A little late to post due to personal circumstances, but Wolf-Speaker by Tamora Pierce is done and dusted and I am loving this series more and more with every novel. From the characters, the social and contextual layers creating conflict and concern, and the development of Daine as a character, so many things make this book so awesome.

When humans start cutting down trees and digging holes in peaceful Dunlath Valley, the wolves know that something is wrong. They send a messenger to the only human who will listen — Daine, a fourteen-year-old girl with the unpredictable power of wild magic. Daine and her closest companions heed the wolves’ cry for help. But the challenge they are about to face in the valley is greater than they can possibly imagine…

The way this story world continues so effortlessly from Wild Magic, not to mention the seamless integration of new characters and magic systems into a pre-established fantasy world, makes reading the Immortals series so much fun. I enjoy the chapters so much, both as a reader getting into this for the first time and as a writer wanting to learn more to build on my writing craft. The story world is so vast and descriptive and intriguing, and it continues to amaze and bewilder as the stories evolve.

The pacing is doing wonders for my ease of reading too, not just in terms of the action and interactions between characters, which can be overwhelming in the heat of the moment with Diane’s abilities, but also the way this wild magic is explained and realised. Numair gives bits here and there, immortals Diane comes across in her journey impart information that she hasn’t considered before, and Diane exercises her own curiosity too, making these slow drips of information more interesting to come across and more natural as new details to take in. It feels right for the focus of the story, which is generally from Diane’s perspective, and it suits the way she learns information and has been made to take in information throughout her childhood.

Like the Song of the Lioness Quartet, Diane’s behaviour and thought process feels accurate to her age and place in the story world as Alanna was in the original series. She is a kid, she is at times immature, naive, and lacks the wisdom to make decisions, but she is fourteen years old, so it makes sense for her to be this way. Not only that, but it makes this series feel so immersive and relatable knowing her actions and thoughts match that of a fourteen year old. She may not be as likeable a character as Alanna was, but she is growing on me.

Wolf-Speaker is such a fantastic novel, and I really encourage fantasy readers who have not picked this up yet to give this series a go. Children’s fantasy, YA fantasy, and Adult fantasy readers would all enjoy this series, and I can wholeheartedly say that Tamora Pierce’s writing style is so easy to absorb and enjoy. It is series like this that make me all the more eager to dive back into children’s fiction and books I have not picked up since I was in my younger years. Good thing I have Emperor Mage on hand to keep the ball rolling.