| Title: Terrier |
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| Author: Tamora Pierce |
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| Genre: Fantasy |
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| Publisher: Random House |
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| Elements: Police procedural |
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| Series: Book 1 of The Legend of Beka Cooper series |
Alanna: How do I begin to explain a Tamora Pierce book?Beka Cooper is a rookie with the Provost's Guard, and she's been assigned to the Lower City. It's a tough beat, but Beka can hear the voices of the dead on the wings of pigeons, and Beka's birds clue her in to two major murderers on the loose. The rest of the Guard is busy investigating the fire opal killer, so it's up to Beka to nab the Shadow Snake.
Tamora Pierce begins a new Tortall trilogy introducing Beka Cooper, a young woman who lived 200 years before Pierce's popular Alanna character. Pierce employs first-person narration, bringing readers even closer to a character that they will love for her unusual talents and tough personality.
Daine: A Tamora Pierce book is flawless.
Kel: I hear the font type's insured for $10,000.
Aly: I hear it does book trailers... in Japan.
Sandry: Its favorite movie is Joan of Arc.
Tris: One time it met J.K. Rowling on a plane...
Daja: And she told it it was pretty.
Briar: One time it punched me in the face... it was awesome.
Oh heck yeah, characters! I am so with you on that. I love Tamora Pierce's books. Having been introduced to Alanna when I was 9, ten years later I've gone on to read almost all of her books that I can get my hands on. All of her books feature primarily strong female characters with a strong motivation and drive to get what they want despite the cost, whatever the situation is.
TERRIER takes us back into the land of Tortall, 200 years before Alanna was first introduced to us. The focus is on the Provost's Guard, and how it comes to have such a reputation during Alanna's time, playing a big part in events then.
Lest you think it's just a prologue, TERRIER can stand up on its own as a story. Existing readers will have a great time delving into the history of Tortall, but new readers can also use this as a starting point to Pierce's books.
Tortall in Beka's world is gritty and a bit uncivilized. Death is rampant in the streets, especially so for Beka's case, having the power to hear the dead on her pet pigeons. I love the connection and loyalty Beka has to her pet; it's rare that pets play a big part in the story without something supernatural attached to them. Yeah, the birds do carry the voice of the dead, but other than that they're just normal pigeons.
Beka is a workaholic, determined to prove to herself and to others that she can make it in the Guard, and despite that she still has a social life. Sometimes Beka has the echoes of a Mary Sue, but the story is plot and character driven enough that it only shows up in the barest of flashes.
Despite the adventure and the love I have for all things TP, I can't help but feel slightly disappointed that it's not as good as I hoped it was. The whole plot seems a little tired, and I don't feel the same magic I did with the other four story arcs in the Tortallan universe. The wide range of believable supporting characters is always something that I look forward to, even though at times it seems that their only purpose is to get Beka to the conclusion.
Nevertheless! It's a good story, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the sequels. Let's hope it'll blow me over in its awesomeness.
Ooo great review. I hadn't heard of this one :)
ReplyDeleteI love Tamora's Song Of The Lioness series best, though I haven't read all her other series (some, but not all). Beka Cooper is a different feel - and I'm not sure if that's because of the lack of magic and knights (or a small mention of either). Who knows. I liked Terrier well enough... I think I like its sequel Bloodhound better.
ReplyDeleteLoved your dialogue between Tamora's characters! :)
I bought this one, read the first 2 chapters and had to put it down...and sadly I have never read a TP book before.
ReplyDelete