Tempests and Slaughter

***

3/5

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for giving me this book to review.

Tempests and Slaughter is the enjoyable prequel to the Immortals series, about Numair/Arram and I loved learning about his background. However, the main problem I had with this book was that there seemed to be no plot or purpose, and only very brief hints of the bigger story at play. It almost read like Arram’s diary, which meant there is a lot of dull moments but it was well written and had great character depth.

Numair was always a favourite character of mine in the Immortals books and it was great to see him as this bright inquisitive boy with a thirst for knowledge and a person who is genuinely good. I found it hard to connect to Ozone, probably because I know who he is in later books and this coloured my opinion of him, he is quick to change emotions, going from kind, gentle and loyal, to moody, volatile and aggressive. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Varice on this book as, in Emperor Mage she came across as an air-head, but in this book, we get to see she is a lively and passionate person who is often overlooked because of her talents.

While I was a bit disappointed in this book I am still looking forward to reading the next book, The Exile’s Gift. I would recommend Tempests and Slaughter to fans of Tamora Pierce’s books, especially the Immortals Series.