Tortall and Other Lands by Tamora Pierce (Omnibus for Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $22.99
ISBN 9781862910167
Reviewed by Dawn Meredith
No wonder Tamora Pierce is a New York Times bestselling author. In this collection of eleven short stories, some intertwined, she creates a reality which is intriguing and unique, where you can’t wait to turn the next page. Titles include: The Dragon’s Tale, Elder Brother, The Hidden Girl, Huntress, Lost, Mimic, Nawat, Plain Magic, Student of Ostriches, Testing and Time of Proving.
My favourites would have to be Elder Brother, in which a tree is turned into a human and has to learn the strange ways of the rootless ones, Student of Ostriches in which a young girl teaches herself to fight by observing all the animals on the plains where she herds goats and then fights as the family’s champion to uphold her sister’s honour and Mimic, an Ugly Duckling story of a young dragon who is rescued and tenderly healed by a girl named Ri. The two form a bond and as Mimic grows into a full sized dragon, Ri begins to hear the thoughts of birds.
Pierce writes with clarity, a distinctive voice and with a strong sense of feminism, which doesn’t grate on the nerves or seem too biased. I enjoyed all the stories and recommend the book to readers twelve years and up.
Dawn Meredith writes from the Blue Mountains and is a May Gibbs Fellow 2011. You can follow her exploits at www.dawnmeredithauthor.blogspot.com
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