Tortall: A Spy’s Guide

Summary:

The secrets of Tortall are revealed…

As Tortall’s spymaster, George Cooper has sensitive documents from all corners of the realm. When Alanna sends him a surprising letter, he cleans out his office and discovers letters from when King Jonathan and Queen Thayet first ascended the throne, notes on creating the Shadow Service of spies, threat-level profiles on favorite characters, Daine’s notes on immortals, as well as family papers, such as Aly’s first report as a young spy and Neal’s lessons with the Lioness. This rich guide also includes the first official timeline of Tortallan events from when it became a sovereign nation to the year Aly gives birth to triplets. Part history, part spy training manual, and entirely fascinating, this beautiful guide makes a perfect gift and is ideal for anyone who loves Alanna, King Jonathan, Queen Thayet, Kel, Neal, Aly, Thom, Daine, Numair, and the unforgettable world of Tortall! (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Review:

This is one of those revisits of world-building that is both lovely and a letdown at the same time.  Lovely because we get an insight to little snippets of fun from different characters, but also a letdown because you’re always left wanting more and wishing a specific topic had been explored in more detail.  Aspects that I loved (like the cook’s journal) may be boring for someone else and aspects that was a little too long for me (spying guide) may be another’s favorite. 

There are definitely some fun insights that I won’t mentioned because of spoilers, but I will say that some of my favorite moments are in the form of snarky annotations by the characters and teasers to how the children of much-beloved characters are going to develop.  

Rating: 4 stars!

Who should read it? Diehard fans of Tortall looking for a little more insight to some of their favorite characters.   I would say reading it after the Trickster’s Choice series would be appropriate chronologically.