Book the Fortieth: Terrier
Title: Terrier
Author: Tamora Pierce
Page Count: 563
Status: Reread
Synopsis: Beka Cooper is a rookie with the law-enforcing Provost's Guard in the capital city of Tortall. To the surprise of both the veteran Dogs and her fellow Puppies, Beka requests duty in the Lower City. The Lower City is a tough beat. But it's also where Beka was born, and she's comfortable there. Beka is assigned to work with Mattes and Clary, famed veterans among the Provost's Dogs. They're tough, they're capable, and they're none too happy about the indignity of being saddled with a puppy for the first time in years. But this puppy they've been saddled with may just hold the key to stopping a crime wave the likes of which has never been seen.
My Thoughts: Though I have techincally read this before, it might as well have been a new read for all I remembered the story. Terrier is the first book of Tamora Pierce's latest series.
Beka, our heroine, grew up in the slums of the city, but from a young age, she wanted nothing more than to train to be a Dog, slang for the Provost's Guard. And she's good. Not only does she have a natural talent for the work, she also has several . . . unusual and unusually trsutworthy informants: she speaks to dust spinners (creatures of wind and dirt in the streets who pick up echoes of activity around them) and the spirits of the murdered who ride on the backs of pigeons. And both are talking to her now.
A dangerous new criminal is on the streets of the Lower City, one who kidnaps and kills children and calls himself The Shadow Snake. There are few who will believe Beka at first, those who say the Snake is just a tale told to frighten children. But as more and more children begin to disappear, it's clear that something is truly going on. With the help of her Dogs, Beka aims to find out what.
I love what Pierce has done with this story. We start with a journal from the mother of George Cooper, a character we recognize from the Alanna quartet, but here he is a child caught for theiving. That's when his mother sits him down to tell him of his ancestress, Rebakah Cooper. Pierce is taking her small, well developed world and expanding its horizons, pushing out at the boundaries and exploring into its depths.
Pierce has created firm, realistic, flawed but likeable characters. You really come to care about the people in Beka's story as much as Beka herself does, and you really want them to succeed. And to that a twist at the end that few will be expecting, and this is a great start to what I'm sure will be a great new series. Though familiarity with Alanna's story will help you to understand some of the details that might otherwise slip by, it's not a necessity.
Book 41 will be Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce.
Tally: 40
Books Read: 24
Books Reread: 16
* = New Read
1.* The Calder Game by Blue Balliett
2.* Alphabet of Dreams by Susan Fletcher
3.* The Wizard's Map by Jane Yolen
4. Looking for Alaska by John Green
5.* {Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson
6.* Foundation by Mercedes Lackey
7.* Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
8. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
9.* The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
10.* Mondays are Red by Nicola Morgan
11. Paper Towns by John Green
12.* Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
13.* Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
14.* The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
15.* Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
16.* Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
17.* Turnabout by Margaret Peterson Haddix
18.* The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
19.* The Girls by Lori Lansens
20.* The Declaration by Gemma Malley
21. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
22.* The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines
23. Beauty Sleep by Cameron Dokey
24. The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey
25. One Good Knight by Mercedes Lackey
26.* The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
27. Belle by Cameron Dokey
28. Nine Days a Queen by Ann Rinaldi
29. Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce
30. Wolf-Speaker by Tamora Pierce
31.* Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos
32.* Castle Waiting by Linda Medley
33.* Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Friend by Christopher Moore
34. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
35.* Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story by Lisa Fiedler
36. Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce
37. The Realms of the Gods by Tamora Pierce
38. Darcy's Story by Janet Aylmer
39.* I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
40. Terrier by Tamora Pierce
Author: Tamora Pierce
Page Count: 563
Status: Reread
Synopsis: Beka Cooper is a rookie with the law-enforcing Provost's Guard in the capital city of Tortall. To the surprise of both the veteran Dogs and her fellow Puppies, Beka requests duty in the Lower City. The Lower City is a tough beat. But it's also where Beka was born, and she's comfortable there. Beka is assigned to work with Mattes and Clary, famed veterans among the Provost's Dogs. They're tough, they're capable, and they're none too happy about the indignity of being saddled with a puppy for the first time in years. But this puppy they've been saddled with may just hold the key to stopping a crime wave the likes of which has never been seen.
My Thoughts: Though I have techincally read this before, it might as well have been a new read for all I remembered the story. Terrier is the first book of Tamora Pierce's latest series.
Beka, our heroine, grew up in the slums of the city, but from a young age, she wanted nothing more than to train to be a Dog, slang for the Provost's Guard. And she's good. Not only does she have a natural talent for the work, she also has several . . . unusual and unusually trsutworthy informants: she speaks to dust spinners (creatures of wind and dirt in the streets who pick up echoes of activity around them) and the spirits of the murdered who ride on the backs of pigeons. And both are talking to her now.
A dangerous new criminal is on the streets of the Lower City, one who kidnaps and kills children and calls himself The Shadow Snake. There are few who will believe Beka at first, those who say the Snake is just a tale told to frighten children. But as more and more children begin to disappear, it's clear that something is truly going on. With the help of her Dogs, Beka aims to find out what.
I love what Pierce has done with this story. We start with a journal from the mother of George Cooper, a character we recognize from the Alanna quartet, but here he is a child caught for theiving. That's when his mother sits him down to tell him of his ancestress, Rebakah Cooper. Pierce is taking her small, well developed world and expanding its horizons, pushing out at the boundaries and exploring into its depths.
Pierce has created firm, realistic, flawed but likeable characters. You really come to care about the people in Beka's story as much as Beka herself does, and you really want them to succeed. And to that a twist at the end that few will be expecting, and this is a great start to what I'm sure will be a great new series. Though familiarity with Alanna's story will help you to understand some of the details that might otherwise slip by, it's not a necessity.
Book 41 will be Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce.
Tally: 40
Books Read: 24
Books Reread: 16
* = New Read
1.* The Calder Game by Blue Balliett
2.* Alphabet of Dreams by Susan Fletcher
3.* The Wizard's Map by Jane Yolen
4. Looking for Alaska by John Green
5.* {Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson
6.* Foundation by Mercedes Lackey
7.* Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
8. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
9.* The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
10.* Mondays are Red by Nicola Morgan
11. Paper Towns by John Green
12.* Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
13.* Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
14.* The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
15.* Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
16.* Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
17.* Turnabout by Margaret Peterson Haddix
18.* The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
19.* The Girls by Lori Lansens
20.* The Declaration by Gemma Malley
21. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
22.* The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines
23. Beauty Sleep by Cameron Dokey
24. The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey
25. One Good Knight by Mercedes Lackey
26.* The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
27. Belle by Cameron Dokey
28. Nine Days a Queen by Ann Rinaldi
29. Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce
30. Wolf-Speaker by Tamora Pierce
31.* Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos
32.* Castle Waiting by Linda Medley
33.* Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Friend by Christopher Moore
34. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
35.* Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story by Lisa Fiedler
36. Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce
37. The Realms of the Gods by Tamora Pierce
38. Darcy's Story by Janet Aylmer
39.* I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
40. Terrier by Tamora Pierce
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