Tempests and Slaughter

The Numair Chronicles, Book 1

By: Tamora Pierce

Narrated by: Ari Meyers

Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

The new, highly anticipated Tortall Legend from Tamora Pierce, the number one New York Times best-selling author who is legend herself, is a must-listen for any fantasy lover!

Arram. Varice. Ozorne. In the first book in the Numair Chronicles, three student mages are bound by fate...fated for trouble....

Arram Draper is on the path to becoming one of the realm's most powerful mages. The youngest student in his class at the Imperial University of Carthak, he has a gift with unlimited potential for greatness - and for attracting danger. At his side are his two best friends: Varice, a clever girl with an often-overlooked talent, and Ozorne, the "leftover prince" with secret ambitions. Together, these three friends forge a bond that will one day shape kingdoms. And as Ozorne gets closer to the throne and Varice gets closer to Arram's heart, Arram realizes that one day - soon - he will have to decide where his loyalties truly lie.

In the Numair Chronicles, listeners will be rewarded with the never-before-told story of how Numair Salmalín came to Tortall. Newcomers will discover an unforgettable fantasy adventure where a kingdom's future rests on the shoulders of a talented young man with a knack for making vicious enemies.

©2018 Tamora Pierce (P)2018 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"Tamora Pierce's legions of fans will be not be disappointed with what could easily be mistaken for a full-cast performance of her long-awaited novel by narrator Ariadne Meyers.... Meyers ably provides a wide range of voices for the mages, beings, students, and gods, as well as a light, smooth narrative. Standouts are the three students; Enzi, the crocodile god; and the university's mages. Listeners will eagerly await the next installment." (AudioFile)

"Tamora Pierce creates epic worlds populated by girls and women of bravery, heart, and strength. Her work inspired a generation of writers and continues to inspire us." (Holly Black, number one New York Times best-selling author)

"Few authors can slay so effectively with a single sentence - I mean fist-in-the-air, shouting-at-my-book slay - as Tamora Pierce. All these years later, I still draw strength from her words." (Marie Lu, number one New York Times best-selling author)

great origin story of epic characters

this is a great story that really seems to set the foundation of several epic characters and many more awesome books to come set in a spectacular world. excelent character and world building.

Numair!

I love this production, my only criticism is that there are characters that the narrator portrayed as really old and they are not - like Lindhall Reed. Aside from that, it flowed really well.

Solid new story in an underexplored region

I was really excited to finally get Numair's character fleshed out a bit. Him and Daine were a cute match, though the age difference was off putting, but I always felt he was a bit 1-dimensional outside of his relationship. Hearing Tamora write from a male perspective, which is unusual, was quite enjoyable. Numair seemed overly naive though smart, and seeing his friendship with the future emperor fail (as a reader of her other series would know) added quite a bit of suspense. I'm excited to learn more about some of the unsolved mysteries introduced in this book.

Delightful performance and wonderful story

I really love this book, it’s refreshing when the author switches the POV to a boy character. The performer was wonderful! Many of the characters has their own distinct voice and I was delighted to notice that as the main character got older, the voice changed subtly.

I freaking loved this story!

I had had some trepidation about starting this book, in part due to the fact that I love Tamora Pierce... I know that doesn't make sense, but let me try to explain. Tamora Pierce hasn't done a new book in her Tortall universe in years, and not just a couple of years, but like 7 years... the last book was Mastiff, in the Beka Cooper trilogy. And here, she's going back to a character introduced in (I believe) her first and again in her second series, In (The Song of the Lioness) he showed up briefly, and then again in The Wild Magic quartet, which she finished up in 1988. I was really afraid that after all these years she would take this wonderful and mysterious character,  Mage Numair, and somehow "eff" it up for me, if it hadn't been for the assurances from my daughter (now a grown woman, who LIVED for these stories while she was growing up) I may never have read this book!
I FREAKING LOVED this story ... and Tamora Pierce finally chose to write a series from a male perspective, and I gotta say, she did it very well! I have to admit that I was also surprised by the fact that a woman was picked to narrate this story... I always thought the gender of the narrator was dictated by the protagonist. But I fell in love with Aria Meyers' narration, and realized that she was a perfect pick for the book!
I felt like Tamora Pierce made a huge nod, almost an homage, to another great author, T.H. White and his classic, The Once and Future King (this made me happy). I may be out in left field, but it's what I think...
With this story she took Numair and gave him a backstory about his training, where he found new friends, and started learning how to control his significant magic powers. This story is fantastic, and I strongly suspect the books to follow are going to be simply  amazing. I can hardly wait for the next book. Let's just hope that I don't have to wait too long!

WOW

This is the best of all her series. The best narrator and the most exciting story-telling. This is the beginning of a tie-in with the best main creators of former stars into a big, big showdown coming in the future along with a new mage that I already love, He is a sweetheart. Jump in and enjoy with me.

Amazing debut novel but

Waaaay toooooo loooong
Very unsatisfactory ending as nothing ties together or is resolved
Very weak narration - I would rather a male voice for sure
At least the adults are on the scene in this story unlike in the potter series where the adults couldn’t find their way out of a wet paper bag
This one is Hercalean in its scope but I don’t think I could bear another
Good luck

Absolutely Magical 🎉

This book was amazing and fun. I have waited years for this book and it didn't disappoint. I can't help but love Tamora's world and the characters that inhabit it.

can't stop listening

I've always loved her books I feel as if this one took a more mature tone

love the story but odd in consistency

This was great but left me with so many questions. this is a prequel the comes before some of the other tortall books, which means in Wild Magic (spoiler alert) we meet Numair and later near the end conflict he said he has no healing magic and most of the useful magic he knows was learned after he left school.