The Will of the Empress (The Circle Reforged Series #1) Book

As a young girl growing up, I devoured anything with swords, knights, magic, medieval themes. I even owned my own wooden sword, my name engraved in the hilt, and eagerly persuaded the sons of family friends to teach me to sword fight. For a time, my reading centred around The Hobbit, Narnia, nonfiction about castles - and Tamora Pierce. Her writing was a lifeline in an inundation of male-centric fantasy. Her characters had a knack for inclusiveness and diversity before it was even considered a conversation worth having (how embarrassing for the genre - how embarrassing for the world!).

So no, maybe all her works aren't perfect. Maybe there's further to push, maybe she sometimes gets it wrong, maybe the stories aren't all as vibrant or fluid as they could be (most are, though). But they taught me, or at least cemented my beliefs: Women can do anything, can be knights and slay monsters. Men can do anything, can be gentle and quiet and create life. Any person of any gender should not have to prescribe to stereotype. Never take no as an answer - unless it hurts someone. Consent is everything. Love can be between anybody, of any gender, any race, and that is beautiful.

This is all relevant to this book, I promise.

The Will of the Empress picks up the disparate threads of Tamora's Circle quartets, bringing the four main characters back together in a space filled with tension and conflicts, both within and without. And I thought it was done beautifully.

The story is a little slow, with a wild-rush finale, but I loved it for this. The slowness of pace allows the tension to build, allows bonds to be broken and remade, before the climax forces these bonds to be tested to their limit.

Daja was always my favourite of the Circle, without question, and is even more firmly so after reading this. To have read so many negative reviews of this book that are purely because Daja has a relationship with a women - are you fucking serious?! There are even comments such as "how could you ruin my favourite character in this way".

Firstly, why the shock that Tamora has written a gay couple? As if she hasn't before - and explicitly within this series too - as if Rosethorn and Lark never existed. And secondly, someone please explain to me exactly why this is so wrong, without mis-quoting out of context a self-contradicting book written forever ago. I won't even pretend that there is a valid argument to have, but explain away. Go on.

Daja is fantastic, has always been fantastic, her metal-working is kickass (and as an artist I am forever envious) and I seriously hope that the final book of this trilogy comes out soon as we have waited long enough. I want her happy ending!