Skip to main content

Tortall and Other Lands


Tortall and Other Lands is a collection of short stories from the fantasy Queen herself: Tamora Pierce.

There are thousands of reader's out there that recognize this name as being their favorite author. She has written the Alanna series as well as many more books that have continued to exist in the magical kingdom of Tortall. People can't get enough - and for good reason!

We get an even more intimate peek into this intricately woven medieval land and its smaller, but no less fascinating, stories with six tales taking place in Tortall, some of which feature cameos of well-known characters. We also get four stories not set in Tamora's beloved Tortall - two are in historical periods but take plan in unknown towns, one in an anonymous desert, and one even takes place in modern-day New York. Plus, we get a bonus story that isn't even a fantasy at all!

That means Tortall and Other Lands provides us with ten short stories to sweep you away and tickle your imaginations!

Now, I personally haven't read nearly as much Tamora Pierce as I'd like. All I've read is Trickster's Choice, which I though was amazing with its masterful plotting, slow burn, and meaty setting and characters. I purchased Trickster's Queen and have long been dying to read it - but still haven't. It's one of those situations book reviewers get in, where so many exciting books are coming your way that you want to read and need to review, that a book you bought sits on the shelf waiting patiently for you to have a spare few days to read it - and those spare few days haven't come. So, when one of the stories came up in my reading - Nawat - I was immediately horrified by the idea of spoilers for Trickster's Queen - and spoilers it did indeed contain! So, I quickly skipped over that one story - I felt full disclosure was necessary here. I did not read Nawat.

But what I did read was every other story in Tortall and Other Lands. And I am still stunned by how real Tamora Pierce makes Tortall and, well, the other lands! Her writing is so detailed and you just feel like she knows these places inside and out - it is quite something.

These are intelligent, mythical, feminist-bent fantasy stories that fulfill the mind as well as the page. Each one is excellent, but some of my favorites in the collection are The Dragon's Tale, Lost, and Elder Brother.

Some of the tales are adorable, some are funny, some touching - but all of them are empowering. It's a great collection that deserves to sit proudly beside your other Tamora Pierce novels!

***ALERT: Due to continued bibliophile reading overdosing, I am continuing the 5 reviews a week through August. After that, I am absolutely returning to only 3 reviews a week in September and on. So, we'll just think of this as a summer special! Thanks for reading!!!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

First Step: Admit You Have a Problem

Hi fellow Bibliophiles! I have been rather neglectful to this blog... instead continuing to stay buried in a book as I have during the holidays. I'm hopeful that most of you have been doing this too and can easily accept my apology. Have I been reading? Um, yeah! (Translation: duh.) Just haven't been able to pull myself away long enough to actually WRITE about what I'm reading. Lol. But that's me, a bibliophile, an addict, an addict who's fallen off the wagon and fully embraced her love of reading - especially with all this free time to do so!!! I've also been watching awesome holiday movies, eating yummy, but bad-for-me, food and hanging out with the people I love best! You too? I hope! ;) Anyway, I will return with a new book review next week, most likely on Monday or Tuesday. Thanks for your patience and keep reading!!!

Promotion Celebration for Maximum Ride!!!

Do you love the series Maximum Ride ? How about James Patterson? Are you a huge fan of action-packed books? Well, I’m thrilled to bring to you an opportunity to stock up on some awesome reading!!! ENTER TO WIN A SET OF JAMES PATTERSON PAGETURNERS! MAXIMUM RIDE – IF SHE LIVES, THE WORLD LIVES, IT’S THAT SIMPLE. Read “MAX” - the newest book in the bestselling Maximum Ride series. On sale in paperback 09/01/09! Still reeling from their most recent adventure, Maximum Ride and the rest of the flock must head out to sea to uncover the secret behind a brand new series of disasters—fish are dying off the coast of Hawaii, hundreds of ships are being destroyed. As if that weren’t enough, they’re also being tracked by a criminal mastermind with, oh yeah, an army of mercenaries. Can the flock save themselves and the ocean, and the world, from utter destruction? Now for the rules : The Maximum Ride: Max Promotion is open to legal US residents who are at least 13 years of age as of August 24, 200

Author Q & A - Jan Eldredge Stops By!

Next Wednesday y'all will be getting my oh-so-humble opinion of Evangeline of the Bayou , the Summer 2018 Kids' Indie Next List selection! (That means it was picked via booksellers at independent bookstores countrywide.) Until then, I have a Q&A with the Louisiana born and raised author herself: Jan Eldredge! (Don't forget to come back next week for my review!!) A Conversation with JAN ELDRIDGE Author of Evangeline of the Bayou 1) The glossary in the back of the book is so helpful! Where did you learn about all these creatures? Which creature from the book is your favorite? I have a small, but growing, collection of books about mythical creatures around the world. If I couldn’t find what I was looking for there, I researched library books, online websites, and the occasional documentary. Something that really surprised me as I started learning more about mythical monsters was the number of different cultures that share very similar