#emperor mage

[onetobeamupart]

Daine the Wild Mage of the Immortals quartet, the original blorbo.

[theroguequeenaniki]

The fact the Tortallans walked STRAIGHT into Ozorne's trap, because that is EXACTLY what these "peace talks" were. Brought Numair, Daine, and Skysong on a silver platter. When LITERALLY in the last book, Tristan was instructed to bring Ozorne Numair and Skysong, and kill Daine if he needed to. Like, I get that Jonathan's like "No, we need peace at all costs" but, like, the set up for this book is so stupid when you really think about it.

[e-b-reads]

Books of the Month: March 2026

Very amused to find that my first/middle/last books of March were all obscure enough that StoryGraph doesn't have any cover art for them. Makes for a very mysterious graphic. I read some books in March. Anyway here's my books of the month! (As always, these are books that made me spend time thinking about them in some kind of positive way, for what could be a variety of reasons.)

The Works of Vermin (Hiron Ennes): Posted about this here after I finished it! Ennes was really going for a specific sort of vibe (and message) with this setting, and they did a great job. It's like...the fine line between the fuzz of velvet and the fuzz of mold, or the smell of perfume vs. the smell of rotting fruit (since perfume is pretty important here!). I also enjoyed the trickiness of the plot. I don't think I'll reread anytime soon, but I think it would be a good one for a reread, knowing more about where all the characters end up.

Emperor Mage (Tamora Pierce): I continue to enjoy rereading this series, though I still think book 2 was my favorite. (So far; will be rereading book 4 shortly). However, I do love Daine and the dinosaurs and how wild magic is kind of the power of (extreme) friendship. Also, I am waiting to see how I feel about Daine and Numair getting together while reading this as someone around Numair's age (instead of around Daine's age, as when I first read the series) but the whole "thought you died so I went on a rampage" is really classic and I like that for them.

The Case of the Blond Bonanza (Erle Stanley Gardner): I read several Perry Mason books early in the month, which I wrote about here. I do enjoy them. This one might not be for everyone but it is kind of fascinating. First off, Perry joins Della for a vacation day at the beach, which is a nice little moment for them. But also, they're drawn into the mystery because of a young woman who is being paid to put on weight, apparently to become a new plus-sized type of model, contrary to fashion norms of the time (1962 publishing date). In the end, this contract to put on weight is a blind for other sleazy legal stuff unrelated to looks, but it's an interesting little look back at the beauty standards and some challenges to them. (Especially in the present day where I just heard an ad for diet pills on the radio. C'mon y'all I thought we were past that.)

Stargazy Pie (Victoria Goddard): Greenwing and Dart! These are fun! I read the first two, and I wanted to keep going, but then felt like I should go back and read Hands of the Emperor, so I'm currently working on that. There will definitely be more Goddard books on future lists. Really enjoying the adventures in/around Ragnor Bella. I love Mrs. Etaris.

Slippery Staircase (E. C. R. Lorac): This one is just on the list for me. Continuing to use my university ILL privileges to read all the first edition Inspector Macdonald mysteries I can get my hands on. Interestingly, since I've read everything that has been reissued and am now working my way through stuff that only got published once, I can kind of see some of the decision-making that may have been at play; these definitely aren't always as good as the books that got reissued! But I'm enjoying them. This one has a very complex solution to a seemingly simple murder of pushing an old lady down some stairs.

[paperclips09]

I followed a forest tutorial on YouTube and decided to go the extra mile and add Diane and Numair’s weapons into the scene!

Love how it turned out!

[arokel]

Here's what's been weighing on my mind for the past few days:

We know that dinosaurs once existed in Tortall and elsewhere, as evidenced by the Hall of Bones in Emperor Mage. We also know that some of those dinosaur fossils are (what we in real world would consider) very clear transitional species between birds and dinosaurs - I'm thinking specifically of Bonedancer being an archaeopteryx.

So, the big question: did evolution happen in the Tortall universe? And if so, how does that square with the concept of "firsts" in the realms of the gods (e.g. the First Pack)? It's my understanding that the first horse is not a god in the same way as, say, Broadfoot is, so maybe it's a bit like Greek heroes going up to Olympus after they die?

It's also interesting that the gods themselves are rarely (if ever?) described as creator gods, and while some creatures such as Stormwings have an origin myth, the religion we see in the series doesn't seem very focused on how humans or any other mortals came to be. Could just be Pierce sidestepping a tricky subject, but I think it would be compelling if her characters were in fact wrestling with the nature of human origins in a world where the gods are very present in everyday life.

A second, smaller question I have is that, since the Hall of Bones also has permafrost mammoths, does that mean there was an ice age 20 million years ago in Tortall too? And if the dinosaurs were killed by a "god's mistake" as the Badger said, does that mean there was no asteroid? How do the Old Ones from TFA fit into all this?

Much to think about.

[boymenagerie]

I constantly think about Varice Kingsford’s breakdown during the climax of Emperor Mage. I love the character building and I love how Daine literally could not give less of a single shit. As far as Daine is concerned her teacher and best friend was just killed while she was locked in a dungeon and now her only goal is to destroy everything in sight. And when she stumbles upon Varice having a breakdown in the fucking pantry going “So what if I like being a cook who likes pretty dresses and fancy parties and being noble?? Is that so bad???” Daine is just like “0_0 .… so, are you gonna move or be stomped to death by my skeleton dinosaur?” Any jealousy that she may or may not have felt toward Varice at any point simply did not matter at all whatsoever in that moment because she had a palace to destroy godsdamnit!!

[raoulgoldenlake]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Went really long on some fic about Lindhall Reed’s objection to slavery, Ozorne’s reaction to that, and how opposition can make people even stronger in their convictions, with a dash of hurt/comfort. Set in some amorphous time between Tempests and Slaughter and Emperor Mage.

[morphmaker]

The Immortals No. 8: The Fossils Unionized