Now this is more like it! Since Tamora Pierce was my favourite author back in my teens, I'd recently bought the remaining books of hers that I hadn't yet read. Melting Stones and iBattle Magic had left me a little disappointed, wondering if perhaps I'd grown up too much to enjoy her writing any more.

But Terrier brought back all that old magic. It was nice to be back in familiar Tortall, which I've always preferred to the Emelan universe anyway. And rather than being childish and simplistic like the previous two books I'd read, this one didn't insult my intelligence and explored complex concepts such as class boundaries, family alienation and the dynamics of abusive relationships with some degree of sophistication.

Beka as a character resonated with me. I too am a socially awkward and conscientious woman who nevertheless craves human company. One of fantasy's main draw cards is as a vector for wish-fulfillment, but little did I expect the wish-fulfillment I'd find here would be of the "friends who choose you despite your awkwardness" variety.

I always like books with their own "language" so I enjoyed the lower-class cant that Beka uses. And Tamora finally manages to drop my pet peeve of using "rump" when referring to human rear ends and actually uses the word "bum" - though it still seems out of place in the mouths of rough characters who I'd expect to use a much more colourful term! ( )

I find it rather odd that Pierce deliberately linked Beka to George, since I thought the story was engrossing enough to stand on its own without a tenuous connection to an already beloved character from her earlier books.

The one thing that kept bothering me was that I found the portrayal of Beka's shyness as her weakness to be rather flimsy. It didn't quite mesh in my head with the 8 year old who ran into the street to grab the Lord Provost's horse. I probably wouldn't have noticed so much except that the story kept looping back to this one characteristic.

Despite that, I really did enjoy the story and the glimpse of life in Tortall before Alanna, and especially life outside of the nobility. ( )

Quick summary: Like most Tamora Pierce books, once I started I couldn't do anything else until I finished. :) ( )

I enjoyed this book very much.

It reminded me in some parts of Discworld's Watch books. Basically because its a police force on a fantasy setting city where theres magic and random spirits going around. I feel that with just some minor changes this could be a Discworld watch book with ease.

I liked very much the character of Lady Sabine, even if she is just a secondary character, I hope she is back on the rest of the books.

The main character of Beka Cooper is nice, smart, simple, afraid, intelligent and able, but in no instance she is over the top, she makes mistakes, she needs help, she is not afraid of going looking for it. I liked her a lot.

The plot of the book is slightly predictable, which was rather boring, knowing the big twist half the book before it happens, but you can't really expect a super-mistery on a YA book.

all in all, a nice enjoyable book. ( )

Kind of a slow build but such a solid payoff. Although I don't think I have read any of her stuff since I was about 13, I'm so very glad Tamora Pierce is still churning it out. I even bought the rest of the trilogy when I discovered the public library only has the ebook (hate hare hate ebooks!) which speaks very clearly about my enjoyment. ( )