What do you think?
Rate this book
The Bull at the Start
Alia and her friends got what they came for, but Zaeldroug is under siege and their plan didn't stretch past the Mage-Killer. They know there's a traitor in their ranks, so going back to the Complex is a gamble. That all the war and death is the doing of one of them is all they know, including what the little bottle of mysterious liquid does.
At the Complex, Dyafer's plan to unite Congress bears fruit, and she's able to send mages to investigate Pathmelon and New Towtiel. That's the only good news; her peers continue to seek delays, quarrel over trivialities, and obsess about the Kwentaro. No one does she mistrust more than the Atsises, who's up to something. So far, all she can say for certain is that he's being too helpful and polite. It wouldn't have been in character before she publicly humiliated him.
On the eastern front, Giloren arrives in time to meet a flood of refugees, driven ahead by the menace flowing out of the southeast. At its back, the survivors from New Towtiel make their way north as well, carrying with them the terrible truth that they were betrayed. Mages themselves are the targets of this coup, but they can't name the guiltiest party.
Before this can get better, it's going to get worse.
At the Complex, Dyafer's plan to unite Congress bears fruit, and she's able to send mages to investigate Pathmelon and New Towtiel. That's the only good news; her peers continue to seek delays, quarrel over trivialities, and obsess about the Kwentaro. No one does she mistrust more than the Atsises, who's up to something. So far, all she can say for certain is that he's being too helpful and polite. It wouldn't have been in character before she publicly humiliated him.
On the eastern front, Giloren arrives in time to meet a flood of refugees, driven ahead by the menace flowing out of the southeast. At its back, the survivors from New Towtiel make their way north as well, carrying with them the terrible truth that they were betrayed. Mages themselves are the targets of this coup, but they can't name the guiltiest party.
Before this can get better, it's going to get worse.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 24, 2025
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 9, 2025
Goodreads Review: The Bull at the Start
The Tipping World saga moves into new locations in The Bull at the Start. The Truant students, determined to save their world, end up in the far west after an exhausting winter journey through a white wilderness. As the are zeroing in on their goal - identification and acquisition of the “mage killer,” they find themselves in a city under attack. Circumstances divide the group, with one remaining in the west, moving south, where they ally with troops from yet another beleaguered country. The other pair, suspected “mage killer” in their possession, head east again, retracing their path.
Giloren Rader, reluctant hair of a northern province, leaves behind his frustration with the splintered and dithering Congress of Haimars, and heads for his home country. His goal is vaguely defined and not clearly thought out, but he hopes to somehow find what has happened in the two silent eastern countries and possibly prevent any problems fro spreading into his own zone of responsibility.
Meanwhile the haimars remaining in The Complex, continue to argue and debate about what they should do (if anything), blind to what is really happening on the far-flung ends of their world.
The story has been carefully crafted, and the characters continue to develop. Volume 2 is excellent and the scene is set for the next in the series.
The Tipping World saga moves into new locations in The Bull at the Start. The Truant students, determined to save their world, end up in the far west after an exhausting winter journey through a white wilderness. As the are zeroing in on their goal - identification and acquisition of the “mage killer,” they find themselves in a city under attack. Circumstances divide the group, with one remaining in the west, moving south, where they ally with troops from yet another beleaguered country. The other pair, suspected “mage killer” in their possession, head east again, retracing their path.
Giloren Rader, reluctant hair of a northern province, leaves behind his frustration with the splintered and dithering Congress of Haimars, and heads for his home country. His goal is vaguely defined and not clearly thought out, but he hopes to somehow find what has happened in the two silent eastern countries and possibly prevent any problems fro spreading into his own zone of responsibility.
Meanwhile the haimars remaining in The Complex, continue to argue and debate about what they should do (if anything), blind to what is really happening on the far-flung ends of their world.
The story has been carefully crafted, and the characters continue to develop. Volume 2 is excellent and the scene is set for the next in the series.
Displaying 1 of 1 review