Once I was able to put aside all the holiday distractions, I jumped right into the book. Several times, I thought that I should stop reading and let you know what was going on. At one point, Pierce describes how the main character feels as he enters inside rock to help manipulate it. Pierce is brilliant at this kind of description. She makes you believe that the character is really experiencing elemental magic. Elemental Magic is the magic inside things that make the world, water, air, earth, rock, plants, animals. Well, that's how I understand it. I almost stopped reading just to share THAT with you.
Then there was a short interchange between the main character, Arram, and his roommate, Ozorne, that might foreshadow future difficulties. The interchange comes fairly early in the book. I wanted to tell you about it and wonder with you just what it might mean. I can't say anything else now, though.
Let's talk about Arram. He's eager, curious, and fascinated by his own Gift and the Gifts of others. He's a little slow to understand relationship politics. That makes him more lovable. He's genuinely kind and that shows up in the very first few pages. Adventures "happen" to him, usually because he tries to do something new. He never forgets a kindness. He greets each new experience with excitement. And, he has tremendous power.
His best friends are Varice, a quick careful girl, who loves kitchen magic (Elemental Magic in many forms) and Ozorne, the "left-over prince". They meet when Arram enters the University at the age of not-quite 11. They are together during most of the book except at the times that Arram's power is used by his teachers to perform necessary tasks - or when Ozorne is called to the palace for royal events - or when Varice works in the kitchen to earn money for her future.
I hope that Pierce will give Ozorne and Varice each their own volume. It is obvious at the end of this book that there is so much more to be told.
Now about the setting: Carthak is the biggest empire in the Islands. It is a country where the royal family, the nobles and the wealthy control everything. Slavery still exists and makes Arram very uncomfortable because his small country or principality has outlawed slavery. There is cruelty in this book - and political wrangling that sets the stage for future adventures. The times approximate the Roman Empire with the addition of magic. The country is tropical - no snow!
The Magic in this book includes spells, threads, potions, chants (although the chants are not shared with the readers) and the magic of animals, the elements, the lesser gods and goddesses, tribal magic, elemental magic - and the various jealousies and rivalries that exist among all these magics. IT'S AWESOME!!
And the Crocodile God... read the book.
