Review: Emperor Mage

Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce

(spoilers for the previous books in the series!)

Sent to Carthak as part of the Tortallan peace delegation, Daine finds herself in the middle of a sticky political situation. She doesn't like the Carthaki practice of keeping slaves, but it's not her place to say anything -- she's just there to heal the emperor's birds. It's extremely frustrating! What's more, her power has grown in a mysterious way. As the peace talks stall, Daine puzzles over Carthak's two-faced Emperor Ozorne. How can he be so caring with his birds and so cruel to his people? Daine is sure he's planning something. Daine must fight the powerful Emperor Mage, knowing that the safety and peace of the realm depend on stopping Ozorne's power-hungry schemes.

-summary and cover via goodreads

Plot: I liked this book, though not as much as the other books I've read in the series so far. The plot was pretty good and I liked that we finally got to meet Emperor Ozorne since we heard so much about him in the first two books in the series. Daine's power in this book was creepy and definitely not my favorite of her skills. I did like that we got to see another part of that world other than Tortall.

Characters: As always I liked Daine a lot. I appreciate that she is not a weak main character and I don't mean how physically strong she is, but in her personality. I also continued to really like Numair and thought that he was his usually charming self. Kitten is so much fun! Zek was not a favorite in the beginning for some reason, but by the end of the book I liked him. I thought that Alanna was a fun character in the book. I still miss some of the characters we met in the first book.

The Cover: The cover above is not the one I read, but I could not find a good image of that one. This one is not bad but I liked the other one because it matches the other books I've read in the series so far.

Overall: I liked this book a lot. Not as much as the first two, though this one did have a few moments that had me liking it as much as them. If you have not read the others in this series I don't recommend this as the one to start with, though don't let that scare you away from it because this series is now quickly becoming a favorite of mine. I think once I read the last book ( Which I have now put on hold at the library and can't wait to get! ) I will go back and re-read the whole series because I love it that much!

I checked this book out from my local library