clear: In real life, student-teacher relationships are never ok, are always predatory, and I do not support. However, to paraphrase Red from OSP, not every book that shows things that aren't unequivocally morally good do not need a "Do Not Try This At Home" sticker on the cover. Books don't have to be morally instructive, they don't have to show the best possible healthy relationships, they just have to be interesting. And honestly? I find Daine and Numair interesting. On top of that, Tamora Pierce is aware enough as an author that Daine and Numair actually do (however briefly) discuss the potential pitfalls of the age gap between them. They don't address the student/teacher thing, but then I wouldn't expect them to because that's not the relationship they have in this book. They are more partners than student/teacher. All this to say, I can understand why people dislike this romance, but I'm not here to throw shade, because honestly I enjoyed it.

I also enjoyed meeting and learning about Daine's parents, exploring the literal Realm of the Gods and all the wibbly wobbly timey wimey chaos shenanagins, and the conclusion of Daine's Stormwing arc. (And how dare Pierce make me cry that hard over Rikash. That was uncalled for.)

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (10/10)

It's been a year since I reread Howl's Moving Castle and that's a bit too long in my opinion. This time it was with my book club, and it was so fun to see everyone's reactions to the story. I feel like every time I read this book I notice something new about Sophie's character or the magic or the romance. I just love this novel so much, the characters and plot are all just amazing and it has such a unique, comforting feel. Diana Wynne Jones is a master of the fantasy genre, and I have yet to read a book by her I didn't like.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett (9/10)

This was a lovely continuation to the adventures of Emily Wilde. She's still a stellar protagonist with a really strong voice and lots of tangible flaws while still being incredibly likable. As usual, her dynamic with Wendell, both in a platonic and romantic way, is top tier; they really have me giggling and kicking my feet during this books. There are two new major side characters, who introduce a lot of good character conflict, and the return of some old favorites from Encyclopaedia of Faeries. The beginning is a little wonky in terms of pacing, but there are some great subplots in this one and some surprising throughlines from the previous book.

The Evil Queen by Gena Showalter (8/10)

Another reread, I think I'm just in the mood for fantasy romances. I will be completely honest and say that this book is a guilty pleasure of mine. I cannot look anyone in the eye and say this is well-written, but it certainly is enjoyable. Gena Showalter writes some really good chemistry, even if Everly and Roth are the fantasy equivalent of that one high school couple that can't stop getting mad at each other and breaking up before getting back together again. There's a lot of wish fulfillment in this story, and it's just a fun time for me.

Wolf-Speaker by Tamora Pierce (CR, 68%)

While I love this series, Wolf-Speaker was always my least favorite in the series. However, my opinion of it is improving because a) the message of unity and Daine's character growth are really good and b) I'm listening to an audiobook and it has a full cast and just has great voice acting. Unfortunately, I'm at a point in the book where Daine and Numair have been separated for a while, and I won't lie, I love his character and I'm missing him.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (CR, 12%)