Friday, March 12, 2010

Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce

Book Two in the Beka Cooper trilogy. Click here for book one.

Plot: Beka Cooper is back, and now she's a Provost's Dog. When the economy of the city is threatening to collapse due to thousands of false silver coins showing up everywhere, Beka is sent with her old trainer, Goodwin, to a city the coins seem to be coming from. But Beka is not known here, and neither is she welcome. Beka needs to find the cole-mongerer - and soon!

Comments: I really liked this book, but unfortunately not quite as much as Terrier. I'm not sure why, either. I think part of it was the romance. I must admit, I hate romance. Let me set something straight: this is definitely not a romance novel! But there was someone...anyway, I don't particularly enjoy reading about feelings such as those, and they were certainly a big part of the book. That's probably just me. Maybe I felt like Beka was above feeling light-headed and giddy, beyond the wiles and flirtations of a handsome man. I guess I liked her better when she was all kick-butt and everything (don't worry - she kicks plenty of butt in here, too).

I also didn't like how so many characters from Terrier were absent in this book. There really weren't any familiar faces when Beka and Goodwin traveled to the other city. Though, once again, it's probably just me. I'm extremely sensitive to change, and I fall in love with characters in stories easily. The new characters introduced in this story were different than the ones I knew, which was refreshing and spiced up the story a little. Tamora Pierce has a knack for weaving words in such a way that they paint a vivid picture - no, they create a person. I can imagine each character as they come along, so well (yet simply) are they described.

I am impressed that this story is in no way similar to Terrier. I commend Tamora Pierce's imagination and writing skills! Some series repeat themselves, which is boring and uncreative, while this book is all new, totally different - and yet the same old Beka Cooper we all love.

Rating: I rate this book a six and three-fourths. A good book, even a great book, but I definitely preferred Terrier.

Note: Unfortunately, I heard the third and final book in the series, Mastiff (formerly titled Elkhound) will not be available until 2011. This means I'll have to reread Terrier (again) and Bloodhound before I can read Mastiff, because by then I'll have forgotten all but Beka's name. Well, maybe I'll have forgotten that too.

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