Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce

A Mostly Spoiler Free Reread Review

Emperor Mage is another one I have zero memory of reading. I think perhaps because I was listening to an audiobook and my brain just doesn’t get along with them… ah well. Made this reread more interesting. Emperor Mage was definitely a lot of fun, if a bit winding.

I find it refreshing that Ozorne didn’t come across as slimy, as the big bad evil emperor types often do. He was honestly fairly likable. Just goes to show that abusers can be as angelic as you please in one arena and absolute terrors in others.

I definitely liked Kaddar and Zek. The scheming of the Stormwings was interesting and definitely gave more depth to their culture. I always have fun reading of other cultures and having Carthak opened up was fun. Daine schooling the boys in archery was a highlight. I feel like Kaddar showing Daine around the palace and university was a nice compromise to having her sit through the negotiations. It was definitely far more interesting, in my opinion.

I’m not sure how I feel about “flesh eating unicorns” or “killer unicorns.” Like, on the one hand, kind of a badass image for my favorite mythological beast, on the other hand… why?? Unicorns are so graceful and pretty and mostly made of herbivore parts, why you gotta make carnivorous versions? Just too boring or something? And if they are carnivorous, do they look different from their horse-like cousins? Because again, herbivores. Prey animals have different builds than predators. I’m probably over-thinking this, but I’d really like to know.

A reason to read the Tortall books in order: Numair’s death at the hands of Ozorne would probably have more impact than it does. I snorted and rolled my eyes as Kaddar announced it to Daine. Numair’s more crafty than that.

But yeah… I don’t really have any deep thoughts on this one. The conclusion was satisfying and it was a nice way to try to minimize the life-damage that definitely would have resulted from a rampage of the sort Daine caused.