Much of the writing differs in every perspective, and while a few passages could have potentially gotten dry, I read everything from page one to the very end.
Love it! May 17, Ashley Will rated it really liked it. Fun read to get to know characters and history of this universe better. It was especially neat seeing illustrations for people and creatures. Feb 13, Andrea rated it it was amazing Shelves: worldbuilding , fantasy-high , anthologies. I love the construction and the worldbuilding and framing narrative. Interesting lore tidbits! And the way they're presented in the framing narrative is interesting.
Nov 06, Laurine rated it it was ok. I have to say I am honest-to-gods crushed at how little I was able to enjoy this book. I've loved Tamora Pierce since I first picked up "Alanna: The First Adventure" and own all 18 of her Tortall Universe books, some second copies after first ones fell apart from love.
In buying "A Spy's Guide" I hoped for updates about Aly, maybe some short stories about characters we know and love, but definitely more about Aly, her kids, and the state of the Isles, since she IS George's daughter and a spymast I have to say I am honest-to-gods crushed at how little I was able to enjoy this book. In buying "A Spy's Guide" I hoped for updates about Aly, maybe some short stories about characters we know and love, but definitely more about Aly, her kids, and the state of the Isles, since she IS George's daughter and a spymaster now in her own right.
What I got was something different. There was also a really good short series of letters between George and Myles about the time Aly and George had to fight their way out of a sticky situation. But and this is a big but there is no story. The majority of the content in this book is world building. George is the "narrator" but the entirety of the book is told through letters, papers, journal entries, and charts. I was bored and skimmed my way through the majority of the content because I already knew it or I didn't care about it.
I knew the history of Tortall, having visited Pierce's website and read through the timeline there. I knew about the Immortals because I read the Immortals Quartet. I didn't care about the cook who had to feed the royal court after the famine. I didn't care about the overviews of the Shadow Service, written by a side character I don't know much about. I just didn't care. This book did not engage or hook me as a reader at all. I admit, I had hoped for another collection of short stories with characters that I knew and became so excited when the book opened with Alanna's letter to George telling him she was pregnant again.
I was like, "Yes! That's what I'm looking for! There were some areas where I stopped and read, such as Ilane's letter to Princess Shinkokami although that was more world building , Neal's poetry especially the one dedicated to Yuki although that boy needs better organization skills in his writing , and George's exchanges with Myles. I was intrigued by the poster railing against the "foreigners" and suchlike that caused such wrath in Jon and wanted to know more about that, too.
But, sadly, there was little in the way of that sort of content. Although this book has tidbits and hidden gems that old fans will enjoy, it's not a book for new readers, in that there's a lot of info that reads like a school's history book.
Not even George's or Alan's snark could alleviate the feel of reading a textbook. So, needless to say, I won't be keeping this book. While Tammy's writing is still wonderful, and the voices of the authors who co-wrote with her are new and fresh, it's far too academic for me.
There wasn't enough actual story content to keep me hooked. Overall, a disappointing experience. This is a compendium of information about Tamora Pierce 's Tortall. It includes letters, a spy's guide, character guides with drawings, notes on University courses, a timeline of the rulers of Tortall with annotations by Alanna's son Thom and a timeline of events. The book is beautifully designed. The pages are printed in full color so they look like pieces of parchment sewn together.
Some of the pages even have ink blots and other stains I hope that's not blood on Neal's papers ew! The text i This is a compendium of information about Tamora Pierce 's Tortall. The text is typed in handwriting fonts so each character has a different style of writing and color of ink. It also includes royal and noble seals that look so real I wanted to touch them.
I loved the design! I enjoyed the notes of some of the important people of Tortall but I'm not sure how I feel about the illustrations. They're beautiful but I had my own image in my head of what the characters should look like. Daine comes pretty close and Numair is sort of close but not really and Buri is way off from how I imagined. It's nice to know what Tammy had in mind though since presumably she approved of the artwork.
What I liked best was the personal correspondence between the characters and the humorous asides in George's papers and Thom's list of royals. Thom sounds like he shares his father's sense of humor while the twins are more serious like Alanna. The spy guide went on a little long and the guide to immortals was also a little long. The timeline is not as comprehensive as the one on Tammy's website. The one online contains more spoilers but I kept wondering where Beka fit into the timeline other than years before Alanna.
My question was answered by looking at the online timeline. This timeline does contain spoilers for the Song of the Lioness and Wild Magic books and a few minor spoilers for the Protector of the Small and Trickster books. I am taking off points for the bombshell dropped in the first letter. I flipped through the whole book and that letter is the most recently dated item in the whole collection.
Don't leave us hanging!! Please please write more about Alanna soon! If you love the Tortall books, you will enjoy this reference book-aside from the first letter which will drive anyone crazy with wondering what will happen to our intrepid heroine next. The focus is very much on Alanna and her family, Daine and her wild magic and not much on Kel. There's a brief mention of Kel and Kel's friend Neal has some letters and things in the collection.
This book doesn't mention Beka at all. Thank you to Tammy, Tim and the staff at Random House children's books for putting this together. Now if only J. K Rowling will follow through with her own "Scottish book. Nov 01, Gretar rated it it was ok. I love the Tortall books so much that I even tried to love this too. It didn't work. The best parts of this book are charming call-backs to characters in the Tortall books.
They mostly come in letters between characters. But Tamora Pierce at her best is far more than briefly charming. These parts of the book did little to add to my enjoyment of the characters. If anything, they made me long for a real story. The worst parts of the book are downright boring. Many give a dry recap of beloved bits of I love the Tortall books so much that I even tried to love this too.
Many give a dry recap of beloved bits of the books. For example, the entry on griffins states that they "beg for food like baby birds, fluttering their wings and opening their beaks for a meal.
The entry on Stormwings says their "nature is opposed to ours. Show, don't tell - but especially don't tell us again after you have already shown us! Perhaps the lowest moment for me was a preface to an overview of a guide to spies. The introduction states that instead of giving us the actual guide, we will get an overview instead.
It's almost as if one of the authors realized that a vague description of fictional spycraft, with no connection to story or characters, was too boring to publish, but we needed an explanation as to why we were getting the abridged but still boring version. If for some reason you haven't read the Tortall books, go read them.
If you have read them, skip this one. You already know all the best parts. Nov 19, Sha rated it really liked it Recommends it for: fans of the tortallverse. I'm inclined to like this book because it expands upon a playground I am very fond of, but I can admit that it won't be particularly interesting to people unfamiliar with Tortall- too many insider references.
In fact, it's so full of insider references that I am writingt his reviews for people already familiar with Tortallverse. Favourite parts: Thayet and Buri portraits.
The character profile for the Yamani spy. Alan being adorable. Anything with Neal in it- he's my favourite daffodil. Jonathan I'm inclined to like this book because it expands upon a playground I am very fond of, but I can admit that it won't be particularly interesting to people unfamiliar with Tortall- too many insider references.
Jonathan going papa bear after Vania gets the racist poster shoved into her hand. George and Myles' terrified reactions to Aly's first spy job. Neals poems because oh my god they were so bad I laughed. Also I am so happy that the Riders and the Spies are like colleagues. It's beautiful. Korrum and Coram heh having separate heart palpitations about random creatures of legend reappearing was also hilarious and I am SO happy for Kourrem she sounds so much more chilled out. I now need more Tortall really badly.
Good thing the Numair book is coming out next year. Readers also enjoyed. Young Adult. Science Fiction Fantasy. Short Stories. About Tamora Pierce. Tamora Pierce. Hey, folks! I just discovered that apparently I have given some very popular books single-star ratings--except I haven't.
How do I know I haven't? Because I haven't read those books at all. So before you go getting all hacked off at me for trashing your favorites, know that I've written GoodReads to find out what's going on. I return to my regularly scheduled profile: Though I would love to join gro Hey, folks! I return to my regularly scheduled profile: Though I would love to join groups, I'm going to turn them all down. I just don't have the time to take part, so please don't be offended if I don't join your group or accept an invitation.
I'm not snooty--I'm just up to my eyeballs in work and appearances! Also, don't be alarmed by the number of books I've read. When I get bored, I go through the different lists and rediscover books I've read in the past. It's a very evil way to use up time when I should be doing other things. Obviously, I've read a lot of books in 54 years! I was born in South Connellsville, PA. My mother wanted to name me "Tamara" but the nurse who filled out my birth certificate misspelled it as "Tamora".
When I was 8 my family moved to California, where we lived for 6 years on both sides of the San Francisco peninsula. I started writing stories in 6th grade. Tolkien and so I started to write the kind of books that I was reading. After my parents divorced, my mother took my sisters and me back to Pennsylvania in After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, I wrote the book that became The Song of the Lioness fantasy quartet. I sold some articles and 2 short stories and wrote reviews for a martial arts movie magazine.
The book has been awarded with , and many others. Please note that the tricks or techniques listed in this pdf are either fictional or claimed to work by its creator. We do not guarantee that these techniques will work for you. Some of the techniques listed in Tortall: A Spys Guide may require a sound knowledge of Hypnosis, users are advised to either leave those sections or must have a basic understanding of the subject before practicing them.
DMCA and Copyright : The book is not hosted on our servers, to remove the file please contact the source url. If you see a Google Drive link instead of source url, means that the file witch you will get after approval is just a summary of original book or the file has been already removed. Loved each and every part of this book.
I will definitely recommend this book to fantasy, young adult lovers. Your Rating:. Your Comment:.
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