Bloodhound, by Tamora Pierce
Title: Bloodhound
Author: Tamora Pierce
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 532
Copy Origin: Purchased from Fishpond.co.nz
Get Your Own Copy From: Amazon.com, The Book Depository
Beka Cooper is finally a Dog-a full-fledged member of the Provost’s Guard, dedicated to keeping peace in Corus’s streets. But there’s unrest in Tortall’s capital. Counterfeit coins are turning up in shops all over the city, and merchants are raising prices to cover their losses. The Dogs discover that gamblers are bringing the counterfeit money from Port Caynn. In Port Caynn, Beka delves deep into the gambling world, where she meets a charming banking clerk named Dale Rowan. Beka thinks she may be falling for Rowan, but she won’t let anything-or anyone-jeopardize her mission. As she heads north to an abandoned silver mine, it won’t be enough for Beka be her usual “terrier” self. She’ll have to learn from Achoo to sniff out the criminals-to be a Bloodhound…
Warning: The following review contains spoilers for the previously reviewed Terrier.
I want to begin this review with the quote by the New York Times on the backcover of my copy of Bloodhound:
(Tamora Pierce’s heroines) faithfully reiterate an ideal - of feminine power that relies on brains, not beauty; of feminine attractiveness that relies on competence, not helplessness; and of feminine alliances that grow stronger, not weaker, in the face of conflicts.
We saw it in Tortall with Alanna, Daine, Kel and Aly; we saw it in Emelan with Sandry, Daja and Tris; and now we see it with Beka. She actually reminds me of Kel, in that she is strong, stubbon and caring and, for the most part, does her job without magic. Unlike Kel she does have some form of magic, but hearing the spirits of the dead riding on the backs of pigeons is not part of her day-to-day Dogging. She is tough, independant and boy oh boy is she stubborn at times. Basically, she is another wonderful Pierce heroine.
Bloodhound continues expanding on the world that we were introduced to in Terrier; now that Beka is a fully-fledged Dog, and a more confident one to boot, we see more about what the fully-fledged Dogs get up to. And Pierce introduces a new element of Dogging, but one that we are probably familiar with: scent hounds. Pounce (whose identity is confirmed in Bloodhound) takes a backseat in the partnership stakes, with the gap being filled by Achoo. Achoo is a scent hound so named for sneezing when she catches a scent, and she plays an important part in Dogging and in the plot. If you are interested in crime novels, and want to read a book in which police methodologies (or at least basic ones) are applied in a fantasy setting, Bloodhound (and Terrier before it) is for you.
Fans of Pierce’s other Tortall novels will be pleased to see other things connected to the characters we love but, in this world, are not born: we see mentions of familiar fiefs (Goldenlake, Olau) and even meet a Trebond noble with the same purple Gift that marks Alanna. And we learn the origins of the naming of The Dancing Dove and its role as the Court of the Rogue. However readers might also be disappointed (I was) at the lack of Rosto, but whenever he does appear or is mentioned his character steals the spotlight. He really does remind me of George, and the more I read of him the stronger that resemblance becomes.
Sexuality and gender (and attitudes towards it) play a part in this novel. We are introduced to a homosexual character and his transgender lover (who states that the Trickster tapped her her while in the womb, thus trapping her in the body of a man), and we see what could be the start of changing attitudes towards women with a new group promoting the image of the Gentle Mother - and possibly the beginning of the end of Lady Knights for some time. That is one more reason why I am going to be looking so forward to the last book in this trilogy, Mastiff.
Five stars.
Mirrored from On The Nightstand.