The Realms of the Gods

I have always had a deep affection for these books. Ever since I was a child, they have held a special place in my heart, and that love persists to this very day! They are truly a brilliant classic fantasy series that has the power to transport readers to magical worlds and engage their imaginations. The captivating stories, rich characters, and enchanting settings make these books a joy to read over and over again.

It's important to note that this review is solely intended as a recommendation. I kindly ask that you do not use it in any marketing material, whether online or in print, without first obtaining permission from me. Thank you for respecting this request!

Rewritten and expanded:

After careful consideration, the rating has been lowered to 2 stars.

The overall series rating stands at 3.25.

Tragically, Realms of the Gods was my least favorite installment in the Immortals quartet. I firmly believe that Cloud's absence was a significant factor. The plot truly lacked common sense.

Both Emperor Mage and Realms of the Gods seemed to struggle in terms of execution and characterization. While I still found many of the thematic elements in Emperor Mage enjoyable (especially Ozorne), the same cannot be said for the vast majority of Realms of the Gods. With the exception of the last two chapters, which returned to the action-driven roots of the series, this book felt disjointed and tonally inconsistent.

I also began to notice a certain... I'm not sure what to call it... Increased childishness perhaps? This was somewhat true in book three as well, as I noted in that review, but it was particularly evident in this one. Even with a child narrator who communicates with animals, books one and two had a high level of self-awareness, with well-crafted prose and a tone/plot that appealed to a wide range of ages.

However, book four's meandering quest through the Divine Realms - a plot device used rather transparently to push Daine and Numair together for romantic development - led to an almost cartoonish interlude in what should have been the most intense, battle-oriented novel of the series. We lost nearly all of the political scope of the plot to make way for some half-baked, out-of-the-blue drama with the Goddess of Chaos (who was never previously mentioned??) and the Great Gods. With so much else going on in the world, this felt unnecessary and lazy.

Every scene with Daine and her parents was almost cringe-worthy. In every other novel, Daine faces some sort of trial that challenges her understanding of the universe and her own power. This book should have seen Daine coming to terms with the circumstances of her own birth. Yet every scene with Weiryn falls completely flat. Daine refers to him easily and naturally as "Da," with little to no introspection about his place in her life, her long-held status as a bastard and orphan, or his total lack of involvement in her life until this point. The domestic scenes between the new goddess, Sarra, and her "mate" are pointless and frustratingly heteronormative. Neither character was developed well enough to deserve so much page time - which is really disappointing, as I was really looking forward to the Weiryn reveal and Daine's first meaningful interactions with her father.

Finally, the Daine/Numair romance - I didn't enjoy it at all, for several reasons.

First, Daine is simply too young. This is something I just can't overlook, and it could have been easily avoided by, for example, adding more time between installments or starting Numair out a few years younger/Daine a few years older. The decision to keep Daine young was a deliberate one, and one that I ultimately can't forgive. Making matters worse is the fact that - even though Daine is four years older in this book than in the first - her speech patterns and behavior remain largely the same, giving the strong impression of an undeniable child.

It's just... Gross, really.

Second, the romantic development was sparse and contrived. It simply didn't feel right to have Daine and Numair traveling together outside of the main battle. In fact, the romance would have developed more naturally if they had spent most of the book apart, fighting their common enemies in separate battles but still fearing and longing for each other.

Related to this, Daine experiences - once again - no internal conflict over her new romance with Numair, a man much older than her who has served as a mentor and teacher for years - both of which imply a power imbalance that required significant exploration on the page. But no such exploration occurs. Instead, we get a brief, matter-of-fact conversation about whether Numair just wants to sleep with her or not, after which Daine almost immediately accepts the idea of a romantic relationship with him, something she has never actively considered before.

Overall, it's a great disappointment for a series that I really enjoyed at the beginning.

Reread 2022:

This year has been an absolute delight when it comes to rereading. One particular experience that stands out is the joy I've had in rereading certain books. It's been so much fun! I find myself completely immersed in the stories, rediscovering the details and emotions that I might have overlooked before.

And there's one author in particular whose books I can't get enough of - Daine. Her works are simply captivating. I wish there were 18 more books by her! The characters she creates are so vivid and relatable, and the worlds she builds are full of wonder and excitement.

Rereading her books in 2022 has been a wonderful escape from the daily grind. It's allowed me to relax and lose myself in a world of imagination. I can't wait to see what the future holds for Daine and her amazing stories.

I truly hope that she continues to write and share her talent with the world. Because for me, her books are a treasure trove of entertainment and inspiration.

I just really didn't want this series to end.

The Song of the Lioness seemed to wrap up at a decent point, but my longing for more Daine was insatiable.

This final book truly showcased Pierce's remarkable writing prowess.

We witnessed her create some truly horrifying villains, like the Skinners.

There was also a captivating blend of politics and drama involving both Gods and Dragons.

Moreover, it presented one of the craziest final wars and most bloody final battles I've ever encountered in a middle grade book.

And all of this was enhanced by TP's signature humor, which often emerged right in the midst of the action, with lines like "I am fair vexated with you!"

I absolutely loved it and simply didn't want it to come to an end.

It was a literary adventure that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

The vivid characters, the thrilling plot, and the unique world-building all combined to make this a truly unforgettable series.

I can only hope that Pierce will one day return to this world and give us more of Daine's adventures.

Until then, I'll cherish the memories of this amazing series and continue to recommend it to others.

This quartet is probably my favorite of Tamora Pierce’s books.

It has always held a special place in my heart. Which is why I feel guilty giving this book only three stars.

I really wanted to rate it higher, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t as good as the previous three books.

The story seemed to lack the same level of excitement and charm that the earlier installments had.

Moreover, I felt largely unsatisfied with the conclusion.

It didn’t tie up all the loose ends in a way that I had hoped for.

Also, I didn’t love the fact that the main characters were kept away from all the action for most of the book.

It made it difficult for me to fully engage with their story and understand their development.

Despite these flaws, there were still some redeeming qualities to the book.

The writing was still solid, and Pierce’s world-building was as vivid as ever.

But overall, this book just didn’t live up to my expectations.

Editing note: For some unknown reason, when I initially wrote this review, I mistakenly used 'beaver' instead of 'badger' throughout. Likely because I've never actually seen a badger and have only a very vague idea of what one looks like. Anyway, here is the original review. Please mentally substitute the correct 'b' animals as appropriate, and I still stand by the rest of it.

I was on the verge of giving this book three stars. There are indeed several aspects that I truly liked. The origin of the darkings was quite interesting. Seeing all the dragons in the dragonlands was captivating. The good-guy stormwings, especially Rikash, whom I was sad to see die, added an emotional element. The badger god, who by this point in the series had become an old friend, was a nice touch. The addition of the platypus amused me, and the final battle between Ozorne and Daine was rather intense for a kids' series, considering the graphic descriptions of them tearing each other apart. Moreover, this book filled in a lot of the missing pieces from the Protector of the Small series and Trickster's series, which I read when they were first released and which remain some of my favorites in YA fantasy.

However, without these redeeming qualities, this book would have received no stars at all. It was a weak conclusion to what I already considered the weakest series set in the modern Tortall universe. As for the series, Daine is an extremely overpowered character who acquires new powers in every book. (I was able to overlook this in Emperor Mage because the concept of wrecking a palace with reanimated dinosaur skeletons was truly awesome, and she lost those powers at the end of that book. But even without that, it still seems excessive.) Daine also appears to have the least complex internal monologue among all the Tortall heroines, making it difficult to define her character clearly most of the time. I initially enjoyed the idea of the immortals returning to the human world and the potential war with Carthak, but I think it was ultimately wasted.

That being said, regarding this book specifically: first, I believe taking the story to the Divine Realms was a poor decision. Simply deciding that this installment should be about 'the Realm of the Gods' was not the right way to tie up the loose ends.

The Goddess of Chaos plot device seemed to come out of nowhere, was overdone, and rather boring. It was never mentioned before and will likely never be mentioned again. It felt like a cheap attempt to increase the stakes and make the book more interesting. As if the fact that Tortall and its allies are being overrun by monsters and all of its enemies (the Copper Isles, Scanra, Carthaki factions) have chosen to attack simultaneously (which was actually somewhat interesting) wasn't enough, it is revealed that if they fail to defeat all of this, all of the gods will be destroyed and then the universe will end. And to drive this point home, instead of witnessing the battles with monsters or foreign enemies alongside the characters we know and care about, we are shown the gods standing around in circles, throwing light at each other! Many times! How exciting! (Not really.)

While I admit that Daine probably had to meet her parents at some point in the series, staying at their house for a while and having a few days of chatting to somehow reconcile Daine to her mother's brutal murder and her deadbeat father being a God was again dull and unsatisfying. And the Hercules-like choice she had to make at the end didn't seem like much of a choice at all: become a god and stay with your mom, whom you barely know anymore, and your dad, whom you just met and who left you thinking you were a bastard your entire childhood, or return to everything you know and love and have fought for the last four years? Especially after Daine spent the whole book trying to leave the Divine Realms? It seemed contrived that Daine even had to think hard about it.

The journey through the realms of the gods could have been interesting, but it wasn't. It moved from scene to scene and encounter to encounter far too quickly. It was like being on a tour bus, sitting in an inside seat in a crowded city, going a little too fast. On your right, the bridge of doom, oh wait, we passed it safely. On your left, the lake of temptation, hope you don't drown. Up ahead, the crocodile god, blink and you'll miss him. There he goes. I hope those suspicious rocks on the left don't kill you. Well, you miraculously survived that fall off a cliff to escape them. And up ahead, the Sea of Sands desert-of-death that we've been hyping up throughout this whole trip, but we're out of time, folks. So maybe look down at it from your airplane as you leave this city (or, as it turns out, fly over it with stormwings, because I guess Pierce couldn't figure out any other way to get through that one). Hope you had a nice tour.

And finally, regarding the complaints about the divine realms, introducing the Gods more actively into the story led to one deus ex machina after another. The skinners, which could have been really cool if developed further (pardon the pun)? Daine and Numair are saved from them by her parents, and then they're dealt with by the badger god. The four horsemen of the apocalypse, also known as the three sorrows being unleashed? Handled by the platypus god. The darking spies? Taken care of by the badger god (he's probably the real MVP of this series). The Sea of Sands? Circumvented by stormwing. That feared Copper Isles relief fleet headed for Port Legann? Dispatched by dragons. (Again. A bit repetitive after the dragon aid to their attacking fleet problem in book one.) Daine, out of magic and near death after being shredded by Ozorne and about to face our new Chaos Goddess one-on-one? Don't worry, she's literally picked up by the gods again, Chaos is dealt with by them, she's healed by them, and sent back home. After they remove the worst of the monsters from the mortal realms. The main characters are mostly not involved in this or are just stumbling around, hoping nothing kills them, until the Daine/Ozorne shredding battle. Well, Numair has a battle with a mage who is extremely powerful and apparently plucked out his own eye to sacrifice it to gain even more power. But this happens off screen.

Putting all of that aside, my second major issue with this book (and to some extent, Emperor Mage) is Daine's relationship with Numair. She's sixteen in this book and fifteen in Emperor Mage. He's thirty or thirty-one, something like that. He's known her and been her teacher since she was twelve or thirteen. That alone is rather creepy. But it gets worse. I could perhaps excuse the age difference in this setting if it weren't for the rest of it. Sixteen seems to be the age of consent in Tortall. In real historical medieval marriages, they could be legally binding in canon law as long as the 'woman' avowed it when she was over the age of twelve. Margaret Beaufort was thirteen when she gave birth to King Henry VII. But Numair is in a position of trust over Daine. He's her teacher, and in most ways, seemingly her guardian in the earlier books. And there's no build-up to it on her part. She seems to view him as a beloved mentor, friend, and companion until this book, and then suddenly she's swept away by being in love with him when she finds out he's in love with her. On his part, though: in Emperor Mage, he goes around threatening her potential romantic interests with violence, despite her distinct and vocal objections. Then, the way she finds out he's in love with her in this book: she discovers he keeps a heart-shaped locket hidden under his clothes... with her painted miniature in it... which he had done in secret... six months before... and a lock of her hair, which he cut and kept without her permission or even telling her... while she was apparently deathly ill and unconscious. Which is just so creepy to me. Who thinks: hmm, my secret object of interest is so ill they're no longer conscious... time to take souvenirs for my hidden love locket!? Pierce tries to excuse all this by saying Numair is immature for his age and that everything Daine has been through has made her more mature, so the mental difference isn't that great. But I don't think 'well, he has poor social skills and trauma has forced Daine to grow up before her time, so a relationship with a man twice her age is totally okay' is a good enough excuse.

Actually, I have a problem with Pierce and this trope in general because this isn't the first time. I read the Alanna series as a child, and a lot of the grown-up stuff just went over my head. I never re-read it until recently because it didn't capture my imagination the way the Protector of the Small series and the Trickster duet did when I was a bit older. But re-reading it as an adult, I was really disappointed in Alanna's relationship with Jonathan, especially since I didn't remember it happening at all from my childhood reading. The age difference wasn't huge; Jonathan is only three or four years older than Alanna. But it starts when Jonathan is Alanna's knight master when she's a squire, which again, is a position of trust. And Jonathan also initiates the interest in the relationship and is creepily possessive, with the added bonus of having pushy and controlling mood swings. If this happened to a friend of mine in real life, I'd be telling them to run away from that relationship as fast as they could because it reeks of emotional abuse. I found it doubly disappointing because it now colors how I see Jonathan in everything else with undertones of an abusive and controlling teenage boyfriend, and it also colored my re-readings of Squire in the Protector of the Small series. When I first read Squire, I found the implications that Kel might have an affair with her knight master insulting and sexist on the part of the people making those suggestions. But then I discovered that Alanna, the only other female knight in centuries, did just that, with their current King - the guy authorizing the return of female knights - no less. And now I can't help but think, well, I guess those people had a point, didn't they?

But this is getting rather long and slightly off-topic. So let's just say that this book would have been much better if it was essentially an entirely different book, but with the few cool things in it incorporated in a different way.

Soo.... let me defend myself here please....

Definitely there are parts of this book that are, upon re-reading, rather dubious. Especially when it comes to the romance aspect. However, I simply can't help but love this series. It's quite unfortunate that it chemically altered my brain because I read it at the impressionable age of around 13. Now, it has become incredibly easy for me to overlook these obvious shortcomings. Regrettably, Numair is probably the blueprint for every single one of my childhood crushes, and I guess I have to live with that fact.

Anyways, let's move on to the prequel book!

This prequel holds a lot of promise. I'm eager to see how it fills in the gaps and expands on the story. Will it provide more depth to the characters and their relationships? Or will it introduce new elements that will further enhance the overall narrative? Only time will tell, but I'm excited to find out.

I'm sure that, despite any potential flaws, this prequel will still have that same charm and allure that made me fall in love with the original series in the first place.

First of all, I have to say that I really don't like the concept of taking the two key people in the war away from the war entirely for the majority of the book.

Of course, during this time, they learn some vital information, but still, it just doesn't sit well with me.

Secondly, the pacing of this book is extremely wacky. They keep jumping between different places, acquiring allies and enemies as if it is just a necessary part of the plot, rather than a coherent and organic storytelling.

Thirdly, and this is much more important, Daine is only sixteen years old while Numair is thirty-one. I couldn't care less about the age of consent in a nonexistent fantasy land. I simply do not like this age difference.

I do not like it at all.

Basically, this series is just too scattered for my taste. I only appreciate it a little bit because it fills some holes in the Kel series. Otherwise, it's a big nope for me. Not in a train, not in a tree, and definitely not anywhere else.

It's just not the kind of series that I can fully enjoy.