Tempests and Slaughter

Fans of Tamora Pierce will be glad to know Tempests and Slaughter has finally hit the shelves. The long-awaited backstory for the beloved character Numair Salmalin, aka Arram Draper, focuses on the mage’s earliest years at the University for Mages in Carthak where he struggles to control his burgeoning power and make friends at the same time. He finds himself tapped for more and more advanced classes alongside two other students, Ozorne and Varice, and we follow the three of them through their studies as the empire around them loses heirs left and right, leaving Ozorne much closer to the throne than previously expected.

While I thoroughly enjoyed seeing many of my favorite characters and villains from the Tortall world as young students or slightly younger adults, I also found myself feeling like the novel was lacking when it came to plot. There is a lot going on in the realm of Carthak, and Arram finds himself in the middle of empire politics whether he wants to be or not, but there isn’t an easily identifiable through-line to the story. Instead, it functions more as a series of short vignettes as Arram grows into some of his power. The novel does feel like a set-up for larger arc-plot through the planned three-book series, so hopefully the sequel will help to draw some of the disparate elements together into a more cohesive whole down the line.