A Guide To Tamora Pierce 'the Immortals' (genre Fiction Sightlines) - John Lennard

Tamora Pierce is a prolific and very unusual modern master of fantasy for young adults and the first such author to appear regularly on the New York Times bestseller lists. The four books making up The Immortals are the 5th–8th (of 15) novels set in Tortall, and introduce the ‘Wildmage’, Veralidaine Sarrasri, who appears in most later novels in the Tortall series.

Each book in the Sightlines series is designed to enable readers to appreciate in much greater depth than usual the richness of fine examples of genre fiction. The Notes in this book cover Tamora Pierce’s life and work; the world of Tortall (including the geography, cast, and neighbouring cultures); the strange menagerie of immortal creatures who may be friend or foe; and the pantheon of interfering multicultural god/desse/s. The well-illustrated Annotations pay special attention to the many animals who feature, cultural and historical references, and the major thematic issues that develop throughout the quartet. Wild Magic, Wolf-Speaker, The Emperor Mage, and The Realms of the Gods are all covered on a chapter-by-chapter basis, and there is a link to the deleted chapter of The Emperor Mage (in which Daine heals a poisoned camel). The Essay compares The Immortals with its successor quartet, Protector of the Small, for both the brave teenage heroines have a particular and very educational relationship with Pierce’s greatest fantasy-beasts, the amazing (and amazingly smelly) Stormwings. The Bibliography has a section detailing works about ‘Tamora Pierce and Children’s Writing’.

John Lennard is an independent scholar and editor of Fairleigh Dickinson University's online journal Exploring Globalization. His books include 'Of Modern Dragons and other essays on Genre Fiction' (HEB, 2007) and 'Of Sex and Faerie: further essays on Genre Fiction' (2010), both of which are available in the Kindle Store and in paperback from the Humanities-Ebooks shop window on Troubador.co.uk.

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