It’s crazy how far behind I am on reading and reviewing. My plan was to be caught up by now but so much is happening that I’m unable to. It’s a hard time for everyone and I just wish more people would take this coronavirus thing seriously.
Anyway, here I have the last book I read last year — Tamora Pierce’s The Realms of the Gods. I read it as part of my plan to reread all Pierce’s books I enjoyed when I was a kid. I’ve been going through them slowly and have been surprised by my reaction to some of them, like this one.
Genre:
YA Fantasy
Pubbed:
1996
Series:
The Immortals, book 4
Goodreads summary:
During a dire battle against the fearsome Skinners, Daine and her mage teacher, Numair, are swept into the Divine Realms. Although they are happy to be alive, they are not where they want to be. They are desperately needed back home where their old enemy, Ozorne, and his army of strange creatures are waging war against Tortall.
While trapped in the perilous realms of the gods, Daine discovers her mysterious parentage. But as the secrets of her past are revealed, so is the treacherous way back to Tortall. And so Daine and Numair embark on an extraordinary journey home, where the fate of all Tortall rests with Daine and her wild magic. (Goodreads)
My thoughts:
The Realms of the Gods, the last book in Pierce’s Immortals quartet, takes us to the Divine Realms, where we not only meet Daine’s parents but also learn more about the mythology of this world: how its immortals form (born from mortals’ dreams) and the rules that govern the gods. It becomes obvious that the gods and such are heavily inspired by Greek/Roman mythology, which I liked.
The story was an okay read. It was entertaining in some spots, but overall, I was quite bored by it. As a kid, this was one of my least liked books in this quartet, and it’s the same for the adult me. I think there was just too much going on and too many new characters and concepts introduced that weren’t fully fleshed out. I was hoping that more time would be spent seeing how Daine’s relationship with her parents develop, but that didn’t happen. They didn’t get enough time alone to talk and get to know each other again for me to really believe their relationship grew stronger. I was also hoping to see some interaction between Kitten and her dragon relatives, but that didn’t really happened either; however, it was nice to visit the dragon realm. It would have been nice to spend more time there.
What turned me off as a kid is the romantic turn in Numair and Daine’s relationship. I thought that since I’m much older now it wouldn’t bother me much, but again I didn’t like it. The huge age difference and the fact that he’s much older and has been her instructor for a while made the relationship seem odd when I was a kid and now. I guess Numair’s overprotectiveness in the last book could have been indicating romantic interest, but the romantic turn in this book seems a bit sudden to me.
As for Daine, I liked that her sentiments about the stormwings (Rikash, at least) has developed to show how much she has changed since the first book that she now understands the need for such creatures by the series end.
Overall: ★★☆☆☆ ½
A decent read and end to a fun, light YA fantasy series.
Zezee with Books 
Seriously I am with you, people aren’t taking this thing seriously enough at all! Hope you’re doing well through all this. I have never read a Tamora Pierce books but I keep meaning to because I’ve heard great things!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think we would have a lot less cases if people took it more seriously.
Pierce’s books are quick, fun reads; a little dated sometimes, but worth reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hurray for Tamora Pierce! I went on a crazy binge last year and read all of her Tortall books… and I have to agree with your basic sentiments on this one. While I loved Daine’s story as a whole, I was bored while she was in the Realms, maybe because I missed the setting in the real world and the rest of the characters. As for the Numair thing… well, the romantic angle was definitely something I expected, but yes, there’s the fact that he was her teacher while she was still a girl. Once she’s an adult, I guess it’s okay, but still…
LikeLike
I remember your binge on her books 🙂 I liked Daine’s story a lot more when I was younger, but the Alanna ones will always my favs.
I thought I’d feel/think that way about Daine and Numair’s romance now, but it still didn’t work for me. I guess it’s because in my head the age gap is really big, like 12 to 30 the first time they met. I can’t get pass that.
LikeLike
I hear you. I guess in a lot of fantasy novels, the age difference eventually stops mattering when people seem to live for so long!
LikeLike
Yup, there’s that too. It doesn’t bother me much in other books so that’s another reason why I was surprised not to like this pair up too.
LikeLike