Reviewed by Candace Cunard for TeensReadToo.com

It's been a year since wild mage Daine, now sixteen, helped topple Emperor Orzone of Carthak, but at that time his consciousness was trapped within the body of an immortal flesh-eating bird known as a stormwing, and therefore his presence is still integral to the story. In fact, Orzone has teamed up with Uusoae, the goddess of chaos, and together their power threatens to destroy everything Daine knows and loves.

Daine may be young, but she and those around her all accept that she has an important part to play in this fight, defending the kingdom of Tortall that became her home four years ago.

This final book in Tamora Pierce's THE IMMORTALS series is literally out of this world, with Daine and Numair spending the majority of the narrative in the titular realms of the gods. They are taken there by benevolent forces who seek their safety and remove them from their world when they are on the brink of death.

Although many of the mysteries of Daine's past begin to unravel due to the information she gathers, both she and Numair wish to return home to their own world to do their part in the battles that are raging between Tortall and the forces of chaos. To do this, they'll have to journey through the immortal realms to the land of the dragons, since Daine's friendship with the dragon Kitten makes them the only immortals who might be able to send Daine back to her world.

Though it isn't my favorite volume in the series (that would be EMPEROR MAGE, the third book), this book does a good job of concluding the quartet. Many of the major questions that have been left open by the earlier books are answered, and the development of Daine's character continues to present her as a solid human being with strengths and weaknesses, both of which she must learn to harness to her advantage.

In this series, Pierce introduces another strong young woman whose life and adventures will make for an exciting read and a real inspiration at any age. ( )

Daine and Numair go up against a group of magical creatures of a kind they've never seen before and when it turns out that neither Daine's wild magic nor Numair's Gift can effect them, rescue comes from a surprising direction. But now they're stuck in another realm while war threatens Tortall.

There are a lot of new and interesting characters introduced in this last book in the Immortals series, including various gods, dragons, and other immortals and magical creatures, and Daine's prejudices against Stormwings are tested. The realm of the gods itself is an intriguing place to read about, with different rules from the moral realm and wonders and dangers all its own. It's a fitting end to the series. ( )

This is my favorite immortals book, other than the first one. In this one, more immortals are unleashed on Tortall, one being the 'skinners'-monsters that can rip anything of its skin with a touch. Daine and Numair are sent to see if they can figure out how to kill them, but they find that they are no match for these new monsters. Right before they would have died, the two of them are suddenly ripped into the Realm of the Gods by Daine's father. While they are grateful to be alive, they are anxious to get back to Tortall where a war is raging. This is a great book, where we finally meet Daine's parents and many other gods, and Daine finally gets a bit of romance in her life! This is a good finale to a great series. ( )

The final book in the series – although we do see rather a lot of both Numair and Daine in Protector of the Small, thankfully – and it’s a rather satisfying conclusion. My fave thing is that the issue of the Immortals isn’t neatly tied up – some are forced to go, some remain, and I absolutely adore the Stormwings (yes, I realise that is weird) so glad that Daine was their advocate. ( )

I love her books. The Immortals, though, was not my favorite series of hers. ( )