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Book #40: Mastiff, by Tamora Pierce (the long version)
I am going to attempt to review this book.
It may end badly.
If it ends at all. ;)
In 2007, I started working at the Book Cabal for...no wait, that's not where this story starts.
Once upon a time, I read everything. Then I stopped. For some reason, even though Lil told me to read Tamora Pierce, I didn't read it. Maybe I was feeling contrary. But then one Sunday in second (third? yes, definitely third) year,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eldanna and I went to the park and I bought "Alanna" and "Daine". Then I read them all. Quickly.
I loved them, of course, and in the summer of 06 I added Kel, and since I couldn't find a complete set of the Circle books, I got them from the library. When I was in England, I discovered Aly's stories. And every time, Tamora Pierce gave me a fabulous female character, fabulous female back up characters, andGeorge Cooper fabulous male characters as well.
More than characters, it was issues. Love, gender, identity, tolerance, acceptance, even bizarre things like the use of fur. Every time, I would wonder "what could she possibly do next?" and every time, the answer would be amazing.
This brings me to 2007, and working at the Book Cabal, where I learned that she had a new series about a new character, who was neither a knight nor a mage.
That's how I met Beka Cooper, Provost's Dog. We started with Terrier, and then Bloodhound, and then waited MORE THAN TWO YEARS for Mastiff.
And, really, it was worth the wait.
Everyone has (or could have) that one author. I always thought mine was going to be Marion Zimmer Bradley. I was wrong. Tamora Pierce always manages to work issues important to her into her novels, whether it's the use of fur or who a person loves, and it never feels soap-boxy or forced. I want to be like her when I grow up.
But enough about me!
So, Mastiff. SPOILERS!!!!
You know what? I'm going to start at the end. With Tunstall. And the excruciation of his end.
This is what I wrote after Bloodhound: How awesome is it going to be to have Tunstall and Beka partnered up in the last book? I almost cried when I realized he was going to miss most of this book, but the end made up for it. And more Tunstall means more Sabine, so WE ALL WIN.
This must be how Mark from MarkReads feels about stuff. Because, really, NO ONE WON ANYTHING AT ALL. In fact, I CRIED ALL THE TEARS. Here are, in order, the thoughts I had when Tunstall's betrayal became apparent:
1. WHAT THE FRAK?
2. WHY DIDN'T SHE JUST KILL THE DOG? (I have no soul you guys. NONE AT ALL.)
3. MAYBE HE IS UNDER A SPELL!
4. DAMMIT, PLEASE BE UNDER A SPELL!
5. WE'VE KNOW NOMALLA FOR TWO SECONDS AND SHE GETS A REPRIEVE?
6. OH, GOD, GOODWIN!
I wish I could say that it was random or character assassination or SOMETHING, but OF COURSE I CAN'T. There were several times during the book, after Queensgrace, when I thought to myself "God, Tunstall! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" AND THEN I FOUND OUT AND IT WAS THE SADDEST THING OF MY EVER!
So I cried a lot.
And then I KEPT CRYING, because after Tunstall died, EVERYTHING BECAME AMAZING. I realized that I was going to 'ship Farmer with Beka about ten seconds after meeting him (Rosto, who?), so when they just clicked and started making out in prison, I was pretty much over the moon. Also, he was a practical Mage, and I ADORE HIM FOREVER (except I like Numair more, because I am not a fickle person. Really!).
Anyway, so when they hooked up, I was pleased, and then they talked like grown-ups, and I was pleased, and then BEKA PROPOSED and I was pleased, AND THEN FARMER TOOK HER NAME AND EVEN THOUGH I KNEW IT HAD TO HAPPEN I PRETTY MUCH DIED ON THE SPOT.
(Seriously, you guys. I think I was crying so hard at this point I woke the dog. It took me a while to get all the tear stains off my glasses, because they hardened overnight!)
AND THEN THE ACTUAL END HAPPENED and MUCH FLAILING WAS DONE BY ALL.
(Again, quite seriously. I got up at 4AM for work to discover thatemmaorgana was STILL UP AND WAITING FOR ME so we could flail for the three minutes I had available to her.)
Anyway, The Central Issue of the book was slavery, beginning with the dedication (which also, for the record, made me cry). It remains the central issue from the book, and at the conclusion, after the King's Proclamation, Beka realizes that it's not really a solution, that the battle still has to be fought...but Gary is four and they've both got time, and we know it works!
Speaking of "knowing", I HATE THE CULT OF THE GENTLE MOTHER! Seriously, I should like to punch them in the "peace of their hearts". I did like the part where Sabine so thoroughly played them. What sticks with me the most is a line of Pounce's about how the boys will grow up not knowing what girls are, and the girls will do the same thing with the boys, and they'll just assume that the opposite sex is "unknowable" and NO ONE WILL EVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN (I may have added that last part), and, you know, this is kind of central to Sanctuary fandom, so it's not new to me, but now it's in a book for TEENAGERS and HAVE I MENTIONED LATELY THAT I LOVE TAMORA PIERCE?
*ahem*
I should talk about Beka. And how awesome she is. And how she really didn't love Holborn (and how he wanted her to be something else), but before she could call it off, he did something stupid and died. So she's not sorry, really. Or at least she's not as sorry as she thinks she should be. And since she's Beka, she INTERNALIZES THE CRAP out of it.
Of course, this plays into what happened with Tunstall and Sabine (OH, GOD, TUNSTALL AND SABINE! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?), but I loved, loved that Aniki, Kora, Sabine and freaking Ersken all knew too. That Beka didn't have to be alone. AND THEN SHE MET FARMER and now I get to live happily ever after. One of my favourite scenes in the book was the conversation between Sabine and Beka about it. I just...I LOVE THEM ALL.
And then Farmer, who is talented and NOT A JERK and hardworking and clever, came on scene, and they BOTH got what they wanted. I was afraid, for about fifteen seconds, that Farmer would turn out like Liam (not the "dead" part, but the "jerk" part), and then it just never happened and I was thrilled. And even though I did ship Rosto/Beka pretty thoroughly, I understand why it didn't happen, why Farmer is a better match, and HOLY GODS, HE TOOK HER FREAKING NAME.
I thought, back in 2009, that this was going to be the story of how we got George Cooper. And it kind of was, but it was also the story of SO MUCH MORE. I laughed, I cried (a lot), and then I laughed again. It was just...amazing. In every way.
So I am standing by last night's rating, which was 10,000/10, for being about hope, love, girls, awesomeness, and for making me cry like a crying thing for the last fifty pages or so.
It may end badly.
If it ends at all. ;)
In 2007, I started working at the Book Cabal for...no wait, that's not where this story starts.
Once upon a time, I read everything. Then I stopped. For some reason, even though Lil told me to read Tamora Pierce, I didn't read it. Maybe I was feeling contrary. But then one Sunday in second (third? yes, definitely third) year,
eldanna and I went to the park and I bought "Alanna" and "Daine". Then I read them all. Quickly.I loved them, of course, and in the summer of 06 I added Kel, and since I couldn't find a complete set of the Circle books, I got them from the library. When I was in England, I discovered Aly's stories. And every time, Tamora Pierce gave me a fabulous female character, fabulous female back up characters, and
More than characters, it was issues. Love, gender, identity, tolerance, acceptance, even bizarre things like the use of fur. Every time, I would wonder "what could she possibly do next?" and every time, the answer would be amazing.
This brings me to 2007, and working at the Book Cabal, where I learned that she had a new series about a new character, who was neither a knight nor a mage.
That's how I met Beka Cooper, Provost's Dog. We started with Terrier, and then Bloodhound, and then waited MORE THAN TWO YEARS for Mastiff.
And, really, it was worth the wait.
Everyone has (or could have) that one author. I always thought mine was going to be Marion Zimmer Bradley. I was wrong. Tamora Pierce always manages to work issues important to her into her novels, whether it's the use of fur or who a person loves, and it never feels soap-boxy or forced. I want to be like her when I grow up.
But enough about me!
So, Mastiff. SPOILERS!!!!
You know what? I'm going to start at the end. With Tunstall. And the excruciation of his end.
This is what I wrote after Bloodhound: How awesome is it going to be to have Tunstall and Beka partnered up in the last book? I almost cried when I realized he was going to miss most of this book, but the end made up for it. And more Tunstall means more Sabine, so WE ALL WIN.
This must be how Mark from MarkReads feels about stuff. Because, really, NO ONE WON ANYTHING AT ALL. In fact, I CRIED ALL THE TEARS. Here are, in order, the thoughts I had when Tunstall's betrayal became apparent:
1. WHAT THE FRAK?
2. WHY DIDN'T SHE JUST KILL THE DOG? (I have no soul you guys. NONE AT ALL.)
3. MAYBE HE IS UNDER A SPELL!
4. DAMMIT, PLEASE BE UNDER A SPELL!
5. WE'VE KNOW NOMALLA FOR TWO SECONDS AND SHE GETS A REPRIEVE?
6. OH, GOD, GOODWIN!
I wish I could say that it was random or character assassination or SOMETHING, but OF COURSE I CAN'T. There were several times during the book, after Queensgrace, when I thought to myself "God, Tunstall! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" AND THEN I FOUND OUT AND IT WAS THE SADDEST THING OF MY EVER!
So I cried a lot.
And then I KEPT CRYING, because after Tunstall died, EVERYTHING BECAME AMAZING. I realized that I was going to 'ship Farmer with Beka about ten seconds after meeting him (Rosto, who?), so when they just clicked and started making out in prison, I was pretty much over the moon. Also, he was a practical Mage, and I ADORE HIM FOREVER (except I like Numair more, because I am not a fickle person. Really!).
Anyway, so when they hooked up, I was pleased, and then they talked like grown-ups, and I was pleased, and then BEKA PROPOSED and I was pleased, AND THEN FARMER TOOK HER NAME AND EVEN THOUGH I KNEW IT HAD TO HAPPEN I PRETTY MUCH DIED ON THE SPOT.
(Seriously, you guys. I think I was crying so hard at this point I woke the dog. It took me a while to get all the tear stains off my glasses, because they hardened overnight!)
AND THEN THE ACTUAL END HAPPENED and MUCH FLAILING WAS DONE BY ALL.
(Again, quite seriously. I got up at 4AM for work to discover that
emmaorgana was STILL UP AND WAITING FOR ME so we could flail for the three minutes I had available to her.)Anyway, The Central Issue of the book was slavery, beginning with the dedication (which also, for the record, made me cry). It remains the central issue from the book, and at the conclusion, after the King's Proclamation, Beka realizes that it's not really a solution, that the battle still has to be fought...but Gary is four and they've both got time, and we know it works!
Speaking of "knowing", I HATE THE CULT OF THE GENTLE MOTHER! Seriously, I should like to punch them in the "peace of their hearts". I did like the part where Sabine so thoroughly played them. What sticks with me the most is a line of Pounce's about how the boys will grow up not knowing what girls are, and the girls will do the same thing with the boys, and they'll just assume that the opposite sex is "unknowable" and NO ONE WILL EVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN (I may have added that last part), and, you know, this is kind of central to Sanctuary fandom, so it's not new to me, but now it's in a book for TEENAGERS and HAVE I MENTIONED LATELY THAT I LOVE TAMORA PIERCE?
*ahem*
I should talk about Beka. And how awesome she is. And how she really didn't love Holborn (and how he wanted her to be something else), but before she could call it off, he did something stupid and died. So she's not sorry, really. Or at least she's not as sorry as she thinks she should be. And since she's Beka, she INTERNALIZES THE CRAP out of it.
Of course, this plays into what happened with Tunstall and Sabine (OH, GOD, TUNSTALL AND SABINE! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?), but I loved, loved that Aniki, Kora, Sabine and freaking Ersken all knew too. That Beka didn't have to be alone. AND THEN SHE MET FARMER and now I get to live happily ever after. One of my favourite scenes in the book was the conversation between Sabine and Beka about it. I just...I LOVE THEM ALL.
And then Farmer, who is talented and NOT A JERK and hardworking and clever, came on scene, and they BOTH got what they wanted. I was afraid, for about fifteen seconds, that Farmer would turn out like Liam (not the "dead" part, but the "jerk" part), and then it just never happened and I was thrilled. And even though I did ship Rosto/Beka pretty thoroughly, I understand why it didn't happen, why Farmer is a better match, and HOLY GODS, HE TOOK HER FREAKING NAME.
I thought, back in 2009, that this was going to be the story of how we got George Cooper. And it kind of was, but it was also the story of SO MUCH MORE. I laughed, I cried (a lot), and then I laughed again. It was just...amazing. In every way.
So I am standing by last night's rating, which was 10,000/10, for being about hope, love, girls, awesomeness, and for making me cry like a crying thing for the last fifty pages or so.