PierceFest: Wild Magic

In case you need a recap on what the heck Pierce Fest is, you can find that HERE. 

All caught up on that?

Well, now you need to get caught up on my The Immortals kick off post.

Now that you've read all of the relevant things, LET'S TALK WILD MAGIC.

Title: Wild Magic (The Immortals #1)
Author: Tamora Pierce
Release Date: December 1st, 1992
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Originally)
Page Count: 299
Source: Purchases
Rating: Animal House of Awesome

Young Daine's knack with horses gets her a job helping the royal horse mistress drive a herd of ponies to Tortall. Soon it becomes clear that Daine's talent, as much as she struggles to hide it, is downright magical. Horses and other animals not only obey, but listen to her words. Daine, though, will have to learn to trust humans before she can come to terms with her powers, her past, and herself.

[Summary Source: Goodreads] 

Daine. DAINE. Girl is my personal hero. I mean, she's this young girl whose whole world is completely destroyed by bandits, then she somehow pulls herself together and goes out to rebuild. That's when she meets Onua, who needs the help of someone who can help her wrangle ponies. So Daine, Onua and all of the animals begin the trek back to Tortall, where, UNSURPRISINGLY, the shenanigans begin. 

A STORMWING. STORM. WING. HIDE YOUR KIDS. HIDE YOUR WIFE.

What do these shenanigans entail? A man who can turn into a bird and gets stuck that way because a psychopath poisons him. Oh, and the only one who can save him is DAINE. So homegirl uses her crazy awesome magical powers to save the bird (AKA Numair AKA Arram) with a little help from my OTHER homegirl, Alanna, who's now married to George (I just can't even. My little girl's all grown up).

Is that supposed to be Cloud?

Anyway, after all of this, Daine makes it to the palace, where she proceeds to fit right in, even though she doesn't think it's possible to do so ever because of her crazy animal talking skills. But, like, this is Tortall and the palace and EVERYONE'S absolutely out of their mind at said palace. Especially our monarchs (JONATHAN I MISSED YOU. WHY DO YOU HAVE A GOATEE NOW?). 

I'm thinking these are the birds from the fight with the Stormwings.

So Daine's fitting in and she's even making friends, opening up to said friends and learning how to control her magic. Which makes me so happy because Daine is so young (13!!!!) and skittish and alone. And like, it's proof that while you might not fit in EVERYWHERE, there's always somewhere you CAN fit in - even if it IS in crazy Tortall (which is totally where I would want to fit in).

I SPY DAINE AND CLOUD AND NUMAIR.

I dunno, guys, I just want to hug and thank my favesies in Tortall (Alanna, Jon, George, Thayet...) for bringing Daine into the family. She needed the love just like I needed the love when I was  Daine's age reading this book. Okay, I didn't lose my whole family and get labeled as crazy by my village, but being 13 is hard and not everyone's going to be nice to you. Daine knows it, I know it. But these books totally made me feel better back in the day - and every lonely 13 year old needs a little bit of the hope Daine's story can lend 'em.

And if I can be totally honest with you guys? Not only did Daine's story give me hope, I also loved her powers best. Yeah, Alanna has kick as skillz and so does Jon - even Numair, who we just met - but Daine can talk to ALL OF THE ANIMALS, among other things. As an animal lover, I can get down with that.

This is the current cover. Which is like, eh. Whatever.

Ultimately, I think my favorite part about these re-reads is that it's the ultimate comfort food/clothing/bed/whatever. Yeah, I read this books at a time when I was less happy than I am now, but they were my comfort then and the familiarity and warmth remains until today. Obviously there's a lot of sentimentality here, but I think that everyone should really read ALL of the Tamora Pierce. Obvs I wouldn't recommend starting here, because OMG RE-MEETING ALANNA, GEORGE AND JON IS THE GREATEST EVER, but, feelings or not, I KNOW these short little books are WORTH IT.

Oh, and, another great thing about this book? Daine is 13 and there is NO love interest or kissing. This series starts Middle Grade and then there's GROWTH, same with Alanna. Daine's a real girl with real problems and we work through them WITH her. Is there romance here? Maybe later, but it's a natural progression - you feel the love grow and it's stunning. Gorgeous. Amazing. Just like Daine (and her DRAGON, Skysong/Kitten - yeah, she gets a dragon - AND her pony, Cloud).

Do you guys have feels about this series/Daine? How do you feel about the covers throughout the years (yeah, that's what all those images are)? And, most importantly, do YOU wish you had a dragon? Let me know in the comments below - and just so you know, there's only one answer to that last question.

OH AND THERE'S A GIVEAWAY YOU SHOULD ENTER.

THE PRIZE:

1 set of any Tamora Pierce series (which is, at max, FOUR books)

THE RULES:

1. The giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY, as long as Book Depository ships to you.
2. All entries will be verified, so please do not forget to include the correct information.
3. Winner will be contacted as soon as they are chosen. They will have 48 hours to respond with the pertinent information, or their win will be forfeit and another will be chosen.
4. The bloggers will not be held responsible for condition or timeliness of the book shipment, as they are being shipped by a third party organization. Please note that we will try to keep you informed of the status of your prize.

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