If Tamora Pierce wrote it, I'm reading it! Love her world building and character development!

I have no idea what this book was about. Seriously, it was a just a telling of the three friends going though school. Nothing really happened. I had hopes, as indicated by the blurb, that there would be romance and intrigue, but there was just years of them going to class and Arram being a bumbling student. The romance between him and Clarice literally happened in the last few pages of the book? I was not impressed with this book at all and I won't be continuing on with the series. The only reason I read it all was in the hopes of something exiting happening. It didn't. Not worth the time or the bother in my opinion.

Confession time: I've never read a Tamora Pierce book before. I knew that this was the first in a series, and I enjoyed Six of Crows without reading the revious series, so I decided to give it a go, and I was surprised by how much I liked it. I did look up the series that this is a prequel to, and it looks so interesting, so I'll definitely (if I get past my TBR) be reading more of Pierce's books in the future. Even though Tempests and Slaughter was, by all definitions, a slow and somewhat plotless book, I was very engrossed. Most of it was Arram, who is so sweet and kind and soft and such a great character that even though very little happened, I had to keep reading because he was so endearing. The book follows him and his two friends, Ozorne and Varice, though magic school; it really reminded me of reading In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan, which I also really liked. Both Arram and Ozorne were very well-developed; Varice a bit less so. The world-building was also so wonderful and it's clear that Pierce is a seasoned fantasy writer. Everything felt so real and magical and I'm fascinated by this world. I went in knowing next to nothing about the Tortall series and didn't feel lost at all, which is rare, because a) I'm a dumbass with a brain that doesn't enjoy working properly and gets confused very easily, and b) there are so many books in other series that I expected to be confused about the magic system and worldbuilding. I would say that this is a great introduction to Pierce's works for younger readers, though obviously I haven't read her other books myself.

3.5 I was pleased af to hear that there'd be another Tortall book coming out, seeing as I spent my childhood gorged on those books. So I decided to grab it, and honestly...her writing really does hold up. This was some good stuff. My one complaint was that...there wasn't a climax, really. It just kinda goes --> and goes --> and goes --> and then the story rolls gently to a stop. So yeah idk it was ok but I'm rating it probably a little higher than it deserves because nostalgia and stuff and I love Tamora Pierce what more can I say

** spoiler alert ** I was so excited that one of my favourite childhood authors had a new book out, and rushed to buy myself a hard copy right away. But I was really disappointed by this book. It just seemed so rushed, packing so many years of school into one book, missing out on the chance to flesh out a system of magic or any real kind of character development. The main character is very powerful with no explanation and very few flaws. There’s a clumsy love triangle between him and his two best friends, that ends obviously and with no satisfaction. This book is far below par for the magic I remember Tamora Pierce bringing to my early teens.

It was definitely interesting to read about the relationship between Arram and Ozorne before the Immortals quartet and the events leading up to their relationship then. However the book is kind of slow and not much happens that was able to greatly hold my interest. I continued reading because of my attachment to the characters and my curiosity as to their lives. I also feel like the the Immortal quartet gave a lot of their backstory so I knew about some of the characters and the relationships. Overall definitely worth the read if you've read the immortals quartet, if you haven't read those I would suggest reading them first.

It was lovely to return to Tortall (though really Carthak) after some years away. Arram (Numair) makes such a lovely companion.

Leuk verhaal. Maar geen plot meer een inleiding/ introductie...

As usual, I love Pierce's style of writing, I've grown up reading her books and never once have I tired of them. The only sad part is now I actually have to wait for the rest of the books to come out! It's exciting to get to know why Numair knew how to juggle, why he understood wild magic, plus learning the background of a few characters I had no idea would be in these books! Love it. :)