I've loved Tamora Pierce since I was a kid and I remember being so excited when she announced there was going to be a series on Numair back when I was in high school. It's been ten years since then, and I was so excited to pick this up, and it did not disappoint.

It's strange to review this book because it's so thoroughly spoiled for me, and the way I think about it is in the context of spoilers, having read the books that come later in the Tortall universe (mainly The Immortals, but also others). I can't think about this book and not think about everything I know that's going to happen, about Ozorne and Sarge and Lindhall and even Tristan. And it feels as though it was written intentionally for those of us who will have been spoiled. I think it can be enjoyed by anyone, but I wouldn't recommend this as a first Tamora Pierce book. I think her others do a better job of setting up the world.

My biggest critique was the lack of a general story arc. There isn't much plot. Arram does a lot of things, but they aren't a story arc. There isn't really a climax. It's sort of just a typical school story where extraordinary things happen, but they don't necessarily build to anything important. I really like that in realistic fiction, but I found it a bit disappointing here. It wasn't awful to read (clearly, I sill gave it 4 stars), but I love Pierce's dramatic climaxes and really missed it here. That's another reason I wouldn't recommend starting with this book as your first of hers. I expect the rest of the series will be better in this regard, just knowing what's to come.

I also found the time passage a little difficult to follow. The only way I could keep track was dates, and I don't enjoy that in a book. I'd rather get a good grasp from the narrative itself, but it was so fast paced that it was difficult. The book covered five years and it felt like I never new if two months had passed or two years. Not a huge problem especially since we were given dates, but still a minor annoyance.

Another critique that's more of Pierce's work as a whole than this particular book is how good her main characters are. They're always so good in the moral sense of the word. They hate bullies and stand up for those who are weaker and fight against prejudice and slavery. They're guided by strong moral compasses more than anything else. Which is fine for a book, but it does get kind of tiring when it's every single book she's written. It would be more interesting if a kid who grows up in a society where slavery is normalized learns to hate slavery, rather than just instinctively hating it from childhood despite going against his family and culture. And again, I wouldn't be bothered by it if it was just this book, but I've read every book she's published, and that kind of gets to be a lot.

Overall, I did really love it. It went by so fast and I loved the experience. It was fun to get to know Arram as a kid. He's such an interesting person, and I'm excited to see him grow into his powers and personality more. And this is one of those series that feels like it's going to get better because there's so much more to come. This book was fun and interesting, and learning all about the Imperial University was great. She hasn't explored magical schools before in this world and I loved it.

She does such a great job with having a large cast of characters and giving them all such strong personalities, but of course it helps that I've met most of them before in previous books. I honestly can't wait for the next book in the series because I expect it will be even better.