I started reading Mercedes Lackey’s Take a Thief and Tamora Pierce’s Terrier at pretty close to the same time. They take place in about the same time period of their respective world so I thought it might be fun to compare and contrast them a bit. I did do this as I was reading, so it is a bit haphazard. Just be warned. Oh, and a big ol' spoiler warning for both Take a Thief and Terrier.
Both have some version of “gutter speak.” Beka is actually warned off speaking in it by Tunstall. Pierce largely stays away from the “gutter speak” aside from a few slang words -- largely "gixie" and "mot" and that sort of thing. Made Terrier a lot easier to read, honestly. Skif and almost everyone he comes into contact with speak in it all the time. Lackey has a thing with accents and writing dialogue as you would hear it spoken. I found this a little difficult to read at times. It's also noted when Skif finally becomes a Herald Trainee that he'll be taking speech lessons to get rid of that, but it doesn't completely disappear.
Obviously Beka and Skif are on differing sides of the law, but they essentially start out in the same place. Lowest of the low. Each is lifted out of that abject poverty in different manners: Skif by Bazie and Beka and her family by the Lord Provost. Skif is rather suddenly lifted completely out of his poverty by virtue of being Chosen by Cymry, his Companion, and therefore becoming a Herald Trainee. Beka isn’t exactly living in the lap of luxury, but she is working throughout Terrier.
Tortall and Valdemar’s justice systems are both different and the same. Valdemar largely relies on the Guard for policing, where Tortall has the Dogs… who eventually do become the Guard, but not for years down the line from Beka’s time. Valdemar also has the Heralds, who serve on the courts. Tortall has knights doing that job. There’s not really a good look at the actual justice system of Valdemar in Take a Thief. Most of that information I gleaned from previous Valdemar books. However, Terrier has a couple of instances of Beka actually attending court proceedings and giving evidence during them.
Beka has siblings. Skif is an only child and the closest thing he has to siblings are his thief family under Bazie's care. Skif does have a cousin who shows up a few times, but doesn't really have much responsibility for Skif. Beka’s siblings are all younger than she and not exactly a support system for her. The girls look down on her and the boys are too young to do much in the way of supporting their elder sister. Both batches of “siblings” don’t actually have much to do or show up much in either story.
Pierce and Lackey’s writing styles are also very different. Lackey spends a lot of time setting scenes and really making you feel like you could reach out and touch Valdemar. Pierce is more focused on character and dialogue. I don’t feel as attached to any of the places Beka inhabits as I do Skif’s world. Of course, the writing perspectives are completely different as well. Lackey does a third person limited and Pierce did an epistolary style. The epistolary style does have its drawbacks, especially in terms of how much an author can reveal if the character isn’t, say, super interested in the decor or atmosphere of a place. I feel that’s where Terrier really fell down, just in an overall lack of atmosphere.
So yeah, that’s my take on both Take a Thief and Terrier.
