Fanfiction Fridays: Would You Like Some Lightning With Your Soup? by alyoraShadow

I’ve been a fan of Tamora Pierce’s Emelan series for what seems like most of my life—I started reading the first quartet in elementary school after zooming through Pierce’s Tortall series, and I’ve always loved how Pierce is able to weave political and social allegories into her fantastical worldbuilding with enough subtlety that it doesn’t seem like it’s beating you over the head. The one thing I don’t like about the series? The next book is taking ages to come out. Seriously, Tris has supposedly been “on her way to Lightsbridge” for years now. But sometimes writing takes longer than you’d expect it to, and I don’t want Ms. Pierce to rush what’s sure to be a good story just because I’m impatient. So in the meantime, there’s fanfic.

Protagonists Sandry, Daja, Briar, and Tris (via miniuko)

Sexualized Saturdays: Deconstructing Rape Culture through The Will of the Empress

I’m almost done with my reread of Tamora Pierce’s Circle of Magic series, and as has been the case with all her books, I’m discovering that while each book is a marvel of fast-paced plots and fantastic character development, they often have deeper issues and implications that weren’t at once clear to a younger me. Such is the case with one of the later books in the series, The Will of the Empress. In it, the mage foursome have grown up and gone on individual adventures, and when Briar, Daja, and Tris return to Sandry and Emelan, each of them find that their childhood foster siblings have changed significantly. But they don’t have time to iron out all their differences: Sandry’s great-uncle, Duke Vedris of Emelan, asks Briar, Daja, and Tris to accompany Sandry to far-off Namorn, where Sandry still holds Landreg lands and titles through her deceased mother. Though they complain about it, they each agree to go with Sandry. Once in Namorn, they quickly find that Namorn has a kidnap custom that reads like a pretty clear rape allegory.

Trigger warning for rape and rape culture after the jump. Also, spoilers for the whole of The Will of the Empress.

Magical Mondays: Power, Privilege, and Morality in Tamora Pierce’s Circle of Magic Series

Ever since Saika wrote her Throwback Thursday on Tamora Pierce’s The Circle of Magic series, I’ve been excited about going back and revisiting them. As a person who loves YA, The Circle of Magic books are some of my favorites, and now that I’ve reread them, I can say that it is not only the diversity of the worldbuilding that makes this series unique; Pierce also does an excellent job building the magic of her world.

Throwback Thursdays: Tamora Pierce is Better than Your Faves

This last summer I’ve been trying to revisit my favorite books from years past. I recently reread the first four Circle of Magic books, which were my first introduction as a younger reader into the prolific fantasy worlds of their author Tamora Pierce. Having just finished the last of the quartet, I feel like I can say with confidence: Tamora Pierce is better than your faves.