Few things in the world are better than a good book. I might even give up chocolate for a book if I had to choose between them. But if I had to choose between all of the books I’ve read so far, I’d have to narrow my top choices down to the works of a single author.
Although I love many genres, my favorite books usually have adventures and magical creatures, and no one does adventure and magic quite like my fave: Tamora Pierce.
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When I was a kid, I had the chance to meet Tamora Pierce at a local bookstore. My mom, sister, and I were all great fans, so we were beyond thrilled to have her sign our books. (I even had a brief conversation with her about math—more specifically, my math skills and her fear of math.)
The main audience for her books is young adults, as most of her books are coming-of-age stories. But, her books are fantastic for everyone!
Pierce’s books are set in two fictional universes: the Tortall universe and the Emelanese universe. Each of the Tortall series is centered on one character: Beka Cooper, Alanna of Treebond, Daine Sarasri, Keladry, and Ali. I have read the Alanna and Daine series so many times that I almost have some lines memorized!
I love each series very much; the adventures, magic/fighting lessons, characters, and friendships are all really fun to read about and watch develop.
There is plant, weather, metal, and thread magics in the Emelan world and the students study at the Winding Circle temple. At first, they learn together and then they separate for more advanced learning and even take on their own students.
Of all the characters, I really admire Alanna—a tough, smart girl who wants to be a warrior maiden but must learn to control her magic. Along the way to gaining knighthood, she fights old gods, battles Roger of Conte, and serves the Goddess. However, throughout her training, she must hide her gender because females are not allowed to train as knights; only a few people know the truth about her throughout her journey. But once she earns her shield as a knight, she reveals who she is.
However, I can relate more to Daine, an orphan with wild magic (she can speak to animals). She is shy, smart, and loves animals. After her home burns down, she joins Corus—a horse merchant taking horses to the capital of Tortall. She joins up with the royal guards and gains a teacher in someone named Numair Salmalin. Over the course of four books, she makes lots of friends (both animal and human), learns magic, and saves her friends.
And now Pierce has started a new series about Numair (Daine’s teacher), or as he was known back in school, Arram Draper. Trust me, I am so excited to immerse myself in the world of Tortall once more and you need to get reading so you can enjoy this new novel, too!