Pages

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Review: Mastiff

by Tamora Pierce

My Rating: 4 peaches

Beka and her friends will face their greatest and most important challenge ever when the young heir to the kingdom vanishes. They will be sent out of Corus on a trail that appears and disappears, following a twisting road throughout Tortall. It will be her greatest Hunt—if she can survive the very powerful people who do not want her to succeed in her goal.


I have been devouring Tamora Pierce books since middle school. Alanna, Daine, Kel and Aly are some of my best book friends and I love to revisit them. Now I can add Beka Cooper to this list. I am sure I will be rereading this trilogy again soon. I love the different perspectives these books have given us. Beka is a "Dog" for Tortall. She hunts down criminals and brings them in for justice. In this, the third book, Beka is once again leaving Tortall but her job is bigger than ever as are her clients. Instead of her average street rats, she is dealing with royalty, nobility and mages and she searches for the kidnapped Prince. Beka deals with love, loss and ultimately a deep betrayal in Mastiff.

Tamora Pierce is an advocate for many things. She has always been a writer of strong minded, independent females (hooray!) In this book, Pierce turns her eye to slavery as it affects every aspect of Beka's search and the lives of those she loves. Even though this is a fantasy world, the reader is able to connect and sympathize with the characters throughout their journey as slavery touches on their lives. In her credits, Pierce opens discussion with the world about modern slavery and the battle that is still ongoing. Readers going into this book (and really most of Pierce's works) should be aware that her opinions figure very prominently into her work and should be willing to discuss what they agree with and what they disagree with. Great discussions on the female identity, place in society and gender roles can come from any of these books! Can't wait for the next series, I hear it may be back story on Numair! 

No comments:

Post a Comment