Customer Reviews

Bloodhound: The Legend of Beka Cooper #2

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'll start by saying that I normally don't like 1st person narratives and avoid them whenever possible. It took me a few months before I finally picked up Terrier, the first book in the series, and flipped through it in the bookstore. I ended up buying it, even though it was still in hardcover, which is another thing I normally don't do.

The second book, Bloodhound, is equally absorbing. I won't summarize the plot, as that is covered elsewhere, but I will mention a few things that I love about this particular series (note that these are geared towards current fans of Pierce's Tortall universe):

1.) Since the heroine of Bloodhound lives so many years before the time of Alanna the Lioness, there are key differences between the two timelines. In Beka's time Tortall has slavery and in Alanna's time Tortall does not. Beka's time has Lady Knights and Alanna's time does not. These differences make me anticipate reading how these changes come about.

2.) Beka works in the worst part of the capital city Corus. The world you see through her eyes makes the court world of Alanna and Keladry seem innocent and pampered. And yet, the book is not dark and gritty as you would expect. Seeing things through Beka's perspective gives color, humanity, and compassion to what could have otherwise been a very depressing atmosphere. I found that Beka's book gave the world of Tortall, overall, a greater richness and depth.

3.) From the very first few pages of Terrier, the first book in the series, I expected Beka to eventually end up with the Rouge (romantically). It seemed just perfect, considering Beka is the ancestress of the Rouge that Alanna eventually marries. It made me chuckle. However, Beka refuses to just fall in line with the inevitable plot mechanisms and continues to go her own way throughout Bloodhound, developing other romantic interests and growing as a character. If she ever does end up with the Rouge (which I still root for) it will be a relationship developed over time and requiring a lot of work from both parties - which is much more satisfying, I must admit.

I highly recommend this book to anyone age 10 to 100. It is an absorbing story that blends adventure, detective work, and fantasy. If you are like me, and don't usually like 1st person narratives, give this series a try - it might change your mind.

A note about adult content: Since the book deals with the criminal underworld (albeit a fantasy one) there is some adult content (example: murder), and Beka is involved in adult relationships. In my opinion this is no darker than found in the HP or Twighlight series, but if you are considering this for someone under 6th grade you may want to flip though it and determine your comfort level.

I've been waiting for this book for three years. I loved Terrier (The Legend of Beka Cooper, Book 1)--the first book in Tamora Pierce's Beka Cooper trilogy and I looked forward to spending more time in her company. I've been a Pierce fan for a long time now and with this series it was literally like coming home being back in Corus, the capital of Tortall. It was also a nice change of pace to have the story set a few hundred years before Alanna's time, and revolve firmly around the lower classes. Unlike Alanna's day, Beka's Tortall is a place where lady knights roam the countryside freely and girls can grow up to be part of the city guard if they want. That is exactly what Beka's alwasy wanted and, thanks to the Lord Provost's benevolence, she's able to escape the city slums and help support her mother and siblings on a Dog's salary.

In BLOODHOUND Beka finds herself typically partnerless. When one of the senior Dogs is laid up after a riot, Beka is temporarily partnered with her idol Goodwin and the two of them are sent to Port Caynn to run down the source behind a forgery ring that's been pouring silver plated copper "coles" into circulation throughout the realm. Transplanted out of her natural habitat, Beka is literally forced to step far, far outside her comfort zone in order to pass herself off as a flighty Dog who slides by on others' coattails and uses her womanly wiles to take credit for others' successes. Pretty much the polar opposite of her reserved, forthright, and honor-bound self. Going about her task with her standard single-mindedness, she doesn't expect to meet a young gambler who takes a romantic interest in her. She doesn't expect a mad Rogue who lets her people suffer and spends their takings. And she doesn't expect to be left alone.

BLOODHOUND weighs in at over 550 pages and the entire story is told through Beka's painstaking journal entries. This is a very interesting installment and not at all what I was expecting. The majority of the story simply follows Beka's daily movements as she prowls through Port Caynn, inserts herself into the underworld, and struggles with her growing isolation and strong need for companionship despite her at times overwhelming natural reticence. I missed Beka's circle of friends at home in Corus as they were absent the majority of the time. I missed Rosto and his prickly friendship with Beka, the way they stretch and counter each other. I found myself painfully uneasy as I watched Beka grow closer to the gambler/bank messenger Dale Rowan. In fact, I longed to step in and help Beka throughout this book. She is an amazingly strong character and I love her. I just wish she didn't have to stumble and fall sometimes. And I wish she didn't have to experience some of the pain she did. She deserves better and she can't seem to see a few very important things. At the same time I can be grown up about these things (honest I can) and recognize they were necessary and be okay with that. I am so very excited to read the third and final book in the trilogy--MASTIFF--due out sometime next year. Knock on wood.

Wow! Once again Tammy has done an incredible job of bringing us back into Beka's life and enfolding us in the sights, smells and ambiance of Corus and Port Caynn. There are many fascinating new characters and the fun of seeing what has happened in the lives of old friends. Above all, there is the hunt for a menace that could ultimately destroy the entire economic structure of the kingdom. As always, you're left waiting anxiously for the next book... Hmmm, maybe I'll have a Kindle 2 by then. :D

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I love, love Tamora Pierce's books, her first book Alanna, is what first got me addicted to reading, well that and my Dad who is also an avid reader. Needless to say I was beyond excited that another book set in her Tortall universe was coming out! My favorite thing about the the Beka Cooper series is the slang that the common city and street folk use in this book, occasionally I would have to look up what a word meant but there is at trusty glossary at the back of the book that came in handy so I didn't have any troubles. I also sometimes found myself talking like Beka after reading because their language stuck in my head after putting it down. Also this book is written in a journal like format from Beka's point of view which is a refreshing take on books written from first person. Tamora Pierce is well know for her strong female characters and Bloodhound shows that again and again with Beka and her partner Goodwin. They are strong, they can take care of themselves and they know how to have a good time. Beka's unusual 'magic' gifts are different and I was glad to revisit them again. The story kept me interested and turning pages for more. I had taken this book on my family's annual camp out and I didn't hear the end of it, everyone was quite annoyed that I couldn't put it down! I cannot wait to read more about Beka Cooper & company and I hope that the next book does take too long to come out

Tamora Pierce is one of the few authors whose books I buy sight unseen in hardback. Her books almost always fall into the category I call a "good read". But while I loved "Terrier" I"m afraid "Bloodhound" disappointed for several reasons.
1. The continued use of a "journal" format is irritating. First person has the advantage of being immediate, intense and personal but severely limits the POV. Third person gives more flexibility to the POV but you lose something of the intensity of first person. The Beka Cooper novels are using the worst of both worlds, First Person Ancillary, used by Doyle(Sherlock Holmes), Stoker (Dracula) etc. You have the limited POV of first person but eliminate any dramatic tension. The "Journal" format was irritating but bearable in "Terrier". However "Bloodhound" has additional difficulties which the 'Journal' format simply exacerbated.
2. A minor point, there are no bloodhounds in "Bloodhound". Bloodhound refers to a very specific breed of dog with strictly defined characteristics. Ah-chu might be a scent hound, but she"s not a bloodhound. If you"re going to write dog themed books you need to pay particular attention to the details. A larger fault was that Ah-chu played only a minor role. There was one very good scene with the search for a lost child. Then, very little until the final chase, which I found only mildly interesting. Certainly, IMO, it was not up to the chase in "Terrier" which gave Beka her name.
3. The counterfeiting, which was the heart of the book, fell sadly flat. Unfortunately this was not entire unexpected as Ms. Pierce herself said in "Words of Tamora Pierce, Bloodhound Progress Report #2" ". . . counterfeiting just doesn"t appeal to me as much as murder, epidemic disease, war, forest fires, and earthquakes do as plots." Supposedly there is a danger of riot, famine and disaster as the currency is debased by a flood of counterfeit silver coins. However the counterfeit coins are easily detected by simply scratching the surface to show the brass beneath a thin coating of silver. (It"s never revealed how this is done. Electroplating seems the only choice, yet the only technology mentioned are forges. NOT suitable for this kind of coinage.) The plot immediately falls apart, unless the reader assumes that Tortallians are universally too stupid to simply check suspect coins. And the news of such obvious fakes would spread quickly as is evident reading any historical account from almost any time or place. Further, a silver clad brass coin would not sound or feel like silver, even in the event no one ever did the simple scratch test. Real silver coinage has a distinctive "ring" to it if you hit one coin against another. (ancient coins may not as the metal crystallized with age). Real silver coins are also cooler to the touch, since silver is a better conductor of heat. And, finally, as Archimedes demonstrated in his bath, legitimate coins of a certain purity have an easily measured displacement. This last is important since successful counterfeiting of coins depends not on shoddy "plating" but rather on "shaving" of the coins (often by the issuing government- which is why some coins are minted with ridges around the rim, to show that the coins haven"t been shaved) resulting in a thinner coin or by debasing the alloy- adding a higher percentage of base metal to the silver. This is a much harder type of counterfeit to detect and would have made the entire plot believable.
4. Beka"s love life. The little side trips concerning Beka"s surging hormones seemed forced rather than evolving from or adding to the plot. Rather as if Ms. Pierce had some sort of contractual obligation to add a certain number of words per chapter dealing with lover and angst.
A good book, but not a great book. I love the characters and the characterizations and look forward to book three and hopefully many beyond. Sadly the plot for "Bloodhound" simply doesn"t live up to Ms. Pierces best and doesn"t do justice to the character of Beka.

This book is phenomenal! I really loved the first in the series (and yes, this IS the second in the series so you should check out the first one, Terrier) and was eagerly awaiting the second for a very long time now. I even pre-ordered it, to make sure I got it as soon as possible. And, when I finally got my hands on it, I was so excited I had to start reading right then. And once I started I couldn't put it down until I finished it...which was sometime around 6:00 or 7:00 the next morning.

I was surprised that Pierce didn't go into explanation of things this time around. The first book in the series started off by explaining WHY we were discussing Beka's story, but this book jumps right into Beka's journal, telling of her new status as a Dog, without preamble. Some people may find that difficult if they are reading this as a a stand-alone novel, so beware.

In case you don't know, this book is about a young Dog (the name for police in this fictional land and time) named Beka Cooper, who, if you know the other Tortall books by Tamora Pierce, then you should know that Beka is the ancestoress of George Cooper and his daughter, Alianne Cooper. Beka has gone through a lot of partners lately, but no one has been able to stick with her for long (one of them she even arrested herself...). While walking home from another partnership's end, she spots another Dog mistreating his bloodhound Achoo. Beka takes up for the poor dog and tells the creep off. Well, in return, he hands over Achoo's leash, laughing to himself that Achoo is her problem now.

Meanwhile, a counterfeiting problem is quickly spreading through the city. Everyone is starting to panic, and mobs are started at the way the merchants are raising prices to make up for the lost profit in fake coin. It is discovered that all the counterfeit coin seems to originate from another city. Goodwin, one of Beka's ex-Trainee Dogs, is sent to the other city to investigate and brings Beka Cooper along. And that's when this book really gets busy. In the other city, Beka finds a new love interest, some new friends, a lot of problems, and a whole host of clues in her search for the counterfeiters. Everyone is strangely jovial and no one in the city seems to want to talk about the counterfeit coin, let alone where they think it has come from.

This adventure in Beka's life is exciting, delightful, and just plain fun. I was disappointed that Pounce and Beka's magic did not play much of any role in this book, as I felt that Beka's detective work could have been improved with a little more of her interesting and odd abilities. Also, I wanted to see her magical abilities to grow and improve in this book. Another thing I was disappointed in was I kept waiting for Beka to do more detective work, but instead she was constantly undercover and flirting with her love interest. Most of the sleuthing is done in the last chapters of the book, very little of it was in the beginning or middle, so for those who loved Terrier (like me!), it will seem a little odd not to see Beka obsessing over her case throughout the book, which was a key part of her character in Terrier. The last thing negative I have to say about the book, was I was kind of bewildered by the fact that Tamora Pierce hasn't done anything what-so-ever to tie the series together beyond being about the same person. In all of her other Tortall series, Pierce had a ultimate villain that the heroine has to work to defeat throughout the series, connecting them all together. This series seems to just be a journal account of the life and times of Beka Cooper, which wasn't at all what I was expecting. I kept waiting throughout Bloodhound for some big enemy to appear that she will have to gradually work at defeating. But, low and behold, he never appeared.

Other than those small problems, I really, really enjoyed Bloodhound. The journal-entry format threw me off at first in this series, but the great writing that Pierce is so famous for saved these books in spite of that fact. I couldn't imagine a Beka Cooper book without the journal format now, and am looking forward to the next book in the series (please let it come out next year!).

Happy reading everyone!

Rebekah "Beka" Cooper is now a Dog, a fully qualified member of Provost's Guard, which is basically the police force in Corus, the capital of Tortall. Beka is a natural at Dog work, she's observant and persistent, but her magical traits set her apart from the rest, she has the ability to gain information from the spirits that attach themselves to pigeons and the dust and dirt that swirl on the ground called dust spinners. These skills along with the help from the company she keeps make Beka a skilled Dog.

Beka has been a Dog for five months at this point, and her fourth partner has just decided to leave her, which sends her back to her (amusing) training Dogs, Tunstall and Goodwin. One her first day back with Tunstall and Goodwin, they learn of counterfeit silver coins being used throughout Corus, which begins their investigation on the subject. On the second day, the merchants raise their prices in order to cover their losses, which cause a riot in the Lower City. During the riot, Tunstall is injured and in trying to get him to safety, they meet a group of men from a security caravan, who turn out to be quite useful to them.

After the riots, it's found that the counterfeit coins are being brought in by gamblers from Port Caynn and the Port Caynn Dogs don't seem to be doing anything about it. With Tunstall on bed rest, Cooper and Goodwin are sent undercover to Port Caynn to try and locate where these fake coins are coming from and who is sending them out into the mainstream. Beka and Goodwin must explore the deep world of gambling and find the root of the problem, in a strange city.

Along the way, Beka sees Dale Rowan, a bank courier that sometimes works on the caravan, whim she met in the riot. Dale becomes more than just someone to help the women learn about the gambling places, and the eating houses that could help aid them, he becomes someone Beka really begins to like. He is handsome, buys her fine gifts, and becomes a bedmate for her, all in a matter of days. There is just enough romance that you almost want to root for him, but personally I am still rooting for her and Rosto, the Rogue of Corus.

With the help of the adorable Achoo, Beka's new scent hound, Slapper, a hilarious pigeon that carries the voices of the dead, and their new friends from the riots, they have just the in they need to get their investigation started. Things finally start falling into place when Goodwin goes to Corus to report what they have so far. Once Goodwin is gone, things come together rather quickly for young Beka, and it is up to her alone, to keep it all from blowing up before help arrives. And it is up to Achoo to teach Beka that there is more to finding a criminal than the chase, and sometimes you have to sniff them out of their hiding place.

I love this story! It's told very well, everything you read is written through Beka's journal and despite the length of the book, the entire story covers just under three weeks. I didn't read Terrier, the first book in the trilogy, but Bloodhound seems to stand on its own, with only a slight temporary confusion. Some of the terminology is quite different, but there is a dictionary in the back, along with a few other things that are quite helpful when it comes to keeping things straight. The cast of characters are quite colorful, and very interesting, particularly when Dogs, mages, thieves, and the Rogue not only live in the same lodgings, but also dine frequently together and intertwine themselves in each others lives as they do. It's easy to see that despite what they all do for a living, they all care and respect each other as friends.

There are some aspects of the story that could become a little much for younger readers and I think I should state that Beka may only be 16 or 17, but in her time, that is classified as an adult. She deals in adult situations, there is crime, gambling, adult relationships, and violence, but nothing is told in explicit detail or anything like that. This is a story that I could totally recommend for almost anyone, male or female, teenager or adult. Either way, it is a good story and I for one, am waiting for the next book, Mastiff.

I have been waiting (sometimes patiently) for this book for a year and a half. I am happy to report that my excitement for book 2 was well deserved. I have thoroughly enjoyed the character development, both the new characters and the familiar ones. Bravo, Ms. Pierce.

While this was a decent enough book, it should not even be compared to TERRIER as far as I am concerned. The journal format was used to good effect in TERRIER, with funny little snippets giving us a more in depth view of Beka and Tortall. In BLOODHOUND it seemed to be there simply for form's sake. Everything was done in a linear fashion, except for at the very end and it appears out of place and awkward (you're writing, not speaking... stop telling us you have to stop).

The romance also seemed out of place and awkward. It seemed more like filler, than actual character or plot development. The romance made Beka appear less mature, as opposed to more mature (it has been proved beyond doubt that, these days, romance is no proof of maturity).

The plot is neither convoluted nor unpredictable, and the only thing that keeps you guessing is whether or not certain people (cough) are involved. Beka's magic, which was used so fascinatingly and usefully in TERRIER, is nearly absent (which makes sense, since there is no murder), but I missed it all the same. The answer seems plain to me from about a third of the way into the book, and the perpetrator of the crime is in no way a worthy adversary for the character portrayed in TERRIER. Too much of the book is spent trying to figure out WHY the bad guy would do that, as opposed to going with the evidence in front of them, and in the end the answer is nothing special (I won't say it, but I bet you can guess...)

The character development is intriguing, to say the least. Tamora Pierce explores new aspects of her characters, but the exploration takes you in a completely different direction from what one might have expected, given her characterization in TERRIER. I find most of these new directions disappointing, though, since they seem to take the character backwards instead of forwards. While Beka was wonderfully human in TERRIER, and easy to relate to, I feel that she has become "too human" in some sense. She makes far too many mistakes, and seems far too shallow in many ways (what was up with that sewer concern anyways?). Since I am the same age as she is portrayed I find these things somewhat unforgivable; she appears less strong-minded than before and slightly stupid, in fact, a lot of the time she sounds like the "loose Dog" she pretends to be.

There are some loose ends that seem incomplete, and the ending left me with the vague feeling that something was missing. Quite a few questions go unanswered, and characters appear and disappear throughout the book for no apparent reason.

A decent read, but not on the same level as most of Tamora Pierce's books, (but that still makes it better than many books) and it would probably be best if they are not read consecutively (give it a little time between the first to forget some of the details of the character). I in no way condemn either the book or Ms. Pierce, due to the fact that she was under considerable strain during the time she was writing this, so I look forward to MASTIFF, and hope that Tamora Pierce will return to her usual excellence.

The second book in the Beka Cooper universe, Bloodhound picks up just over a year after Terrier leaves off. Now a full dog, Beka struggles to find an adequate partner and is going through them left and right. Tossed back to Tunstall and Goodwin between partners, everything changes when Tunstall is injured and someone is producing far more counterfeit money then ever before. Desperate to get more information about what is going on, Goodwin and Beka are sent to Port Caynn to find more information. Typically for Beka however, nothing even goes as planned and Beka finds herself in far deeper than she'd planned for...

Bloodhound is an excellent continuance to Beka's story and intriguing to see Beka continue to grow as a Dog. While I was sad to miss out of the majority of the characters from Terrier, it is a great opportunity to delve into Port Caynn as we haven't before in the Tortall universe. Bloodhound also brings us Beka's first real love, and along with it its ups and downs. While I was disappointed to see Beka stray from Rosto, who I've cheered for all along, Bloodhound's new character Dale is almost as fascinating. Dale is close friends with some of the very people who Beka is worried about being involved in the conspiracy, and I felt as torn as she was about her relationship progressing.

One of the things I love about this series is watching Beka learn from her mistakes. Rather than just being one of those heroines that continually make the same mistake over and over, Beka changes over time. Reading through Bloodhound I could see Beka growing even from the beginning of the novel to the end. Bloodhound introduces Achoo, Beka's scent hound into the fray and it's really funny to see her work with such a menagerie of animals.

If you like Tamora's Tortall universe, you'll love Bloodhound, and I definitely recommend re-reading it before October's release of Mastiff. If you're a new to the series, check out Terrier and continue right on to Bloodhound as you won't regret it. Magic, mystery, and a little romance are abound in this series.