Beka Cooper #1: Terrier by Tamora Pierce

BEKA COOPER: TERRIER

A review by Jeana To

VERY IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: I am only about 2/3 of the way through the book

After my experiences with Alanna, I was a little hesitant to pick up Beka Cooper: Terrier by Tamora Pierce due to a slight fear of the romantic plotline. However, though I am only halfway through the book, so far I have not been disappointed as I was with Alanna. 

Terrier by Tamora Pierce tells the story of Beka Cooper. Her story takes place far before Alanna’s does in the city of Corus, the capital city of Tortall. Beka is a part of the Provost’s Guard, who essentially act as the police force of Corus. The Provost’s Guard is often referred to as the Provost’s Dogs, and their protégés or Dogs-in-training are called “puppies.” Beka is a puppy. To everyone’s surprise, she requests to be assigned to the Lower City, the place of her birth, where crime is common and going for a Dog is tough. Beka may not be good at talking, but she is exceptionally good at listening -- in fact, Beka has the rare ability to hear the whispers of the dead, which are carried by (of all things) pigeons. Through these whispers, Beka learns of a sinister plot brewing in the form of dead children who have gone missing from their families, a result of threats from a mysterious Shadow Snake. Beka is invaluable to this investigation because of her ability to hear the whispers of the people who are murdered by the Shadow Snake.
Like many of Tamora Pierce’s books, Beka is a strong, kick-butt heroine. What I like about Terrier is that the plot of the book is not heavily influenced by a shallow romance. The romance that does happen in the book is not accentuated, and the book opts instead to focus more on the life and deeds of Beka Cooper. Of course, Beka does have a love interest in the form of Rosto, but so far nothing really has come out of it because Rosto is entangled with the criminal ring of the Lower City, the very crimes that Beka is trying to fight. Nevertheless, their friendship survives their individual jobs and I am genuinely interested in how their relationship will develop.

I actually really liked Beka’s character, because unlike the outspoken characters that usually dominate the “main character” part of YA fantasy novels, Beka is very shy and quiet and has a fear of public speaking. There is a little cliche in that Beka is talented, special, and magical -- but then again, it wouldn’t be a YA novel if she wasn’t. One particularly fascinating connection Tamora Pierce makes is how Beka's fear of public speaking reflects her amazing and supernatural ability to listen. Although Beka is timid and not very good at speaking to strangers, she is also brave in her own way and proves that she will stand up for herself or others when necessary. Beka’s unique personality has flaws that the reader can relate to as well as a slightly unrealistic but just as lovable moral compass. Mixed with her supernatural ability, these three aspects of Beka paint her as an ordinary superheroine (if that makes any sense).

Although the main focus of Terrier is on the plot between Beka and the Shadow Snake, I was a little bit frustrated with the slow progression of the plot. Beka is shown constantly searching for the Shadow Snake, but especially towards the middle of the book, the focus seems to shift a little bit from the Snake and more to personal events that are happening in her life. The big “twists” and revelations made about the Shadow Snake are also made to seem less important than these events that are going on in Beka’s life, which frustrated me a little bit because I was looking forward to being able to read a nice, action-filled mystery fantasy novel. My disappointment in this aspect of the book is also partly due to the fact that most of the action and Beka-kicks-enemy-butt scenes have been limited to her work as a Dog/puppy (at least, it has been so far -- I have not finished the book just yet!). 

Another small thing (though I can’t decide whether it’s a good or bad thing) is the prologue of the novel. Something unique to Terrier is that the novel starts out after Beka’s time way in the future, with a small anecdote about Beka’s descendants carrying on her story. The prologue was very confusing at first because I had no idea what was going on and had to jump around a little bit to figure it out. In all honesty, the prologue seemed a little superfluous and unnecessary, but I guess that’s not really my call to make, so… Also, there may be another deeper meaning to the prologue (and probably the epilogue too, if there is one, I haven’t read that far yet) which I don’t know about. Perhaps it connects to other Tortall stories by Tamora Pierce? I haven’t read enough books by Pierce to know, so my judgment in this might be incorrect and a little hasty, but that was my first impression when I began reading the book.

Overall, like most of the books I end up reading, I have enjoyed reading about Beka and her life as a Dog. I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to read about a heroine kind of like Alanna but without the cheesy romantic storyline.