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Mood: Happy ]
[ Currently: Writing My Blog – No, I am not multi-tasking this one time! ]
Just finished the first book in Tamora Pierce’s The Legend of Beka Cooper this morning, and I really want to know why Pierce is not a better known children’s author.
Publisher’s may be touting other authors as the "Next Rowling", but this woman is it. She has created a complex world, with strong protagonists, and like Rowling, Pierce doesn’t shy away from the darker side of life.
Terrier tells the story of Beka Cooper, a new recruit for the Provost’s Marshals in the capital city of Tortall. The Marshals are the police of the city. Beka has been assigned to the Lower City, the poorest and roughest of the city’s districts.
And this is where Pierce’s world building shines. She pulls no punches about Beka’s chosen profession. The merchants and thieves bribe the Dogs every week. It’s how business is done. There are corrupt dogs who look the other way, others who are drunk on duty and others who die. Still, there are those who take the job seriously and do their best.
And once again, Pierce has created a strong, confident heroine who is addled by the presence of boys. I like that in a girl. In addition, Beka possesses a small magic of being able to speak to spirits. Some of them are spirits of the dead who cling to pigeons. Others are spirits that create dust spinners in corners of streets, collecting the sounds of humanity that passes by them.
I am revising my first comment, why isn’t this woman better known as an author PERIOD. This is some of the better fiction I have read in a long time. The last 250 pages of this book kept me up late and delayed my breakfast.
Go get this book and read it. You won’t be disappointed.