Blog Tour: Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce – Review and Giveaway!

Tempests and Slaughter

Author: Tamora Pierce

Publication Date: February 6th, 2018

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

Pages: 480

Formats: Hardcover, ebook, audiobook

Synopsis: Arram. Varice. Ozorne. In the first book in the Numair Chronicles, three student mages are bound by fate . . . fated for trouble.

Arram Draper is a boy on the path to becoming one of the realm’s most powerful mages. The youngest student in his class at the Imperial University of Carthak, he has a Gift with unlimited potential for greatness–and for attracting danger. At his side are his two best friends: Varice, a clever girl with an often-overlooked talent, and Ozorne, the “leftover prince” with secret ambitions. Together, these three friends forge a bond that will one day shape kingdoms. And as Ozorne gets closer to the throne and Varice gets closer to Arram’s heart, Arram begins to realize that one day soon he will have to decide where his loyalties truly lie.

In the Numair Chronicles, readers will be rewarded with the never-before-told story of how Numair Salmalín came to Tortall. Newcomers will discover an unforgettable fantasy adventure where a kingdom’s future rests on the shoulders of a talented young man with a knack for making vicious enemies.

Act fast! The first printing of the hardcover includes a collector’s edition poster!

 Goodreads   |   Amazon   |  Audible   |   B&N   |   iBooks   |   TBD

Over the years, I have heard nothing but fantastic things about Tamora Pierce’s writing – her magical stories and fantastic characters – but I never had the chance to read any of her books until this one, and I have to say that this book was such a wonderful fantasy with so many things that I honestly only dream of in books – those characters?  Perfect.  The story?  Amazing.  The writing?  Completely captivating and it drew me in from the very first page, holding on until the end, and leaving me wanting more after I had finished the book.

I understand that this book is a really great story about one of the main characters and their backstory, so while I really wanted to read this, I was wondering if maybe I should have read the other series first.  However, I found that it wasn’t necessary to do so, as there was plenty of descriptions of characters, the world, and everything that I needed to really appreciate coming into this series and the author’s work for the first time.

The characters in this book are some of the best that I’ve read in a long time.  I fell in love with all of them, and I was incredibly excited to see how their stories would play out.  Usually I find myself liking only one or two characters in a book, especially to that degree, but in this case, I loved them all.  I felt a connection with all of them, and the author really has the ability to draw a reader into a story and make them feel like they’re actually part of  that world.

Speaking of the world, the world building in this novel was some of the most amazing and memorable that I’ve read in all the years that I’ve been reading…so a lot!  So much attention was paid to detail, but not so much that it made the book a slow or boring read.  It was just perfect, and it was fun.

Now that I’ve read this, I want to go back and explore more of the author’s books, so I’m looking forward to having that treat!

I’m super excited that this book is the start to a new series, because it was just so incredibly awesome I didn’t want to put it down, and I was kind of sad when it was over.   I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens next for these characters, and how the story will progress in the next book.

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review – Thank you!

Tamora Pierce is a bestselling author of young adult fantasy books that break past the traditions of the fantasy genre to feature teenage girls as knights, wizards, and above all: heroes. A #1 New York Times bestseller and the recipient of the 2013 Margaret A. Edwards award, Tamora has written over 30 books, including the upcoming TORTALL: A SPY’S GUIDE (Oct. 31, 2017) and TEMPESTS AND SLAUGHTER (Feb. 6, 2018).

Tamora was drawn to books from a young age. Raised in rural Pennsylvania, the child of a “long, proud line of hillbillies,” her family never had much. “We were poor, but I didn’t know it then. We had a garden where my folks grew fruit and vegetables and our water came from a well,” she explains. But one thing they did have was plenty of books. So Tamora read.

A self-proclaimed “geek,” she devoured fantasy and science fiction novels, and by the age of 12 was mimicking her literary idols and writing her own action-packed stories. It was thanks to her father that Tamora began writing. “He heard me telling myself stories as I did dishes, and he suggested that I try to write some of them down,” Pierce says.

But Tamora’s novels had one major difference: unlike the books she was reading, her stories featured teenaged girl warriors. “I couldn’t understand this lapse of attention on the part of the writers I loved, so until I could talk them into correcting this small problem, I wrote about those girls, the fearless, bold, athletic creatures that I was not, but wanted so badly to be.”

Seventeen years later, after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, a brief career in teen social work and some time spent writing for radio, Tamora Pierce held true to her childhood crusade, and published ALANNA: THE FIST ADVENTURE, the first in a quartet about a valiant, young, female warrior. Pierce’s heroine struck a chord with readers across the country and quickly earned her a loyal following.

Now, with over 30 critically-acclaimed books to her name, Pierce lives in upstate New York with her husband Tim and their menagerie of nine cats, two birds, a flock of pigeons, various raccoons and squirrels, and one opossum. “It’s a pretty good life, if I do say so myself. Struggling along as a kid and even through my twenties, it’s the kind of life I dreamed of but never believed I would get. Yet here I am, after a lot of work, a lot of worry, a lot of care for details, and a massive chunk of luck, the kind that brought me such strong friends and readers. Pretty good for a hillbilly, yes? And I never take it for granted.”

Website   |   Twitter   |   Facebook   |   Goodreads

3 winners will receive a finished copy of TEMPESTS AND SLAUGHTER, US Only.

Ends on March 2nd at Midnight EST!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Week One:
2/1/2018- Fiction Fare– Review
2/2/2018- herbookstacks– Review

Week Two:
2/5/2018- Here’s to Happy Endings– Review
2/6/2018- A Dream Within A Dream– Review
2/7/2018- Book-Keeping– Review
2/8/2018- Eli to the nth– Review
2/9/2018- LILbooKlovers– Review

Week Three:
2/12/2018- Jump Into Books– Review
2/13/2018- BookHounds YA– Review
2/14/2018- Jessabella Reads– Review
2/15/2018- YA Bibliophile– Review
2/16/2018- Nerdophiles – Review

Week Four:
2/19/2018- Book Briefs– Review|
2/20/2018- Smada’s Book Smack– Review
2/21/2018- Confessions of a YA Reader– Excerpt
2/22/2018- YA Books Central– Excerpt
2/23/2018- The Book Nut– Review

Week Five:
2/26/2018- A Backwards Story– Review
2/27/2018- The Book Shire– Review
2/28/2018- Falling Down The Book Hole– Excerpt