Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales

By: Tamora Pierce

Narrated by: Becca Battoe, Cassandra Campbell, Cynthia Holloway, Linda Korn, Ann Marie Lee, Susane Lee, Shannon McManus, Ariadne Meyers

Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Collected here for the first time are all of the tales from the land of Tortall, featuring both previously unknown characters as well as old friends. Filling some gaps of time and interest, these stories, some of which have been published before, will lead Tammy's fans, and new readers into one of the most intricately constructed worlds of modern fantasy.

©2011 Tamora Pierce (P)2011 Listening Library

Absolutly perfect! I loved it!

Just like each and every single book by Tamora Pierce, absolutly fantastic! I grew up with the story about Daine and have enjoyed listening to every story published by Pierce since.
The narrators are chosen well, the stories in this book not too long (or rather, some are to short for my taste...^^) and as always, interesting yet easy to listen too. I loved that we got to know more about the Darkings, who have been my secret favorites and especially to finally meet Kitten again, who I have adored since I first read about her and who I have missed in the Trickster books!
Of course Daine beeing my favorite heroine I was happy to meet her again too.
I can only recomend this book to every young adult (especially girls, though boys can read/listen it too) and even for older people who like fantasy.

Good Listen!

This is a good listen if you have any familiarity with Tamora Pierce's series' in Tortal and the Circle Opens. It also has short stories that occur elsewhere. I enjoyed the listen, and the reader has an excellent voice. I recommend this to regular readers and listeners of Tamora Pierce, but read or listen to the other books she has written or you may become a little lost.

A feminist perspective of Tortall and Other Lands

Let me start by saying I love Tamora Pierce's writings and I will continue to love them forever.

I didn't realize how much feminism was present in her writings until this anthology. Part of this might be that I'm taking a women, sport, and culture class and quite a few stories in this anthology could be included in our class materials. But really, while listening to this book, just listen. There are definite styles of feminism in these stories ranging from liberal feminism to marxist feminism and just about everything in between.

I loved seeing some of my favorite characters come back up- Numair, Kitten, Aly and Nawat. It was great to meet new characters as well and see the effects of some stories from previous books. I hope she does more anthologies like this in the future.

Overall, Wonderful. I loved it.

Great Short Story Collection

Would you consider the audio edition of Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales to be better than the print version?

I would. While print is great, I think that having different narrators for each story gives them a new life. I had read one of the short stories, Elder Brother, in print and I think that when you've got the audio it's almost like being inside that character's mind. You hear it through their voice.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Kylaia, from Student of Ostriches. I really liked this story of a young woman who was so observant of nature, and who learned from watching animals. She learned from the world around her, and showed wisdom, understanding, compassion, and strength of will.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

I really enjoyed the narrator of the Huntress.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not that I can think of particularly.

Any additional comments?

If you are a Tamora Pierce fan, this short story collection is great. My only complaint is that some of the stories are in Tortall, some in Emelan, and others in contemporary America and I would've liked some sort of introduction that included the world setting...it's jarring if you think that it's set in Tortall and then they start to talk about NYC. You can figure it out, and maybe this is more clear in the print version, but just a head's up on that.

Barely tolerable

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I could not make it through this. I enjoy Tamora Pierce books. I have many of them. Many are Full Cast audio. The ones that aren't have good readers. The readers of the stories I listened to seemed to fall into three groups; barely adequate, don't fit story or awful.

Would you recommend Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales to your friends? Why or why not?

The stories are interesting. I would recommend others to read them rather then listen to this performance.

How could the performance have been better?

A better selection of fitting the voices to the stories. Some of the readers are barely adequate and should be eliminated all together.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No, and that is because I rarely go to movies. Many of these stories are dependent upon some knowledge of many characters, and situations from full length novels. That makes them a poor candidate for movies.

Any additional comments?

No

A wonderful accumulation of stories

All of the stories were so enjoyable. I look forward to sharing them with friends.

Wonderful Collection

I love the way Pierce writes and her characters resonate with me in so many ways. Since I already have a print copy of this, it was interesting to hear it read in different voices than my own. It was also good to hear names pronounced the way Pierce intended them...

Thank you

this collection made me absolutely happy from the bottom of my heart a big thank you U2 tomorrow who wrote this to all the the people who who recorded this and for audible to upload this this this was a thing I never knew I needed

Wonderful

I grew up with the Tortall books so reading this collection at 28 felt very special & lovely indeed especially now that I am physically disabled & in need of escapes.

Who allowed pronunciations?

While the stories are good, the people reading are horrible! Especially when you hear the rest of the books! Kaddar pronounced "kA-dr", Nawat and Numair are even butchered! I couldn't finish this as an audio book! I've read the book before, but this was a major letdown!