#emperor mage

[morphmaker]

It's been almost two years and I'm finally ready to talk about it.

#daine sarrasri #veralidaine sarrasri #tortall #the immortals quartet #emperor mage #wolf-speaker #the realms of the gods #wild magic #autobio comic #diary comic #morphmaker arts #antisemitism

[chapter-title-tournament]

Round 1, Match 14

Daine Loses Her Temper (Emperor Mage, Tamora Pierce)

A walk through the woods Voices driving me bonkers I hate spaghetti (The Hidden Oracle, Rick Riordan)

#chapter title tournament #round 1 #tournament poll #emperor mage #the hidden oracle

[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!!!

#tamora pierce #tortall #tortall universe #emperor mage #tempests and slaughter #veralidaine sarrasri #varice kingsford #arram draper #numair salmalin #ozorne

[skysong-tortall]

"I would apologize for my rudeness, if I had manners. Happily, I don't."

- Rikash Moonsword, Emperor Mage, Tamora Pierce

#Emperor mage #tamora pierce #rikash #tortall #immortals series #veralidaine #daine #book #quote

[dr-dendritic-trees]

@peach-turnover I think you have it absolutely right. I don't like the romance arc, but I started with the Kel books so I knew it was coming. And its so clunky and so goddamn boring, but that's honestly most of the book.

It was kind of interesting, I'm listening to the audiobooks so there was an interview with Tammy at the end and she actually said that she'd originally plotted Immortals as a trilogy, but because she was operating under quite strict word-count limits so if she wanted to cover both the Emperor Mage stuff, and the Stuff with Daine's family she needed an extra book.

And really, that Explains A Lot! Like, the actual scenes where Daine is getting closure with her family are really interesting and good, and the final fight with Ozorne is really where those two needed to end (I'll probably make a separate post about that) but literally everything else is such a drag. And so much of it really seems to be there to take up space, especially all the divine stuff with the Chaos Goddess and the Sorrows and etc, its never been mentioned in the preceding 7 books and its never mentioned again and Just Don't Care about any of it. Similarly, the mage Numair spends the whole final battle dealing with is barely even a character, he's just a walking excuse to get Numair out of the way so we don't ask why he isn't the one fighting Ozorne. The Dragon Kingdom being separate but adjacent to the Divine Realms is honestly cool, but again, it comes from nowhere and is never discussed again.

But its pretty easy to imagine that if Emperor Mage was allowed to be a bit longer you could easily fit Daine's talking to her Ma in when she visits the Divine Realms in Emperor Mage, and you could extend the ending to cover Daine finishing Ozorne off AND THEN you could finish on her last scene with Kaddar, which is one of the best single sequences in all 3 quartets, instead of the frankly dull ending of Realms.

#the realms of the gods #tempests and slaughter #emperor mage #immortals #tortall

[theroguequeenaniki]

It’s actually a good thing I re-read these so quickly after reading them, like, literally a week later, b/c there were little things I missed the first time. Like that fact Faithful/Pounce was just chilling on the Great Goddess’ chair at the end after Daine defeated Ozorne & Chaos was punished. Didn’t even register the first time. Lol. But who else would a black cat w/ purple eyes be? 

#Daine Sarrasri #Veralidaine Sarrasri #Numair Salmalín #Daine Salmalin #Arram Draper #Wild Mage #Wolf Speaker #Emperor Mage #The Realm Of The Gods #The Immortals #Tamora Pierce #Tortall #booklr #reading #books #Faithful #Pounce

[elvencantation]

Someday I must read this scholar Everyone, she thought as she bit her tongue to keep from giving a rude answer, He seems to have written so much--all of it wrong.

- Tamora Pierce, Emperor Mage

#veralidaine sarrasri #daine #tamora pierce #emperor mage #daine i love you #blue reads #tortall

[first--lines]

His Royal Highness Kaddar, prince of Siraj, duke of Yamut, count of Amar, first lord of the Imperium, heir apparent to His Most Serene Majesty Emperor Ozorne of Carthak, fanned himself and wished the Tortallans would dock. He had been waiting aboard the imperial galley since noon, wearing the panoply of his office as the day, hot for autumn, grew hotter. He shot a glance at the nobles and academics on hand to welcome the visitors: they could relax under the awnings. Imperial dignity kept him in this unshaded chair, where a gold surface collected the sun to throw it back in his eyes.

  —  Emperor Mage (Tamora Pierce)

#book quotes #fantasy fiction #ya fiction #tamora pierce #tortall universe #the immortals #emperor mage

[wondereads]

Weekly Reading Update (01/22/24)

Reviews and thoughts under the cut

Wolf-Speaker by Tamora Pierce (8/10)

When I first read The Immortals Quartet back in middle school, I wasn't a huge fan of this book, and I also didn't remember much about it. Even now rereading it, it's probably my least favorite of the series, but I do have a new appreciation for it. I really like how Daine is meant to bring the animals, humans, and immortals together and the message of environmentalism. Also, I listened to this as an audiobook, which has a full cast and is amazingly executed. Daine doesn't exactly have a ton of character development, but she is forced to work past some prejudices, which is particularly interesting considering the reader has not been prompted to look deeper into this matter before.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (10/10)

This volume of MDZS was gut-wrenching in the best way. The emotion is palpable, and I found myself tearing up at multiple points. The culmination of Wei Wuxian's backstory is perfectly tragic, but there are some more lighthearted elements thrown in there. I think the character work is the strongest in this volume out of the five. Not only concerning Wei Wuxian, but Jiang Cheng as well, as the reader finally gets the answer to why he hates him so much. In the present (and in a moment or two in the past), the romance continues to develop very sweetly at a pace I greatly enjoy.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 5 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (9/10)

I really like the ending to MDZS; it pulls together all the plot strings very nicely but leaves some character ones dangling in a way that feels realistic but not unsatisfying. After the intensely traumatic events of the main plot, it makes sense that there would still be conflict and lasting effects from all the various deaths and betrayals and whatnot. Still, it is largely a happy ending, especially for the main character. I will say that except for the first few, the extras bored me a little. In my opinion, there's an undue amount of focus on characters that are really just boring or unlikable to me; I would have much rather preferred to see more about the main couple and major side characters, such as Jiang Cheng or the younger disciples.

Heart, Haunt, Havoc by Freydis Moon (6/10)

This one is a novella that is a blend between horror, urban fantasy, and paranormal romance, which sounds very interesting, but I ultimately found it lacking. In terms of what I liked, the romance is quite cute. Even for a novella it progresses way too quickly for my tastes, but they're sweet together. There's also some very interesting magic. Unfortunately, there's a lack of tension concerning the main plot; nothing is introduced to put the characters on a timeline. And then, despite the potential of the various kinds of magic, there is virtually no worldbuilding. It is not established whether magic, despite it being very common, is widely known or just easily identifiable to those in magical communities, and the rules of the three different kinds of magic introduced (ambitious for a novella) are hardly addressed. This was a mildly interesting, quick read, but I cannot think harder about it or I will get very frustrated.

Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce (10/10)

This was just a joy to reread, being my long-time favorite of the Immortals Quartet. This book marks a turning point as Daine becomes much more independent, exercising her powers for her own gain and ends, and the overarching plot of the series comes to a significant head. This is also the point at which the romance starts to be more heavily hinted at, and I don't care about the age gap, I think they're adorable and it's fiction. The worldbuilding is quite well done, introducing a whole new neighbor to Tortall. Carthak is very obviously based on Egypt, and I loved that Tamora Pierce made it very clear that although the current ruler is rather awful, Carthak is a hub of culture and learning, and even more advanced than Tortall in some ways, even if there are drawbacks to their society.

Year of Reaper by Makiia Lucier (CR, 10%)

I am only a little ways into this novel, but I am hesitant so far. I am personally not a huge fan of plague plotlines, and it seems that will be a major factor in this book; everything will lie on the execution. I don't often read male protagonists in YA novels, so I am interested to see what I think of Cas. (It's a little awkward that his name gives me flashbacks to my Supernatural days.)

The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente (CR, 13%)

After my last novella was a bit of a disappointment, this one seems incredibly promising. The premise is unique and grabs my attention, the last of humanity on a small nation built on the Pacific Garbage Patch, especially considering the situation of the main character, Tetley. Tetley also has a great voice so far; I hope her extremely unreliable narration lasts throughout the story.

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood (CR, 15%)

I am not particularly enjoying this book so far, but I hope that will change because it has nothing to do with the book itself and everything to do with the absolutely insufferable audiobook narration. I could hardly focus on the story with how exaggerated and childish the narrator sounded, so I will be switching to a typical book and will hopefully like it much more.

The Realms of the Gods by Tamora Pierce (CR, 72%)

Finishing up my Immortals Quartet reread, this audiobook is the opposite and lovely to listen to. I think I underestimated how much of a grip Daine and Numair have on me because they truly have invaded my brain. Plotwise, Tamora Pierce does a great job with the rules concerning her gods and working them into the story in present but not overpowered ways. Even though I don't really have many chances to listen to an audiobook right now, I hope to finish this one within the next week.

#books #reading update #wolf speaker #tamora pierce #immortals quartet #mdzs #mxtx #heart haunt havoc #freydis moon #emperor mage #year of the reaper #makiia lucier #the past is red #catherynne m. valente #the realms of the gods #love theoretically #ali hazelwood

[six-of-snakes]

Numair/Ozorne/Varice - you will never have my heart again

absolutely! (this turned out more dramatic than I'd planned lol and i definitely took inspiration from your posts on them, but I'm pretty happy with it! thank you for the prompt and happy new year <3)

"You will never have my heart again," Varice says. Her makeup is tear-streaked, her hair a rat's nest, but she meets Ozorne's furious gaze steadily. She draws in a shuddering, raggedly breath. "And I will never, never forgive you for what you did to him." Ozorne has the gall to laugh. "To Arram? Varice, darling-" "No," she says. He stares at her. He is adorned in the riches of his empire, and yet a single word silences him. A single word from her. A kitchen witch, she thinks, a worthless girl. She will not, cannot, forget that Ozorne gave her a chance to use her talents, to do what she liked, when no one else would. But she cannot forgive him, and she cannot love him. "I am not your darling, Ozorne. Not anymore." In the distance, a door splinters open, and stone blocks shatter on the floor. "Varice," Ozorne says, and there's real pain in his voice. She wavers, for a moment, a moment long enough to remember the way Numair looked at his execution, the desperate, betrayed look he'd given her before the axe came down. A chandelier crashes to the floor a few rooms away, and the building shakes. "You will never have my heart again," she repeats. Tears prick at her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall. She turns away from him, and maybe it's a bad idea, but he's already killed Numair. Nothing she does will stop him if revenge is what he wants. She starts for the door, and he doesn't stop her, not even when she pushes it open, or steps into the hallway. As the door creaks shut behind her to the cacophony of destruction, she glances back, despite herself. Ozorne watches her, fury and something that might be despair warring in his dark eyes. She draws a breath to say something, anything, to give closure to this tragedy, but the door closes before she can, and it's over. It's over: Ozorne and Numair and sugar-spun dreams of love and years of clinging to a teenage hope and a man who'd chosen again and again to break them. It's over, she thinks, and she doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.

read on ao3

#my writing #varice/numair/ozorne ot3 #tortall #tortall fanfic #numair salmalin #ozorne #varice kingsford #emperor mage

[reviewsthatburn]

The worldbuilding in EMPEROR MAGE focuses heavily on Carthak and almost completely ignores Tortall except when drawing some comparison between the two nations. It’s uncomfortably fascinated with slavery in Carthak, specifically with how it is carried out in the palace. It’s yet another white savior narrative (e.g. THE WOMAN WHO RIDES LIKE A MAN) in book three of a Tortall book. This is a bit subtler, since Daine had no intention of messing with the Carthaki way of life, slavery and all, but it turns out that some of the other characters have been actively involved at getting slaves out of the country. Daine’s goddess-driven involvement serves to mess things up for the Emperor, making Carthak much friendlier to Tortall than before their trip. Daine’s bonds with animals provide conversational opportunities for her to draw comparisons between slavery and the caging of animals. 

Full Review at Link.

#BookReviews #Fantasy #Not Recommended #carthak #tortall #emperor mage #tamora pierce #the immortals

[morphmaker]

The Immortals No. 8: The Fossils Unionized

#daine sarrasri #veralidaine sarrasri #the immortals quartet #emperor mage #carthak #zek #morphmaker arts

[chapter-title-tournament]

Round 2, Match 7

In Which Two Walls Are Explored By Vastly Different Methods (The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide, Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black)

Daine Loses Her Temper (Emperor Mage, Tamora Pierce)

#chapter title tournament #round 2 #tournament poll #the spiderwick chronicles: the field guide #emperor mage

[checkoutmybookshelf]

The Immortals Quartet

Time to chat about another of Tamora Pierce's beloved heroines and one of her early quartets. This is also the quartet that--in my entirely subjective experience--catches a lot of guff for its romance subplot. But we'll get to that. These are some of my favorite books of Pierce's, and I'm pretty sure that I read these after the Alanna and Kel books, although they were her second published quartet, coming before Kel. Let's talk The Immortals Quartet.

Veralidaine Sarrasri, unlike Alanna and Kel, is not originally Tortallen. Our girl is Gallan, and when we first meet her in Wild Magic, she is recovering from bandits sacking her village, burning down her house, and killing her family and all their animals. She's also desperate to hide what she thinks is a form of madness from every human she runs across, which gets really complicated when Numair starts teaching her how to harness her wild magic. And for just a hot second, can I say how much I love Numair in this series? He has just as much character as Daine and I am never NOT here for phenonemally powerful mages who are also basically oversized puppies.

Getting to watch Daine develop relationships with Numair, Onua, Alanna and George, the royal family, and the Queen's Riders is such fun, and so well done that when Daine finally feels safe enough to explain why she sometimes seems recalcitrant about her magic lessons it feels immensely earned. These relationships also become immensely foundational to the rest of the series, as does Daine's b-plot but still really compelling arc about hating Stormwings.

The Stormwing arc really finds traction in Wolf Speaker. In my experience, most people say that In the Realms of the Gods is their least favorite Immortals book, but for me, Wolf Speaker takes that prize. Not at all because it's a bad book, but for me it's the most forgettable of the four. Daine and Numair are investigating sus nonsense in Fief Dunlath, and there are blood rain and shape shifting/mind riding shenanagins and Daine begins to have holes poked in her Stormwing prejudice courtesy of Rikash Moonsword. It's a fine book, and the subplots with the wolves and ogres are compelling, but for whatever reason this book does not stick in my head.

The book that does stick in my head and is unequivocally my favorite of this quartet is Emperor Mage. This book follows the Tortallen peace delegation to Carthak, and geopolitical and divine shenanagins ensue. Dain's relationships with Kaddar and Ozorne--and particularly how Numair and Ozorne's history colors both those relationships--are again central to the plot. The Graveyard Hag is also actively throwing broom handles between the spokes of Daine's wheels by giving Daine the power to bring skeletons to a seeming of life.

That gets absolutely amazing because the Graveyard Hag wants Daine to reanimate human skeletons, but Daine makes the PHENOMENAL point that humans forget literal walking nightmares really fast. What humans don't recover fast from is when you literally raze their centers of government to the ground, including food stores, records of all kinds, and the freaking treasury. So instead of making human skeletons dance through the streets, Daine reanimates DINOSAUR SKELETONS and wrecks absolute shop. It's amazing, I wouldn't change a thing.

The other thing I love about this book is Numair yo-yoing between being an experienced intelligence operative and black robe mage and a complete idiot. He is tangled up in plans to free slaves and overthrow Ozorne and yet he still somehow manages to forget all of that and swing at Ozorne when he suggests that Numair is banging Daine. Numair. Honey, sweetie, friend, you cannot be THAT much of an idiot. And the best part is, at least three other characters call him on that idiocy. This book is fantastic.

In the Realms of the Gods is the book that, in my experience, gets the most flak from fans. My experience has been that people object to the student/teacher dynamic between Daine and Numair deveoping into a romance and the significant age gap between the two characters as the romance develops. People also seem to feel that this book is too long and drags in places. I don't tend to find that the book is draggy and long, but that tends to be a very "your mileage may vary" thing for readers.

In terms of the age gap and student teacher dynamics, I want to start off very clear: In real life, student-teacher relationships are never ok, are always predatory, and I do not support. However, to paraphrase Red from OSP, not every book that shows things that aren't unequivocally morally good do not need a "Do Not Try This At Home" sticker on the cover. Books don't have to be morally instructive, they don't have to show the best possible healthy relationships, they just have to be interesting. And honestly? I find Daine and Numair interesting. On top of that, Tamora Pierce is aware enough as an author that Daine and Numair actually do (however briefly) discuss the potential pitfalls of the age gap between them. They don't address the student/teacher thing, but then I wouldn't expect them to because that's not the relationship they have in this book. They are more partners than student/teacher. All this to say, I can understand why people dislike this romance, but I'm not here to throw shade, because honestly I enjoyed it.

I also enjoyed meeting and learning about Daine's parents, exploring the literal Realm of the Gods and all the wibbly wobbly timey wimey chaos shenanagins, and the conclusion of Daine's Stormwing arc. (And how dare Pierce make me cry that hard over Rikash. That was uncalled for.)

Overall, I deeply loved this quartet, and Daine is a welcome change from the very martial Alanna and Kel. She also represents an evolution of the magic systems in Tortall, which was really compelling and refreshing.

#tamora pierce #the immortals #the immortals quartet #daine sarrasri #numair salmalin #wild magic #wolf speaker #emperor mage #in the realms of the gods #ya fantasy #tortall universe #tortall #books & libraries #books and reading #books and novels #book recommendations #books #fiction

[theroyalyandere]

Hi! May I request some headcanons for the yandere emperor & a fire mage? Maybe a fire mage that works for him/the empire?

yandere!emperor x fire mage!reader

authors note: I would like to make this gender neutral if you don't mind :> I added some spicy scenes but not full on smut!

content warning ⚠️: dark content, yandere, murder, noncon/dubcon, kidnapping

let's set the scenario shall we? you first met the newly crowned emperor as the new fire mage of his empire

when he first laid his eyes on you, he thought you were the most loveliest being he has ever seen

he kept his eyes on you so intensely that he never looked at anyone inside that room besides you

his eyes tell a dangerous story, so you look away trying to focus on the words of your master introducing you and a few other mages to serve the empire

the emperor immediately approves and makes a request for his servants to escort all of you to your rooms

a week in the palace, the emperor always took time to visit the mages' chamber to check the latest updates on everyone's work but actually he's there just for you

he's always behind you, following almost breathing down your neck

he keeps asking so many questions you try to keep up with him as he is the emperor

everyday, despite his duties he always manages to find time to see you even during your times of relaxation

he's very possessive and obsessive, he found out your schedule through his spies and every person you interact with your daily life

if someone ever gave a hint of interest with you small or big, it doesn't matter because that person will be declared dead the next day

it worries you what has been happening around you, you later confided with the emperor who has now become a sort of companion to you despite his presence by your side making you isolate yourself from everyone else

his eyes had a glint but his words were full of reassurance that no harm will ever come in your way, just continue being his little mage and he will secure you for life

you did as you were told so, you were often called to be by his side to the point you couldn't even work properly due to the amount of time spent with him

he loves to see you perform your magic infront of him, always watching with a fascinated grin

he indulges you and your fixation towards your experiments and he always gave you the latest gadgets and things that would help you improve

he also moved your chambers right next to his without your permission, despite your protests he says it's for your safety and so you will no longer walk far from his own

he makes it very clear for everyone that you are untouchable

as your relationship progresses his actions became a little more... Intimate

you found his hand lingering with whatever skin he could find or brush his hands on it

he also has a thing with pressing your back to his chest

you would not resist fearing for his anger when he gets too close for your comfort then he breathes you in like a drug

he took a liking to showing you as you were his spouse by making you stand beside him at balls earning the stink eyes of the nobles and whispers

it would definitely reach to him and immediately that person is either dead or fallen from nobility

one of the mages bitterly expressed the obvious favoritism towards you and the next day they were found dead

you grew cold when you found out, it's no denying who's the cause behind the deaths that has been circulating

however you are not a fool and you kept your mouth shut despite the urgency to run away because you no longer felt safe

the emperor could sense your anxiety and he knew it's only a matter of time he has to make extreme actions to keep you by his side

despite your magic he is still smarter than you

you thoroughly made a plan on how to escape the capital and yet to no avail you found yourself cornered by his men

you used your magic against all of them defeating some but they did not relent and still decided to pursue you

you felt something hit you and you fell unconscious

when you wake up, you are in a extremely dark place only wearing a thin robe with shackles around your wrists and ankles making you immobilized

your struggle echos and soon the door opens with the emperor coming in with a dim expression on his face he sits infront of you and tries to brush your face but you turn away

you beg him to let you go and stop the madness but your begging only spurned him on

"you think you could run away from me my love? I am not the emperor for nothing dear. you should never underestimate me. ever. again." he says with a growl his expression almost looks manic

it scares you what he has turned into

he gets on top of you and you try to kick him away

"tsk tsk, stop being defiant now obey your emperor and submit. I will guarantee you everything you want if you obey me."

he places his hand around your throat to stop the flow of oxygen and slowly your movement ceased then he let go

he gets closer to your face and licks the tears streaming down your eyes, his hands untying the thin robe covering your body

your nakedness makes your vulnerability even worse as your stomach fills with dread with what is about to come

his hands rub and grope your skin making you nauseous with his actions

he breathes raggedly almost salivating at the thought of consuming you whole

you cry out more

"If you don't stop from being naughty, I guess I have to go with the rough way."

okay this is kinda meh I'm sorry 😞

#yandere x reader #yandere oc #yandere oc x reader #royal requests #yandere #yandere emperor x reader #gn reader #gender neutral reader #mage reader #yan emperor #yandere emperor #mage!reader #yandere x gn!reader #yandere x gender neutral reader

[dr-dendritic-trees]

So we all basically agree that Daine would have honest to god eaten Ozorne given the opportunity? Right? Not just me?

#tempests and slaughter #emperor mage #i'm pretty sure she would and 5% of me wants to write that #the other 95% is crying and writing 5 simultaneous fix-it fics so someone can hug this pitiful wreck of an overpromoted graduate student