Can I just start off by saying, straight away, I loved loved loved this book! I can't wait for the next one already, and I just finished reading it.

This is the first book in a series named The Numair Chronicles. I understand that this will mean much to hardcore fans of the author, Tamora Pierce, and fits into the existing timeline laid down by her other books and series, and is set in the same world. I have never read any of her work before, so it means little to me, however I will now be catching up as much as possible before the next book in the series is released. As much as I am sure those in the know were particularly delighted with this book, I don't feel like I've missed out on anything being a newbie to Pierce's work.

The book follows the story of Arram Draper, a young mage at the outset of his career at the Imperial University of Carthak. He is very gifted for his age, and has been moved up quickly to learn with older pupils. This makes him somewhat of an oddity and outsider, and his difficulty to control his gift often gets him in trouble. He is a loner, until he makes two friends - a bossy and proper girl named Varice and a prince, Ozorne. The three become inseparable and Arram's life is altered drastically because of the alliance.

The pace is quite slow, but is suited to the amount of thought and detail in the writing. There are secrets and intrigue, a little romance, a lot of magic, and the story is extremely character driven. There is also some politics in discussion over things such as the future of the empire and its emperor, slavery and the division between different ethnic groups and classes. These are discussed somberly but with a light touch, making this a good introduction to such topics for younger readers.

The description of the different kinds of magic was good throughout the book, and I liken it very much to the Harry Potter series, although this is more serious and intricate, and less fantastical. The world the story is set in is similar in ways to fantasy series like Game of Thrones, which are detailed in their histories and political landscape.

Once again, I absolutely loved this book. I became invested in what happens to Arram, and I will definitely be jumping on the second book in the series as soon as I can. I'd recommend it to fantasy fans of all ages, from teenagers to adults I think anyone would enjoy this as much as I have.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to get a copy of TEMPESTS & SLAUGHTER on NetGalley - Tamora Pierce's latest young adult book, set in her famous Tortall fantasy universe.

Obviously I was ecstatic since, as longtime Dear Readers know, Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness Quartet is the reason I'm a young adult novelist. Ms Pierce is *that* influential. And for those of us who worship her as she deserves, it feels like about a decade since her last full-length novel release (in reality, MASTIFF, the final book of the Beka Cooper Trilogy, her last series set in Tortall, came out in 2011).

But TEMPESTS & SLAUGHTER was giving me a slightly conflicted feeling. It's the first book of the Numair Chronicles - a prequel trilogy about the early life of one of her beloved characters from her Immortals Quartet, Numair Salmalin, otherwise known as Arram Draper.

Why the conflict? Because Arram/Numair's early life is actually covered pretty thoroughly in books I've already read (and re-read and re-read again). He is the second most prominent character of the Immortals Quartet - which is probably my second favourite of all Ms Pierce's Tortall series - and his history is a pivotal part of the plot. The books tell us where he grew up, what he did and who his best friends were, as well as just how those relationships developed. It's a central part of the plot.

I don't have any objection to getting more depth and information about Numair! I love Numair! But I did have kind of squinky feeling about heading into a whole new series of books where I needed to invest myself in the characters and the plot when I knew, going in, exactly how it was all going to turn out. How it would end. I worried I just wouldn't be able to get into any of it, that it would feel hollow, or inevitable. More like a collection of Easter Eggs than a real story.

Well, I shouldn't have worried. Tamora Pierce's exceptional strength as a storyteller has always been her ability to create the most beautifully realised, well-rounded characters - and then build relationships between them on the page which allow them to evolve and develop in direct relation to each other in all these unexpected, simply unforgettable ways. It's miraculous. And as a result, this book sucked me in from the very first page.

Compared to many of her works it's not a high action epic, though there is plenty of incident within it, ranging from training mishaps caused by Arram, whose power is simply too great for someone so young to fully control, through unexpected encounters with animal gods, all the way up to an attempted slave revolt. Arram even gets an unusual animal companion in classic Pierce style.

But this isn't a book that's about plot. It's a book deeply rooted in relationships, in watching relationships change and grow - and the relationship between Varice, Ozorne and Arram was so unexpectedly sincere and joyful that I couldn't put the book down. It didn't seem hollow. It seemed multi-faceted and nuanced and fascinating and, honestly, my heart broke a little bit for all of them. My knowledge of all these people's eventual fates only added depth and poignancy.

Meeting younger and less hardened versions of other such significant characters as Tristan, Chioke, Princess Mahira, and Lindhall, and having the chance to see the beginning of Ozorne's rise as well as the beginning of his descent was merely the icing on that compelling cake.

Which is a good thing, because this book ends just when things are rising to a point of high tension. Arram has made a fateful decision about his future, feelings between two of the central trio of friends have finally been declared, and Ozorne is beginning to display not only signs of the violent instability which will later have such disastrous consequences for Carthak and the whole world, but also a kind of burgeoning ambition that makes me suddenly re-evaluate his motives throughout the book. Arram is still Arram - he hasn't picked out his rather more ostentatious mage name yet - and he's still a mere student at the university, along with Varice and Ozorne.

I was stunned when I realised the book ended there. It felt, to put it mildly, a bit abrupt. But on thinking about it, I know why the writer chose to finish at that point: in a strange way, the events which finish the book are the beginning of the end for Arram's life as he has known it. The next book, surely, will chart his final examinations at the university - the acknowledgment that the odd young Draper boy is, in fact, the most powerful magic user in Carthak - as well as Ozorne's rise to the throne of Carthak. And anyone who's read the Immortals knows how that goes.

This book was the idealistic dream of three friends who only wanted to be together, to learn magic, and to live in peace far from the violence and machinations of the court of Carthak. I suspect that the next book will be a crashing and non-stop battle with reality for Arram, including that world-altering event Pierce fans know is coming and both dread and anticipate.

I HOPE so, anyway, because the part of the story that has always interested me most is Numair's escape, his arrival and early years in Tortall, and his eventual meeting with the influential people there which leads to all the events of the Immortals Quartet. For those events to be done justice, they really want a whole book. And, even knowing how it all turns out? I definitely want to read it RIGHT NOW.

Tamara Pierce was my favourite childhood/teenagerhood author and so there was little chance I wasn't going to love this book. Small Numair/Arram was really cut and I enjoyed getting to see more of Varys. The world building was great and I enjoyed the school aspect.

I wonder whether I would have enjoyed it so much if I hadn't read the previous Tortall books. The relationship between Ozorne, Varys and Arram was tense because I knew where it was going. I might not know the end of this series, but I know it's consequences.

My biggest problem with this book was the third act. TP is usually great at making sure each book within the series has it's own story arc. I felt that was missing here. While there was some action it was very quick, there was little build up and it seemed disconnected to Arram's main worries about the arena.

Nevertheless I still loved it and young Numair and I look forward to the rest of the series. I just hope people new to Tortall feel the same.

I've loved Tamora Pierce for years even while it was so so hard to find her books in the UK, so being approved for a proof of her latest book was such a dream come true for me and a massive privilege. It's so great to see her being brought back to this side of the pond again. This was amazing for readers of the other Tortall books and also would be a pretty good book for new readers.

It was both intriguing and so, so sad to see the characters while knowing what happens in the future books. The word slaughter in the title didn't help either. I was constantly looking for signs of what was to come and the foreshadowing was there to be found. The fact is, I absolutely love these characters. The friendship between Ozorne, Varice and Arram is a beautiful thing and I can't bear to see something coming between them. And at the same time I'm excited to see the changes and how everything comes to pass.

Pierce's characters and the relationships between them are always amazing and seeing the young mages interact with their tutors was great. The style of Pierce writes in, the formula of her books gives you a predictability that you can settle into, while also leaving enough room for surprises and twists to stop it from getting boring. And her animal companions are the best. Preet was without a doubt my favourite character in this book and I am unashamed to admit it. The way that she was so expressive and with such character without being able to talk was beautiful and if anything bad happens to her I will burn everything to the ground.

If you haven't picked up any of Pierce books yet, then what are you waiting for?

Thanks to Netgalley for giving me an E-Book ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Tamora Pierce is one of those authors I always seem to hear about but have never actually read. So I was pretty excited when I was approved for a copy of Tempests and Slaughter. I’m definitely someone who jumps at the words ‘magic school’ so I was pretty keen to dive into this.

First up, the characters are very well written. All of them really worked their way under my skin, and even at the start I was quite concerned that all my favourites made it through to the end of the book. This is true of the main characters, Arram, Varice and Ozorne, but also the Masters and the gladiators we meet through the course of the book. I cared about almost everyone I encountered in this novel, and that’s a big deal for me since I often struggle to connect to characters.

The whole world was also amazing. I liked that deities randomly involved themselves in the plot, often making things more difficult for the mortals they speak to. It just had such a nice feel to it, and I loved reading every single bit of magic description and deity info we were given. I wanted more and more. All the classes were so cool, and I wanted to reach through the pages and join in with a lot of Arram’s classes. The whole book is based in a kind of fantasy Egypt, and as someone who is quite keen on Egyptian history, I enjoyed seeing all the nods to culture woven into this. The food and clothing are very well researched, and as I’ve already mentioned, the involvement of the gods in daily life was a pretty good touch.

The book wasn’t perfect for me though. There were some big drawbacks. As much as I loved the world, I also found it incredibly confusing. I think part of the problem I had is that this book covers a LOT of time. Often months or even years pass between chapters and paragraphs, which made it a little hard to keep up. It became quite a problem though, there were some scenes where I didn’t have much of a clue what was going on and it took me about five pages to realize the characters were on a ship, or in a tent or whatever. Which did make it a bit of a slog at times. I’m not sure if this was a problem with me, since I often picked up the book late at night when I was tired, or if the issue was a lack of description and the big time span making it hard to follow. I’m pretty keen to know if anyone else who has read this book has had this issue.

Another big problem I encountered is that nothing much happens in this book. There are quite a few sub-plots along the way, but nothing that significantly gripped me. I was sort of hoping there would be lots of build up and some exciting plot twists, so I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed at the end of the novel. I definitely could have done with more to keep me hooked.

Overall, I’m giving Tempests and Slaughter 7/10 stars. The world-building and characters were phenomenally well done, but I don’t think enough happened in this book to grip me, and I often found it hard to follow with the time leaps and possible lack of description. That being said, I liked this book enough to attempt to read book two. I think if that one is similar in terms of lack of plot and confusion, that might be the last book in the series I try and read.

I’ve been putting off reading Tempests and Slaughter because I was just too scared that it wouldn’t live up to expectations. Numair was my first bookish crush, and I have been desperately anticipating this book since the very first rumours that Tamora Pierce might write it, 15 years ago. I grew up on Pierce’s books, and I’ve just been terrified that this new one might not be the same magical experience…

But I really needn’t have worried. It’s quite simply perfect.

Honestly, this book took me right back to being 11 years old. I have read all of Pierce’s books to death, and could probably recite most of them to you, so believe me when I say that I was dying for this book. Tempests and Slaughter starts, as so many of Pierce’s series do, with the protagonist at 11, starting their education, and following them as they grow up – the difference being, this is her first male protagonist, and this is a prequel exploring the adolescence of Numair Salmalin, the mentor and love interest of Daine, the protagonist of the Immortals Quartet. We meet Numair before he’s even thought about taking a mage name, back when he was plain old Arram Draper. He’s a magical prodigy, and is one of the youngest attendees of the School for Mages at the University of Carthak. The book follows him throughout his training until he is a young man, and I assume the series will bring us up to the beginning of Wild Magic, because really, he isn’t that much older when Daine meets him.

In The Emperor Mage, the third book of the Immortals Quartet, Daine and Numair visit Carthak and meet several figures from Numair’s past – Varice Kingsford, the now-Emperor Ozorne, and Master Lindhall the animal mage, to name a few key players. Tempests and Slaughter takes these relationships out of backstory and into real life, which was fascinating for me. Ozorne in particular is a very, very different person as an adolescent than he is as Emperor, and I am fascinated and a little bit terrified to see how he transforms over the course of this series. He’s already much closer to the throne at the end of Tempests and Slaughter than he was at the beginning. I loved seeing how Arram, Ozorne and Varice work as the classic magic-school trio, and it sheds a lot of light on the events of The Emperor Mage and how that must have affected Numair. I definitely need to reread it in the light of this new information. Man, the depth of these characters.

I loved catching all the little hints and links to the other series in here. I’ve been very vocal about the fact that I have hated seeing bloggers waving this around like any other new YA series – it’s a prequel, and to read it without already knowing and loving these characters seems kind of disrespectful. Of course, it stands alone in terms of plot and characterisation, but there’s a lot to miss if you don’t know to watch out for certain references. There’s a few smaller ones that will fly past without missing much – some of the magic works referenced are by Coopers, etc – but Ozorne’s love of the menagerie, for just one example, explains so much and sheds so much light, and I think without that these sections may have come across with much less impact. There’s a lot more that I can’t talk about without spoilers for this, the rest of this series, and the Immortals quartet, but please hit me up on Twitter if you want to talk about it (and find out where I gasped out loud!).

On the other hand, perhaps not knowing the endgame of the Immortals books would allow you to root harder for Arram and Varice’s relationship, which seems like it will gain more focus in the next book. Knowing what I know, I was completely not rooting for this to happen, but perhaps readers going in cold might have found them more shippable. I was surprised how much I was able to put aside my prejudices against Varice and Ozorne, but I’m sorry, Numair/Daine was one of my first OTPs and I’m not interested in him kissing anyone else ever.

I’ve seen a couple of comments on Goodreads that this is a boring book because it just follows Arram through his normal life – but this is exactly what I love about Tamora Pierce. These people are special – they have unusual magic, or are chosen ones, or are the first female something – but they still have normal lives. I love seeing people go to classes and have a fire to learn things. Why else would you pick up a book about a magical school? I never enjoyed the later Harry Potter books much because they took away the world I was interested in: learning about magic. I adore that Arram’s class schedules are in here. I love learning about the uses of magic with him (can I get a hell yeah for the use of herbs in medicine alongside ‘magic’ magic??). I love that even when he’s in the middle of enormous battles of wills between gods and mortals, he gets punished if he doesn’t do his homework or sasses a teacher. This is exactly what I’m here for. Yes, it’s formulaic, in as much as it follows the pattern of Pierce’s other series, but that’s what I wanted, and I would have been disappointed if it had been bombastic chosen-one fantasy.

(A side-note that yes, the bits about male puberty are awkward to read as a woman, and probably were to write. But I’ve always been thrilled with how matter-of-factly Pierce handles her heroine’s puberties, with frank discussion of periods, contraception, and the absolute pain in the arse that is growing breasts, so it’s actually nice that she didn’t shy away from the awkwardness of male puberty.)

I read this in one sitting. All 450 pages of it. I felt like I was a kid again, bubbling with sheer delight at Pierce’s magic world, desperately turning pages to soak it all in. The writing is spot on. The characters are, after mere pages, real old friends. I loved getting a chance to know more about Numair. I loved the difference in the magic teaching in Carthak as opposed to the teaching in Tortall, which we’ve seen in other books. I loved every single second of Tempests and Slaughter.

I wish I could give this 10 out of 5!

This is the first book I've read by this author and wasn't aware that it was a prequel story. I did enjoy it though and getting to meet the characters. I loved meeting Arram and watching as he made friends and advanced through magic school. The friendship aspect of this book was really well done. If you enjoy fast-paced stories you might be a little disappointed as this book is all about setting up the background and fleshing out the characters that continue through the rest of the books in the Numairs Chronicles. This didn't take from my reading pleasure though and I loved finding out all about the different characters. I loved Varice and Ozorne and all the descriptions of the different uses of magic, the school, the gladiators, and more.

The world building is vivid and so well crafted. The author's voice is amazing and her words take you on a journey into a different world. It was pure magic reading this book and I know I am now going to read the other books from this world and meet the characters once more as grown up.

Arram is learning to control his magical gift and at the beginning of the book, he is very much a loner with no friends. When he causes a flood of water in one of his classes he is moved up and his friendship with Varice and Ozorne begins. It was lovely to see him making friends and read about the friendship developing. It kind of reminded me of Harry Potter and how he made his best friends when he went to Hogwarts. This is a great YA fantasy novel and by the way it ended, I'm sure there will be a follow up. I am happy to give this book five stars and look forward to reading more for this new author that I have discovered.

Showing a flair for magic, Arram is sent to the university where his skills put him on a fast-track programme. Younger than the other students, he bonds with two other advanced-course students, one of whom happens to be a prince of the realm.

As the book progresses, so do Arram’s studies. Friendships deepen, and different types of magic are explored. Meanwhile, the politics surrounding Prince Ozorne grow ever murkier…

Many, many years ago, I absolutely loved a book called Alanna. It ends on something of a cliff-hanger, but pre-internet (yes, I’m old! ;)) I never found out about any sequels. Well, turns out that Ms Pierce is quite prolific, and that many of her books share a universe. So, there are at least 20 books between Alanna and Tempests and Slaughter, which is a lovely thing to go back to!

If, like me, you’re not really up on any of the other books, that works just fine – this can be read as a standalone. If you’re already familiar with the series, then this is a bit of a back story to the ‘Numair’ mentioned in the series name.

The style of the book is quite light – as in, skips over long periods of time, gives you small events not just catastrophe – but there are still some rotting corpses and brutal gladiators. The whole thing has a sort-of resolution, but there’s clearly more to come in the series – and I’m very glad for it!

I never read any book by Tamora Pierce before and this was a wonderful discovery.
Everything was fresh, exciting and fascinating. I was enthralled and couldn't put this book down.
The world building is exceptional, the plot very good and the characters were well developed.
I'm so happy I could read this ARC and look forward to reading the next instalment in this series.
I will surely look for the other books with the same characters as I really liked them.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to HarperVoyager and Netgalley for this ARC

An impressive and immersive first book in what promises to be a terrific series, I come to this book new to Tamora Pierce as an author, and I have to say I am impressed. For those who may be worried about not having read her previous books, this is a perfect jumping on point
Arram Draper is an extraordinarily gifted young student of magic, at the imperial university of Carthak, He soon surpasses other students his own age, and is promoted to a higher class, where he becomes fast and firm friends with Orzone, the "left over "" prince, who is become less left over as more of the heirs to the throne seem to by dying every day, and Varice, not only beautiful but with a talent for magic involving food and potions. Among the youngest in the higher University, these three band together as their studies advance but can their bond hold when the ambitions of one seem to run counter to the sensibilities of another, and will the budding romance between two leave the other out in the cold?
I loved this book, its slow pace may irk some readers but not me, I revelled in the detailed world building and descriptions of the various deities and systems of magic, and loved the way the characters and their interplay and relationships were built over the course of the book. The mixture of real historical aspects like gladiatorial competitions fit very well into the fantasy world the author created and made it feel like the book was set in an alternate version of ancient Rome . If I had any real criticism it of the way the book ended, it felt a little abrupt and incomplete, though it is not in any way a cliffhanger. Since I look forward to reading the next book, and spending more time in this world, with these characters, this really is a minor quibble.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Well what can I say. Tempests & Slaughter is a middle-of-the-road sort-of promising start to the new series by Tamora Pierce.

It tells the tale of Arram Draper, a gifted young mage who studies with his friends Ozorne and Varice at the University of Carthak. He looks set to be a powerful mage, but his gift is wild and uncontrolled, and he must learn how to harness it for the future the world has in store for him.

It's not without merit, and it's written well, but there's nothing new in this story so far. Gifted young boy who has a destiny he must fulfil with the help of his friends, likely to save the world.

Saying that, I enjoyed it as an easy read, and am almost looking forward to book two.

3.5 stars :)

Thanks to #NetGalley and #RandomHouse for the e-arc

I loved this book so much that I read it twice, just to be sure I hadn't missed anything. It has the feel of a classic fantasy but the story is completely original and utterly compelling. The main character is immediately likable and very easy to believe in. The story flows beautifully throughout and leaves you wanting more, I can't wait to see how it progresses in further books. This is the kind of book I dream of, a great, well rounded tale with enough subtle undercurrents to make me feel that there is a lot more to come. I am excited to read more from this author and am planning to enjoy her other books as soon as I can. I can't praise this book enough.

Ever since The Song of the Lioness series i have loved Tamora Pierce's work this definitely was a great book, i couldn't put the book down, the plot is great the relationships between Arram draper and his friends and teachers makes a total page turner. i cant wait to see what happens next

I loved this one from start to finish. Arram is a child gifted with immense power. Underestimated and easily bored he struggles until a class accident is stopped by the masters. From there he’s thrust into an education like no other, finding friends, enemies, gods and whole load of magic. The story flows like water through dark and light, happiness and sadness. The interfering gods are just perfect. I love Enki and master Sebo. Preet is full of mischief. There are so many elements that had me hooked. The ending did feel a little anticlimactic, almost the calm before the storm. Or I was probably just sad it was over. Defo looking forward to the next one.

I feel like it's important to start by saying that this is the first Tamora Pierce book I've ever read. I have friends who love her work, but I just never got around to it. I understand this book to fit in somehow with the broader world of some of her other books, but I don't know what form that takes, and I had zero knowledge or preconceptions before I started this book. I mention this because a lot of readers probably DID have preexisting ideas, so my review will be different.

This book largely revolves around the magical education of the protagonist and his two closest friends. There are a few dramatic encounters and adventures along the way -- gods and murders -- but for the most part, it's not a particularly action-packed book, in my opinion. But that's okay. Actually, I liked that about it, but I am a complete sucker for the academic study of magic and the whole concept of magical university. It gets me every time.

Given the "university" setting you might think the characters are in their older teens, but they're not. It starts with Arram being eleven years old, although it covers several years and shows him growing up a lot. The tone matures with him, but I still occasionally felt it was pitched younger than the characters, at least stylistically -- the content wasn't childish. We also got to see him going through puberty in a level of detail I didn't think entirely necessary (seriously, why do we need to know about the first time he got an erection), but I guess for a younger audience a bit of sex ed never goes amiss...

As for his friends, well: Varice is a beautiful cinnamon roll, too good for this world. I liked her a lot, though I felt seeing her from Arram's perspective was quite limited and didn't allow her to shine as much as she might have done (maybe a future book will feature her more prominently?). We see her primarily as his friend, eventually with a romantic tint, rather than focusing on her as a mage in her own right, but I'd have liked to know more about her magic. Ozorne... I was not so attached to. He has this whole revenge thing going on because his dad was killed, but it manifests as prejudice and racism, and he's way too okay with slavery. Arram is basically the only one who isn't, which I can foresee causing conflict in later books, but it made it hard to like Ozorne as much as I might otherwise have done. He has redeeming features, but he's mostly just... frustrating.

As I mentioned, it's not exactly a page turner, and while several major plot threads were set up (including one relating to a crocodile god), they're not exactly resolved. In that sense, it felt very much like a first instalment rather than its own book, which of course is what it is, but it made the ending slightly less than satisfying. There's a cute bird called Preet whose storyline seemed at first like it might be the underlying plot, but it didn't exactly... GO anywhere, and while I'd be sad to see the back of Preet, I sort of wished at least one of these plot threads had been resolved.

Having said all that, I still enjoyed the book a lot. Because magic. And studying magic. And comparing techniques -- book magic vs more natural magic, academic magic vs folk magic... that's all stuff I'm a huge nerd about, and having a whole book that revolved more or less around that was great.
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This review appears on Goodreads and a modified version will be cross-posted to my blog next week.

Highlights

Friendship

Magic School!

Gods

Magical animals 

The Story

Its a slow moving story without much action, but at the same time its a great view into a world, it's magic and it's people.

We follow the main character through his first few years at a magical University where we quickly come to understand that his abilities are beyond normal levels. As he put it himself: he has become too odd to be bullied.

There is at least a few years of university that flies by without much content. But at the same time, the enjoyed being part of the progress from the start of uni to the upper academy levels to his independent studies and practices. I enjoyed exploring the magic and the world, and I didn't mind the lack of action.

Until the end.

I personally would have liked more action at the end. But hey! You can't have everything. 

World Building

This world was big, complex and fully formed. I was amazed by the gods and the way one spoke about them. The animals, the royals, the neighbouring countries, the many masters, the magic. It's all full of stuff that makes a diverse world.

Then I realised this book is set in the same world and features the same characters as one of the authors previous series - no wonder it's a well-developed world...

Magic System

Wow, this was complex! But it seemed to be the type of system where you had a certain level of gift/ability that belonged to you. If you used it too much it would wear you out. Also, it had gods with the ability to affect the world and its people which was fun and put a spin on things.

I liked that fact that the magic had limits but you didn't see much of it with Arram as his ability is so great. You only notice it when other comments on how he should be enough even though they normally would use two or three senior students. Or when Arran passes out from exhaustion 🤷‍♀️.

The Characters

There are three main characters; the main character and his two best friends. The story starts off with them being 11-13 years old and goes through puberty before ending with Arram being about 15-16 years old. I loved the friendship in the beginning. And I mean absolutely loved it. 9% into the book and my kindle highlight and comment is: "I love this friendship". 😂 Later on ,when they hit puberty, the friendship changes, as people normally change during this time. It becomes more focused on how to get a secure future.

Arram is the main character and it's his perspective we follow throughout the book. He is a great character, a bit naive but kind and caring, and with very amazing abilities.

Varice is the female of the friend group. She charms the others and she is the glue of the friends. 

Ozorne or Prince Ozorne is the rich friend if you like. He pays for a lot but he also is kind and a good friend. Arram learns a lot from him about being a man and about girls.

LGBT+?

Yes!

There is something extra sweet and special about middle-aged married m/m couple. It's just cuter than married f/f couple. It's cuter than a young married m/m couple. I don't know why I feel that way but there is just something special about it. It makes me happy.

Writing

It was great. After reading several self-published and debut authors, it was refreshing and comfortable to read something by a seasoned author. 

Summary

However, it felt more like a prequel than a first in a series. That might be due to the already existing sereies I didn't know it was a part of.

I will read the rest of the books in this series and continue on to the next series which is already out. In the meantime, I would pick up another book by the author as I loved he writing.

I was so excited when this book came up on NetGalley for me to read as the author is one of my daughter’s favourites. She may be a YA author but I really enjoyed the book and will have to read more after Tempests and Slaughter! The characters are built up through the book so that one learns to love them and wants to know what is going to happen in their futures. The story is set in a school for mages and the main character becomes good friends with two others. There is a similarity to Hogwarts and to Harry Potter and his friends but the story is very different. And if you liked HP, then you will like this book as well.

Tempests and Slaughter is the new series by Tamora Pierce, the book is already out in the states, but it is published in the UK on 20th September 2018. I have not read any of Tamora previous books, but I loved the sound of a fantasy book in a school setting.



Arram Draper is the youngest Mage in his class at the Imperial University of Carthak, he is on a journey to become the most powerful Mage the realm has even known. Arram has unlimited potential with his gift, but with his potential does have a habit of attracting danger.  Arram has two friends, also younger than the rest of the class. Varice is incredible clever but over looked due to the area of magic she wants to study. Ozorne is the left over prince, 8th in line to the throne, although he says he just wants to be a mage he has secret ambitions.

As Arram grows into his gift, Arram will have to decide what he will want to do after his education finishes, and what will this mean to his friendship with Varice and Ozorne.



I loved to book from the beginning, I found the world intriguing and the education of the Arram fascinating. I would love to go to Imperial University of Carthak and be taught how to be a Mage.

As I havent read any of Tamora previous books  I loved learning about the world as Arram is learning, you don't feel like you are missing out by not reading the other books.

Arram is a great character, but the character that sold the show was Preet. She is a bird left in  the care of Arram, so much personality for an animal that can not speak. I am not a bird person but I am a Preet person.  Another honourable mention is to Enzi the crocodile God.

Tamora Pierce has created such a magical world, once I found out her other books are sent in the same world, I knew I will need to read them, but I am sadly going to have to wait till I get my TBR pile down, before I add another 20+ books.

I give Tempests and Slaughter 5 out of 5.





Thank you to Harper Voyager for sending me an ARC of Tempests and Slaughter for a fair and honest review.

Wow! Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!
I'd never read anything by Tamora Pierce before reading this, and now I want to read her entire back catalogue asap, that's how much I loved this book!
Whilst this is set in the same universe as the Tortall books, it is definitely not necessary to have read those first - I hadn't and I don't feel it affected my reading of the novel at all.
It does feel a little bit that this book is setting the reader up for the rest of the novels, as it doesn't feel that any huge events occur, but it's clear there are many, many little events which are clearly foreshadowing things that will occur in future books. I'm normally an action kinda-girl, but the time the author spent on character development, the relationships between characters and the world-building made this book not need a massive amount of action. Having said that, there were still a number of times I found myself holding my breath in fear of what might happen & I shed a few tears as well! But that just proves what an impact it had on my - I don't have that kind of reaction without a true connection to the novel. This was also proven by the fact that I could barely put it down. The first night I read it, I was up until 3am reading it, just because I couldn't put it down!
Some people may compare it to Harry Potter, it's set in a magical school (university) with a friendship group of 2 boys and a girl, and an elderly Headmaster who seems to know everything and a creepy-ass teacher, who the reader develops suspicion of. But having said all of that, Tempests and Slaughter is actually completely different. There is no over-arching evil, although there are characters whose intentions & actions are very suspect. There are also terrible things which occur, but it's difficult to know who has caused them, and that creates the mystery aspect of the novel, which I really enjoyed!
Overall, I absolutely adored this novel & can't wait for the next one! I do hope we won't have to wait long! I highly, highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys fantasy & mystery.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley, in return for an honest review.

I'm super happy to read a new book by Tamora Pierce - it reminds me of everything I love about this genre, my reading childhood and I'm looking forward to the next book.

That being said, nothing happened. Lots of things were set up - information, plot points, relationships - but still, nothing happened! It seemed like everything was heading towards some kind of climax, but the end was very ... anticlimactic.

That being said, the series is set.