#veralidaine sarrasri

[whimsicallywiddershins]

You can really tell when fantasy book art started to go downhill when people started bringing computers into it. I really miss the days of gorgeous, highly detailed hand-drawn cover art. When did stock images and barely detailed photos become mainstream for book art?

[ladylingua]

Numair, first time being The Adult in the Room: screaming crying throwing up

Alanna, now a mother of three children we all know were wild rambunctious chaos agents: what, is this your first time bringing a child that you love back from the brink of death?? I did this four times this past winter, I could bring a child back to life in my sleep at this point. Good lord, relax will you??

[morphmaker]

The Immortals No. 10: The Battle of Port Legann

[masterkeynobi]

god going thru the tortall big 3 (sotl/immortals/pots) again is actually so interesting bc the protags have such diff rships to, like. their liege and the capital r Realm and duty and such it's Very fun + jon himself is [presented as] such a different person in each series bc of both what his age and responsibilities are (how they differ) & simply who he is to each. like, alanna is his best friend & ex & fucking. sword arm. right hand man. she's his champion and the kind of knight who, to paraphrase lord raoul in squire, finds dark places and brings them light and all that. like she's not a general or a bureaucrat or a commander the way raoul or gary + her rship to jon is so so Personal that she can afford to a) yell at him and b) fuck off away from corus when he makes decisions she doesnt like. she's allowed to yell at him because he's a close personal friend and he's the thing she's sworn to.

the interesting thing about daine is that she is loyal to Him (she's smitten with him upon meeting him, she and numair are the crown's pet mages and she does a great deal of spycraft for jon whenever it becomes necessary) but it's through a different. idk what the word would be. lens perhaps? like, she's not sworn the same oaths of loyalty to him that any and all knights/nobles must have + she Can defy him and he would be very hard pressed to stop her lol who the fuck can take thee Wildmage to task and win + she has an informal personal rship with him if a more businesslike one than alanna does. but the immortals books do emphasize that she bears him love and loyalty and by the time pots rolls around she and numair are living in corus.

kel on the other hand is sworn to jonathan in the way that all knights are sworn to the king and doesn't particularly like him. so true babygirl get his stupid ass!!! she is a knight and her duty is to king and country but unlike alanna. unlike alanna! she puts country first. she commits treason for her people and means every word of it she puts what she considers her duty and honor above what politically /is/ her duty and her honor. shes stubbornly un-charmed by all of jon's kingliness and has only the relationship to him of a knight to her liegelord. and he respects her but has and would continue to fuck her over if it meant the machine of corus kept running. its really good i fucking love these books man

[motherofmabari]

[spoofymcgee]

i just finished reading realm of the gods and.

first of all it was a fucking incredible book. just. 10/10 no notes (you will see that this post does continue so actually i have many notes but still). the pacing is always so delightful in that we never spend too much time getting from place to place or on the things that don't matter. the characterizations were so consistent and so delightful. the dialogue was. god. i love the dialogue in these books so much.

and the thing that most surprised me was.

look.

i'm not like, wild, about numair and daine. i do think the age gap is still a little weird, but the fact that it's so extreme and the way they interact earlier in the book makes me think that this wasn't planned from the beginning, that ms. pierce just saw their characters evolving along that path and went with it.

and the thing is, it does work. daine has always been an incredibly self contained character who stands on her own so well. she has companions and friends but she's not so deeply involved with them as alanna, for instance. we see an example of this in the fact that she nearly gives up the mortal realm to keep her word. she values her honor and integrity and the various things that make her who she is over her relationships. Allan would never consider keeping her word over her interpersonal relationships.

so daine, as a character who stands so well on her own, who is so down to earth and straightforward and determined, doesn't see the age gap as an issue. she likes numair, he likes her, and she doesn't care about what reputation she might have. she wouldn't even consider that he might be manipulating her and she very quickly dismisses the concept that she might not be experienced enough for him. it's clear to her that he knows what he wants and he's just getting his frippery in the way.

meanwhile, numair is worrying enough for the both of them and their grandmothers because he's an overthinker and cares more about daine that he does himself. he didn't see her like this from the beginning, but he also didn't singlehandedly raise her. he wasn't really her guardian–she hasn't quite had a relationship like that since her mother, because she didn't need one. he was a friend, who was older than her, and a mentor, but she didn't want a father or even an older brother out of him. he's never seen her in the light of a daughter either, only as a younger friend and then someone experienced and powerful and level with him in different areas.

i guess it was just surprising how little it bothered me, thanks to the way she handled it.

anyway.

[moderatelyprosperouspeasant]

I completed my Tortall book collection!! :D

I’m not really picky about book condition, so these are all used (I got all but three of them on Ebay) and many of them have library markings on/in them etc. The only thing I’m really peeved about is the sticker damage on the Trickster spines, since that’s the only part that’s really visible when they’re shelved. (Dear used book sellers, if you could please place stickers in less conspicuous places and stop placing them on pAPER SURFACES I would hold so much more peace in my heart.)

I had mentally prepared myself for the poster that’s advertised with Tempests and Slaughter to have been removed by a previous owner, but to my shock and delight it’s STILL IN THERE??? I never knew what the poster was, now that I know what it says I will surely be displaying it above these books :) ideally it will be displayed alongside the map that I’ve been meaning to get from Dual Wield Studio!

Other than getting my favorite editions of the whole series, I ended up getting extra copies of The First Adventure and In the Hand of the Goddess because I found copies of the gorgeous 2002 edition for really cheap! The other two books are more rare and expensive on Ebay, perhaps I’ll invest in copies one day, or get lucky. I’m super super pleased with these, other than some glue residue on one cover, they so far appear to be in GORGEOUS condition. The pages are so crisp and beautiful and AHHH I just think this artwork suits the series so well! I’m also super fond of small books, but these are hardcovers so they are in far better condition than the paperbacks I got. I also saw Immortals copies that matched these, they are beautiful but generally expensive.

There are other beautiful editions that I would love to invest in just to have them, though my apartment is tiny and I do not need more belongings lol…now that I’ve collected all of these, though, I should really prioritize reading the Circle of Magic series. I’ve been too attached to Tortall to think of exploring a different world of hers, but Tamora is my idol so I’ve really gotta buck up and immerse myself in that world.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Ok, I was relistening to the Emperor Mage audiobook the other day, and holy cow can we talk about Varice Kingsford for a second. Our girl is immensely consistent from Tempests and Slaughter to Emperor Mage that all she wants is to use her gift to make things pretty and use that to smooth diplomatic paths, and there are the seeds of her being...I don't even know how to describe it properly, under Ozorne's power? Ozorne's lackey? In Ozorne's corner? But when it came to the part in Emperor Mage where Daine is wrecking the palace and runs into Varice, the absolute soul-baring honesty of responding to "Did you betray Numair to Ozorne?" with "No, but I might have if I'd been specifically asked to" just hits so hard.

Varice just wanted to plan parties and play house, and literally none of the men in her life accepted that. They kept pushing and pushing and so she ended up in Ozorne's court, watching one childhood friend murder their mutual childhood friend and her lover. That situation will never not be hideously messed up, but the tragedy is how clearly Varice can see the dynamics in her own relationships.

Just let the kitchen witch do kitchen witchy things that make her happy!!!

[axolotlcipher]

See the joke is that I love Tammy, but GURL these romances. All lighthearted fun from ur local lesbian.

[offtorivendell]

Nesta Archeron 🤝 Daine Sarrasri

I won't elaborate, because HOFAS spoilers, but iykyk.

[kidlit-queen-competition]

Round 1 poll 13: Matilda Wormwood from Matilda vs Veralidaine Sarrasri from The Immortals

Propaganda under the cut

Matilda wormwood:

A love for books + telekinesis + intelligence = Matilda

I just think she's neat

She can move shit WITH HER MIND

She's smart, she's kind, she's autistic AF, she divorced her parents and made her own path, she has psychic powers and she's lovely.

ok look we all know (or are about to learn) that Roald Dahl was a horrible hateful bigoted antisemitic little man but Matilda is iconic. huge inspiration to so many of us bullied/abused/marginalized lil kids who just wanted love, understanding, and to read the heck out of some books. she was able to use her own brain and willpower to both get the help she needed, and punish the adults who wronged her so badly! (i remember wishing deeply that i could spontaneously develop powers as a kid for aaaages after reading this one)

because she's freakin' Matilda!

Veralidaine Sarrasri:

She talks to animals, her horse is her best friend, she's accepted into a wolf pack, she's got insanely powerful wild magic, she's even raising a dragon

[ladylingua]

and now we know Daine was just talking to the wrong pod of whales here because-

[morphmaker]

The Immortals No. 1: You've got something alright

[addressedtothefire]

The best part of the Tortall universe is the way each protagonist politely cedes the mantle of main character energy to a new girl every four years.

Like whenever a new kid comes to town Alanna’s just like “ah, guess it’s time for their books now”  **moves into background, takes up sidekick pose**

[theroguequeenaniki]

Evil people say evil things to make good people cry and doubt. Don't let them get that hold on you.

(Daine, Wild Magic, pg 311). 

Wise words from @tamorapierce that ring true no matter the time, especially so now.