Customer Reviews (4)

Two thumbs up.
Tamora Pierce's YA novels are all spectacular, the Protector of the Small quartet included.I was quite happy to get back to Tortall.The omnibus edition takes up less space on the shelf than individual books would, so that's a plus, and the hardcover will hold up better than paperback, as I re-read these books regularly.

Fantastic read
While many of Pierce's novels have main characters who have special abilities, Kel is one of the few that serve as rolemodels a girl could achieve since no special power is needed. Great story. Good to see a continuation of the existing characters from previous books.

Great Fantasy Series
This is a wonderful fantasy series, with this particular group of books focusing on Keladry of Mindelen, who aspires to be a knight of Tortall. This shouldn't be a problem since it has been ten years since the kingdom proclaimed that girls could enter knight training, however, Kel is the first girl to actually do so.

Each book takes us through a year of Kel's training, from probationary page up through knighthood. During the first book, Kel has to contend with the hostility of the other trainees and the instructors who object to her simply because she is a girl. Kel has to be as good as, or better than her classmates to prove that she is entitled to the training.

However, Kel gradually wins respect from the other students, and from the trainers. She also has a mysterious benefactor who sends her expensive gifts that assist her in her training, and she discovers in herself a gift for communicating with small creatures.

Kel also gains admiration and respect for her courage and for her protection of those who cannot protect themselves. Her strength of character and her willingness to not give up on those under her protection make her an admirable character, and a good role model for young adults.

This series of books is admirable in producing a series of strong female role models for girls to read about and emulate. Keladry of Mindelen is another good, strong character, and this group of books in the series is a "can't put it down" type of read.

I loved these!!!
I am reading this series for the third time right now. They are great! I love them. Tamora Pierce books are so great!! She is my favorite author!!

In this book: It has been 10 years since it was allowed for girls to become knights, and the first KNOWN girl page in over a century is Keladry of Mindelan, the Protector of the Small. Kel used to live in the Yamani Isles, and learned some forms of fighting there. Her mother and father helped secure an alliance between the Yamani Isles and Tortall. Kel is the 4th child in her family to become a Tortallan knight (her three older brothers have already been knighted.). Kel finds out that it takes a lot to prove that she is as good, or better than the boys when they refuse to except her. 4 thrilling tales of the hard life of a probationary page, a page, a squire, and a young knight.

For more thrilling tales of Tortall women heroes read the other Tortall boooks by Tamora Pierce (They are in this order):

1.The Song of the Lioness Quartet (Alanna: the First Adventure, In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman who Rides like a Man, & Lioness Rampant.)-About Alanna of Trebond, the first woman knight in a century.

2.The Immortals series (Wild Magic, Wolf Speaker, Emporer Mage, & In the realms of the Gods)-About Veralidaine Sarrasri (Daine), the wild mage

3.Protector of the Small (First Test, Page, Squire, & Lady Knight)-about Keladry of Mindelan (Kel), the first KNOWN woman knight in over a century

4.Daughter of the Lioness (Trickster's Choice & Trickster's Queen)-about Alianne of Pirate's Swoop (Ali), a spy who is the daughter of Alanna ... Read more

Product Description
During a dire battle against the fearsome Skinners, Daine and her mage teacher Numair are swept into the Divine Realms. Though happy to be alive, they are not where they want to be. They are desperately needed back home, where their old enemy, Ozorne, and his army of strange creatures are waging war against Tortall. Trapped in the mystical realms Daine discovers her mysterious parentage. And as these secrets of her past are revealed so is the treacherous way back to Tortall. So they embark on an extraordinary journey home, where the fate of all Tortall rests with Daine and her wild magic. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (9)

Love it!
I love this art book! Amy Brown is brilliant. You can look through her stuff over and over and never get tired of it!

Another Great book By Amy Brown
Though I like the first book Better....This one is good...again big pictures..which I love...more earth tones in coloring....im still giving it 5 stars..I like having both books to look threw...B.W.

Review
I am a fan of Amy Brown and I have this book and the first one.I like having so much of her art in both of them. If you like Amy Brown you'll like this book.

beautiful work
Amy Brown is such a talented artist. ANY fairy enthusiast is going to LOVE her work. Especailly in the 2nd book, her choice of colors is magnificent.

The Art of Amy Brown- GREAT!!!
The Art of Amy Brown is a great book, All the pictures of fatires and etc.. are perfect. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in her art. ... Read more

Product Description
Tamora Pierce is a prolific and very unusual modern master of fantasy for young adults and the first such author to appear regularly on the New York Times bestseller lists. The four books making up The Immortals are the 5th–8th (of 15) novels set in Tortall, and introduce the ‘Wildmage’, Veralidaine Sarrasri, who appears in most later novels in the Tortall series.

Each book in the Sightlines series is designed to enable readers to appreciate in much greater depth than usual the richness of fine examples of genre fiction. The Notes in this book cover Tamora Pierce’s life and work; the world of Tortall (including the geography, cast, and neighbouring cultures); the strange menagerie of immortal creatures who may be friend or foe; and the pantheon of interfering multicultural god/desse/s. The well-illustrated Annotations pay special attention to the many animals who feature, cultural and historical references, and the major thematic issues that develop throughout the quartet. Wild Magic, Wolf-Speaker, The Emperor Mage, and The Realms of the Gods are all covered on a chapter-by-chapter basis, and there is a link to the deleted chapter of The Emperor Mage (in which Daine heals a poisoned camel). The Essay compares The Immortals with its successor quartet, Protector of the Small, for both the brave teenage heroines have a particular and very educational relationship with Pierce’s greatest fantasy-beasts, the amazing (and amazingly smelly) Stormwings. The Bibliography has a section detailing works about ‘Tamora Pierce and Children’s Writing’.

John Lennard is an independent scholar and editor of Fairleigh Dickinson University's online journal Exploring Globalization. His books include 'Of Modern Dragons and other essays on Genre Fiction' (HEB, 2007) and 'Of Sex and Faerie: further essays on Genre Fiction' (2010), both of which are available in the Kindle Store and in paperback from the Humanities-Ebooks shop window on Troubador.co.uk. ... Read more

Product Description

Tamora Pierce has a large following of teen and adult readers, who savor her fantasy novels with strong female characters. This volume provides her readers and fans with additional insights into her life and work. The first section provides a biographical chapter and literary heritage. The second and third sections analyze the Tales of Tortall and the Magic Circle Sagas as a whole, providing details into the characters and settings of each. The final section of the book, Perspectives, includes both a section on literary techniques along with an interview of Tamora Pierce herself. Appendices include a section on Power Female Heroes, and Fantasy Adventures.

Novels include: *The Song of the Lioness Quartet *The Immortals Quartet *The Protector of the Small Quartet *The Trickster Duology *The Magic Circle Quartet *The Circle Opens Quartet *The Will of the Empress

Product Description
Brought to Winding Circle Temple, a place of learning and magic, because of their unique gifts, four misfit children prepare to battle evil forces, in the first of a four-part series by the author of the Immortals and the Song of the Lioness series." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (115)

Yaaaaaawwwn
This is my first Tamora Pierce book...and probably my last.It starts out great.A shipwreck.A trial.Mysterious weather patterns.And a hopelessly trapped girl.But chapter by chapter the book get more and more boring.The conflict starts to feel tacked on instead of exciting.And I swear that half of this book is about the main characters learning proper meditation techniques.Now I don't need all my fantasy to have epic battle against evil overlords, but I need some conflict.Even what slim inner conflicts the characters have in treated with the depth of a puppet show, and the social interactions are no better.

Read the first chapter.Maybe the second.Then stop.There's nothing worth reading after that.

A great read!
Even though I don't fit the recommended age anymore, I still love reading and re-reading this incredible book, and the others in the series. I'm not a big fan of Tamora Pierce usually, I love her books about these 4 incredible mages.
She tells the story with enchanting language and vivid description, and hooks you in with the first chapter. Each child's sad story is presented realistically, with no sugarcoating, and each book gets better and better. I would recommend that every parent with children interested in fantasy or arts and crafts pick these books up today!

The Place to Start
If you are interested in reading the "Circle of Magic" series by Tamora Pierce then I believe that this is the book to start with as each one builds on the previous. The book is good for an audience as young as elementary school although people well into their seventies will love it just as much. It focuses its attentions on the adventures of a group of young ambient mages that meet for the very first time and must learn how to deal with working with one another even when they have all, well, not gotten along with anyone.

Tamora Pierce is an excellent author whose work has an enormous following of people desiring a literary dream full of magic and tenacity even when life might not be going so well. Her characters are always well-rounded but yet very familiar as if the reader has known them all their life. A fantastic recommendation as a present for a boy or girl who likes to read (just don't expect to see them until they are done reading!)

Sandry's Book Reveiw
I loved this book. It combines the perfect mixture of magic/fantasy, friendship, adventure and the importance of working together. I gave it 4 stars because it was kind of hard to understand in the beggining. But don't give up! It has the best ending you could hope for!

The Immortals... Immortaly remember by me
Ok! People, I didn't want to read the book at all. My grandma made me read two pages of the first book, Wild Magic, in Chapeter 7. I thought they were boring, but since it was the whole series or nothing, I decided I wanted the whole series because I love books. I never thought I would practically be a laughing hyena over some parts, and a crying over the sad parts! Anyway, I loved the series, and ever since I read them I named my self Daine, Alanna, or Veralidaine Sarrasri everytime I played a computer game like that! Although the 4th book did leave me with a few questions.... ... Read more

Product Description
Sandry's Book, Tris's Book, Daja's Book and Briar's Book ... Read more