#ninani

[keepofkandrakar]

to the six people in the spirit animals fandom, i need it to be known that tasha is literally the reilin child.

[dark-night-star-light]

Spirit Animals: Tales of the Great Beasts: Ninani's Nectar (Reread pt. 19)

DISCLAIMER: WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE FIRST AND SECOND SERIES AND THE BOOK OF SHANE.

Masterpost

The rest of the Tales of the Great Beasts Reread

"Tepin realized that he was actually lying on water, drifting backward. The current was picking up speed. He turned around and gasped, just in time to see the edge of a waterfall flash into view. With a scream, Tepin plunged over the side" (2). I love how we're told that Briggan is like. The dream Great Beast. But canonically, they can all control dreams. That is so funny.

Right now I'm wondering why the heck this guy is getting these dreams. What. Why him??? Why is he special?

"But there was something familiar about the bird" (3). Yeah, I would fucking hope so. She's a Great Beast.

It's genuinely so interesting that they decided to go the route of "Tepin doesn't have a spirit animal" for the story. Obviously, I adore spirit animals, but genuinely, this was refreshing.

"But Ifa was sick, and her illness had become serious enough that she had been taken to live with the village’s healer" (3). Wondering when she summoned Cachi. Had to have been recent, right? Or does bonding sickness take time to set it???

"The first time Gobe had tried climbing, he made it all the way up without looking down. Tepin’s father had never seemed prouder" (5). Jealous siblings, my beloved. I love that trope. It slaps pretty much every time. The parent favoritism . . . the angst . . . the need to be perfect . . .

Honestly, it's kind of sad that they never resolve this tension between Tepin, Gobe, and their father. Could've been a cool character moment. Like. They're just going to leave the strained relationship strained???

"Of their father’s alpacas, Shumbi was Tepin’s favorite. She was usually the first awake too. And the first to bleat in the early morning light, crying for her breakfast. For that reason, she was Gobe’s least favorite anything" (5). Gobe's just like me for real.

"Cachi, you know what to do," Tepin said. But Cachi wasn’t acting like himself. He burrowed into Tepin’s own bed" (6). The idea htat you can get the bonding sickness later is so heartbreaking. Imagine you summon a spirit animal with no bonding sickness. So you think you must be one of the lucky ones that escaped without it. You begin to enjoy your spirit animal and the perks that come with it. But then it hits you. And it only gets worse with time.

"Tepin knew little about the mysterious woman. Only that she was newly home from a great war" (6). Is nobody educating these children on the First Devourer War??? Are they all trying to pretend it didn't happen or something???

"Greencloaks were supposed to be good, not evil. Everyone knew that" (6). I love how this is like. The thesis statement of the entire series.

"'She hasn’t come out of her house since she first returned from Stetriol'" (7). So then they do know that she was in Stetriol? But no other details about the war? Also, I'm wondering when Stetriol was wiped off the map. Did the actual Greencloaks that fought in the war even have a say in that, or was it the new generation of Greencloaks that did that? Because it seems like everyone is still aware of what that it right now.

I love how Anyati is like. The village's healer, but everyone also thinks she's a witch. Like, yeah, send her all your sick and injured, but also talk behind her back about how she's a witch because she . . . collects things to make. Medicine. This village is so silly.

"Was it something the Greencloak was doing?" (7). I love how for half this book, Tepin is scared to death of Anyati because he heard a rumor about her from his brother who he doesn't even like. That is such peak pre-teen behavior.

"'I have dreams much bigger than this mountain. One day I hope to travel all across Erdas, selling my carpets as I go'" (9). I love how Ifa didn't even want to be a Greencloak. She just wanted to chill out. I feel like that's so much more tragic, since Greencloaks are supposed to be seen as heroes that risk their lives, but Ifa literally just wanted a quiet life.

Okay, so. We all agree that Anyati keeps her place creepy on purpose, right? Like. She does that very much on purpose. She's trying to spread these rumors about herself. This is so funny. Like, she's so stereotypically witchy that she has to be trying to do this. I love her so much.

"It was headed for his neck! Tepin screamed louder, trying to shake the animal off of him. He didn’t want to find out if the bat sucked blood, as Gobe claimed" (13). See, the funny thing is, vampire bats don't even drink human blood. They exclusively drink animal blood.

"Tepin could see why people might think Anyati was a witch. But as best as he could tell, she was sincerely trying to help Ifa" (14). I love how not even a full page ago, he was accusing her of making Ifa sick. He literally changes his mind because he saw her examine Ifa's blood. That's what changed his mind. Honestly, Tepin needs to commit to his belief that Anyati's a witch. It would be so funny if he thought Anyati was examining Ifa's blood to decide what potion to make out of it or something.

"'It’s bonding sickness,' the Greencloak muttered, almost to herself" (14). She doesn't know this already? How long has Ifa been with her?

Tepin is so silly. Anyati asks him if Ifa's been having weird dreams and he just goes, "Well, I had a weird dream" (not a quote, a paraphrase).

Anyati's response to Tepin talking about his dream is so funny. Like, pop off, girlie, I would say that, too.

"'Ninani sided with the Four Fallen— with Briggan, Uraza, Jhi, and Essix—though she didn’t join them in the final battle against the Devourer. She blamed the Bile for the war. At least, that’s the story I was told.' Tepin didn’t know anything about the Bile, aside from what the Greencloak had told their village when she returned from the far-off continent of Stetriol" (17). Okay, so this means that Tepin (and assumedly the rest of the village) have a baseline level of knowledge about the war, right? Also, I think it's so interesting how they talk about Stetriol relatively normally. Like, there's no talk of wiping it off the map yet? Huh.

"'The swan revealed herself to me!' Tepin argued. 'She was waiting at the top of a waterfall. She must want to be found'" (17). Yeah, but . . . why? Why did Ninani choose Tepin of all people? (My personal theory is that since Ninani is the giver of Nectar, she also has the ability to tell whether someone will be able to summon a spirit animal or not. Maybe she chose Tepin because she knew he'd be the next in the village to summon a spirit animal and she wanted to save him from the bonding sickness with her Nectar before anyone else??? Not confirmed, but it makes some sense, I guess.)

Honestly, the relationship writing is a little bit lax for me. Like Tepin is so willing to immediately risk his life for Ifa, which, yeah, she's his friend, but, like. Come on. This is a little extreme. We saw one conversation between them where we're sort of explicitly told that they're friends, and it was sweet, but this seems a little too much. Tepin had no second thoughts about charging straight into a dangerous forest on the chance that Ninani would be able to cure Ifa. There should've been more scenes of Ifa and Tepin's relationship to really flesh it out and make it more dimensional. Maybe Tepin saw the sibling he never had in Gobe in Ifa, instead. Maybe he was scared to lose her because he knows he won't find that same love in his father or brother. Or maybe he confided in her about his issues with his father's favoritism or something that makes their relationship have more depth. Also, this is a kid that's not even old enough to have a spirit animal yet. I get that he's supposed to be noble, but it just falls flat for me.

[cut because block limit]

"'What do you want?' Tepin screamed in the animal’s direction" (20). Tepin: I know there's an animal hunting me, stalking me, trailing me for half a mile. Or more. Also Tepin: *screams at it* Some more peak pre-teen behavior from our silly little guy. I love him so much.

"He hurried toward the sound, and eventually the thick forest gave way to the moonlit water" (20). Friendly reminder that this dork (/aff) didn't even wait until morning. It's the middle of the night right now.

"The animal cocked its head to one side. There was a yellow patch of hair on its neck, like a small bib. Whatever the creature was, it didn’t seem to want to harm Tepin" (21). I wonder what animal this is.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Tepin never expresses a desire to have a spirit animal. And this is before he knew about the bonding sickness. That seems interesting.

"The boy opened his eyes to see what was biting him. His body had drifted into the branches of a fallen tree, which stabbed at his skin and clothes" (22). Okay, that was Tonga, right? Tonga saved him??? Is this confirmed?

"'Will it save me?' he asked the swan. Ninani nodded gracefully. The marble stone was as heavy as a granadilla fruit. It seemed to glow in the boy’s hand. 'Will it save Ifa?' Tepin asked. But when he looked up, the swan was already gone" (23). The foreshadowing . . . also this is definitely strengthening my theory that Ninani reached out to Tepin of all people because she knew he was going to be the next in the village to summon a spirit animal and wanted to save him from the bonding sickness.

"Tepin watched Anyati’s strained face as Tonga sucked her blood" (24). I get what the writers were trying to do, but vampire bats don't drink human blood.

"It must have been a long time since anyone had shown the secretive Greencloak any affection" (26). This is so sad. I wonder why she isolated herself. Maybe because of the war? Maybe she didn't want to constantly explain her trauma to other people or something?

"Perhaps it was he who had killed her? Tepin had greedily taken all of the Great Beast’s power, leaving nothing to save Ifa" (26). Oh, this poor kid. I don;t know how to explain it, but this almost feels like survivor's guilt? Like a mix of guilt and grief.

"'Why do you assume it’s the human who chooses the animal?' the Greencloak asked the boy. 'Or that there’s any choice at all?'" (27). You know, considering pretty much every village or town has someone that's summoned a spirit animal, it's really strange that Tepin doesn't know how it works. But I guess maybe that's how it was before the Bile, when people's spirit animals just appeared out of nowhere and there was no ceremony?

"'There is . . . pain best left behind in war. It isn’t easily shared with those who don’t know it themselves. There are things I have to live with that will die with me. Understand?'" (28). YOOOOOOOO, I predicted it??? The reason she cut herself off from everyone else in the village?

"Tepin walked straight up to the waterfall’s edge. Once he reached the sheer face of the stone, he took a deep breath and began to climb. He had seen his brother do it every morning. Except the cliff was always dry when Gobe scaled it" (29). Look, I get that this is a short story, but I still think it's completely unreasonable that Tepin goes from never having climbed a cliff to climbing a steep, soaking wet, tall one. Couldn't there have been some scenes where he tries to climb other cliffs, maybe in the jungle or something, and fails, but now he knows he can't do that, which motivates him to abandon his fear? It's not just about fear; there's also like. The sheer skill of climbing a cliff face.

"'Pull with your arms and push with your legs,' Gobe had told him once" (29). Rollan-Gobe parallels??? Rollan says something super similar in The Dragon's Eye.

"'The harm caused by the war is permanent. The natural bonds between humans and animals have been jeopardized for generations to come. Perhaps forever" (32). The writers will always be geniuses for making it so that the Bile caused the bonding sickness, but is also able to heal it. That is the most awesome full-circle worldbuilding thing they could have done. Like, it just shows that nothing, not even the Bile, is completely bad.

"Fleshy white flowers sweetened the misty air. Ninani picked one of the flowers with her huge black beak and dropped it at the boy’s feet" (32). It's so interesting how the Bile and the Nectar work differently in terms of creation. The Bile worked by submerging it in water, which turned to Bile, but the Nectar literally creates flowers. Out of nowhere. There's something there somewhere, I know it.

"His mouth filled immediately with the sweet memory of granadilla fruit" (32). It's cute how the way Tepin experiences the Nectar ties back to his earliest memories of Anyati.

"'If I have to devote the rest of my life to it,' he said, 'I will keep your talisman safe, and bring this gift to all who need it'" (34). Gotta love the irony there. At this point in time, it's well-known what Stetriol is. So did they wipe them off the map after this incident because they didn't want them to have the Nectar? Hmmmmm . . .

"'Thank you . . . my Keeper,' she said finally" (34). I am an idiot for not realizing that the Keeper is. The Keeper of the Nectar. Wow. Good job, me.

Also, Tepin's tayra doesn't have a canon name??? Awwww.

"Wherever the Nectar of Ninani goes, may you also follow" (34). Okay, that was cute as hell.

Final thoughts and rating:

I loved the journey Tepin went through . . . in theory. Though I do think it was a bit rushed, he did have a nice character arc. Anyati is such a great character, and I love the subtle themes of trauma and isolation that are attached to her character. Tepin summoning a tayra after having been saved by one was a neat touch. I really liked that. I think Ifa could have been a great character if fleshed out more, and I liked the way Tepin grieved for her. That last line definitely hit me so hard, with what and the parallels between the Nectar, which couldn't save Ifa, and Ifa, who wanted to travel the world like the Nectar will now do. That was definitely an awesome decision on the writer's part.

I didn't like that Tepin's family life issues were never really resolved or talked about. His dad clearly has a case of favoritism, and Tepin's relationship with his brother needed more fleshing out. They should've taken it out if they didn't have the room for it, in my opinion. I also think Ifa and Tepin's relationship needed some serious fleshing out. It had no depth to it and felt completely flat. The readers need to understand why Tepin would do such a noble thing for her, especially considering his age, and their relationship doesn't really back that up for me. Tepin's arc was also way too rushed. He needed some time to fail and fail again before he could succeed. The fact that Ninani reached out to Tepin specifically also needed a reason. It just seems like she chose him randomly, because there story doesn't bother with an explanation for that.

Rating: 7/10

[trash-gremlin]

listening to the spirit animals audiobooks to hear how the names are actually pronounced and whatttttttttttttt the hellllllllllllll

[bayofwolves]

Rereading Wild Born

Decided to continue doing these! I made a post for Hunted first, but now it's time to go back and recap my reread of Wild Born from a few weeks ago. These won't be full analyses, rather just details that I find interesting or missed when I was younger. I'm rereading the whole series to gather information for A Revised History of Erdas, so you may see some commentary on how I plan to change certain plot points.

Let's get into it!

If you've ever wondered what the tasseled thing on Abeke's waist in all her book cover appearances is, I'm quite sure it's a sort of a bag that she can store small items in.

The inside cover graphic depicts an arrow going through Uraza's body. I think that's a really neat touch, especially considering things that happen Later On.

Abeke drinks the Nectar of Ninani on her eleventh nameday, not birthday as Conor does. Do Niloans celebrate the day their parents named them, instead of the day on which they were born? Very interesting.

Abeke's Rain Dancer abilities are never explored. A real shame, especially since Uraza is the only member of the Fallen to not have a special power (Briggan has prophecy, Jhi has healing, Essix has uncanny insight). Uraza having weather-related powers would tie in nicely with Abeke's Rain Dancer role.

Zerif is wearing Euran clothing when he meets Abeke and her family, meaning that he was probably searching for Conor and Briggan in Eura prior to this. Obviously, he was unsuccessful.

Interestingly, Zerif knows Abeke's name without being told. We can gather from this that Yumaris's prophecy revealed the names of the four summoners. If true, this gives the Conquerors a stark advantage over the Greencloaks in the race to claim them. From their behaviour in the previous chapter, it appears Tarik and Isilla knew Briggan would be summoned that day, but did not know which of the three children would call him. (However, this is contradicted in a later chapter, when Tarik reveals they know Abeke's name thanks to Lenori.)

Meilin's mother, who died in childbirth, had a spirit animal who we know nothing about. Are they still alive? How did they handle the death of their human companion? Did Meilin ever interact with them at all? You'd think this would be an important thing to expand upon. The lack of information about Meilin's mom in general is criminal. (Same goes for Abeke's mother and Conor's entire family.)

Rollan is a full year older than the other three protagonists. His coming birthday, which would have occurred during this book, goes unmentioned, though.

Abeke claims Shane is 12, but he is said to have just turned 13 in The Book of Shane: Venom. Either the authors made a mistake, or Shane lied about his age for unknown reasons. In ARHoE, I stick with the two year age gap that Venom gives them.

I'm not sure if it was intended this way, but the fact that the pretend assassin goes for Shane in particular could be a hint at his true identity. There's another one of these instances in a later chapter: when Shane and Abeke walk up to a pair of guards, they bow to Shane before letting them through.

Tarik is described as "grim" and "the sort of stranger Rollan would have avoided on the streets of Concorba". For some reason I've always remembered him looking kind and open, rather than intimidating. But I like this better.

Whale-towed ships are unique to Erdas. So are the rockback whales themselves -- our first (of a few) species that only exists on Erdas! There's another one that's introduced in this book, Lenori's rainbow ibis.

Zerif speaks as if he hails from Stetriol -- a lie, since Shane places him as a foreigner when he first meets him. I quite like how mysterious he is. Any background he gives for himself is either untrue or too vague to decipher.

If Zerif and General Gar are to be believed, the early Greencloaks carried out a genocide in Stetriol after the First Devourer War. "Women, children -- the Greencloaks tried to wipe out all life on Stetriol, as if the common people were responsible for what the Devourer had done... The Greencloaks were ashamed of their actions and tried to hide the fact that Stetriol ever existed... They removed it from the histories and maps. But not all the people in Stetriol perished." Why isn't this talked about, like ever??!

Drina is actually mentioned in this book by Zerif! Abeke forgets about her, though, because in Rise and Fall she's surprised to learn that Shane has a sister. An opinion I alone hold is that Drina should have been involved in the series prior to Rise and Fall. It would have been the perfect opportunity for her to come along with Gar and Yumaris to recruit Abeke. (Spoilers: This happens in ARHoE.)

Meilin's classism and racism jumps out on practically every page. She constantly judges Rollan, Conor and later Abeke based on their lower social standings and calls the far west of Amaya (dominated by native tribes) "uncivilized". I will say, her character growth as the series progresses is astounding.

Long ago, the Four Fallen and the Devourer were prophesied to return. "The Devourer has returned. As promised," Tarik says to Barlow and Monte. I would like to know more about this prophecy. Who gave it? Tellun, maybe? Or did Feliandor himself, moments before his death, tell his enemies he'd be back someday?

Abeke doesn't know the names of all the Conquerors she went with to find Arax's talisman, which I feel is unrealistic. Abeke would care about that sort of thing, and it's not even a big group. But more than this, I wish this author worked to flesh the Conquerors out more, to humanize them, to have Abeke see them as friends past just Shane. It would have made her decision to switch sides hold more weight.

Shane breaks his leg in the final battle, thanks to Rollan. I bet he loves to tell that tale. Maybe that's why Shane doesn't show up in Hunted -- he was bedridden for a few months! /s

Plot hole: Barlow is buried in Tarik's cloak, but that same cloak (which is described as tattered and worn, presumably from years of use) passes to Rollan in Rise and Fall.

You can take or renew your vows at any Greencloak stronghold, apparently. I used to think that could only be done at Greenhaven.

Gerathon's prison is just a massive mound of earth. For some reason, as a child I pictured her being imprisoned in a giant cage deep in some creepy underground system of passages, like a sewer.

We never find out who the guy who freed Gerathon is. My best guess is Zerif. Who do y'all think it was?

Wild Born is as good an introductory book as ever, I'd say. Some have called it boring, but I found it enjoyable. Our protagonists are wonderful and I hope nothing horrible ever befalls them. (Spoilers...) Abeke's chapters with the Conquerors were the most interesting to me, but I'm heavily biased. A lot of missed opportunities for character development here, but don't worry, we'll get that in the coming books. I wish the worldbuilding was better -- but to be fair, these books aren't very long. There's only so much room to talk about each land's geography and history and religion.

Excited to rediscover what the future holds for our protagonists!

This is part of an ongoing series.

Wild Born | Hunted | Blood Ties | Fire and Ice | Against the Tide | Rise and Fall | The Evertree

Immortal Guardians | Broken Ground | The Return | The Burning Tide

Heart of the Land | The Wildcat's Claw | Stormspeaker | The Dragon's Eye

Tales of the Great Beasts | The Book of Shane | Tales of the Fallen Beasts

[patriotismforstetriol]

Arc 2 Zerif's Great Beast Revival Sensing Abilities

He senses Raisha's potential to summon one. Phrasing sort of implies he wasn't sure which one she might summon.

He claims, also, that he could sense 'where' the others would arrive.

"I knew you had the potential to summon a Great Beast." He brought a finger gently to his forehead, where a spiral looped beneath the skin. "Just as I knew where the others would awaken."

- Tales of the Fallen Beasts: Gerathon/Betrayal, Brandon Mull, p.181

He's already on-site when Dinesh and Arax are summoned.

He takes days to arrive, for others (Suka, Halawir, Kovo, Cabaro, possibly Rumfuss)

Needs information on the beast's location to be leaked before he arrives (Ninani, Tellun, possibly Rumfuss, possibly Kovo)

Can detect Mulop when he's actively using his powers, but not otherwise?

So how much information is the Wyrm giving him?

My best guess is, since the set of Great Beasts he has trouble finding overlaps quite well with the set of "wise" Great Beasts (Mulop, Ninani, Tellun, etc.), those guys maybe have more defenses against being tracked by the Wyrm. Whereas Suka and the others accidentally "broadcast" their locations more to the Evertree and Wyrm.

My other, funnier guess is that travelling across the globe is still slow enough that possessed Zerif is poring over maps, guessing which Great Beast will arrive first. And sometimes he gets it wrong and has to quickly cross another ocean to reach the Great Beast that just got summoned.

[firsttymz]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: NinaNY Formal Navy Satin Shoes with Rhinestone Band 9M Anke Straps Worn Once.

[bladealvis]

sketchy Ninani and Tellun

the mom and dad of the great beasts

[purple-raptor-blog]

FINALLY FINISHED!!!! This took me four hours and I think it was worth it :D Here’s Ninani the Swan Great Beast from Spirit Animals battling the xenomorph queen from Aliens :)

A speedpaint should be uploaded onto YouTube soon.

[okk9tsu]

PLA I DIDNT WANT TO JOIN THE BANDWAGON BUT I WATCHED HIS PLAYS AND HES SOO GOOD UGH ALSO HES V CUTE 😮‍💨😭 BUT YES U WILL BE THE NINANY DW HAHAH

BAGAY NAMN KAYO MALAY MO DIBA 😣 i can see naman din why people would like him talaga :0 talented tas pogi diba saan ka pa ba pupunta </3

[ends-of-the-wayward-storm]

OLVAN!! EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING. 

FINN!! NOOOOO!!! 

YAAAASSSSS!!!! 

 URAZA NOOOO!!! WHHHYYYYY?!?!?! 

*Screaming.*

I KNEW IT!!! I FUDGING KNEW IT!!! THAT MEANS WORTHY IS DEVIN, LIKE I THOUGHT. I figured it out when I remembered in the last Book of Shane he wanted to fight on the right side for a change (or whatever he said). Or at least that’s my logic. 

[lostypewriter]

new wip !

INTRODUCING... RIVER RUNS PHANTOM, a fantastical realism work in progress influenced by the increasing water crisis that is taking over the world.

GENRE: light fantasy

POINT OF VIEW: third person limited

THEMES: the importance of water, social hierarchy, the influence of privilege on the individual, ignorance, lgbtq+, mental illness awareness, love and loss, the strength of familial bonds, right and wrong

SYNOPSIS: 

TWO CITIES.

The distinct and mighty cities of Kaiji and Rivewa have one hindering problem: each other. Separated by a colossal industrial dam that creates a reservoir out of the only water source on the tiny continent of Ninane, the struggle for dominance has tormented the nations since the beginning of time. In Kaiji, the wealthy have gold infused into their skin and drink from the river to their heart’s content, free of health concerns and reaping the benefits of a single, magical vitamin. 

ONE RIVER.

But in Rivewa, the weakened and brittle bodies of the poor are scavenged upon by flesh-eating moths that leave nothing but bone after a meal. Besil is the daughter of a renowned damn maintenance engineer, meaning she is exclusively privileged in a society that determines your worth based on your water intake. Besil is unaware that other Ninani people suffer as she drinks seven glasses of water everyday, but if she is to listen to the ghost that follows her around, she’ll come to realize all of her luxury is born from the pain of the penurious. People like Cerath, the ebony-skinned adolescent miner who Besil has fawned over since childhood.

WHEN WATER IS CURRENCY, WHO WILL BE LEFT FEELING THIRSTY?

MOODBOARD:

TAGLIST: ask to be added / removed!

@every-book-has-a-secret / @writing-sky-scapes ​ / @nerocael ​ / @oscqrwildes ​ / @kavqnsky ​ / @fromabookworm ​ / @klywrites​ / @noloumna ​ / @g-allifrey​ / @theforgottencoolkid ​ / @thecadmiuminkwell ​ / @montevena ​ / @natalierosewrites ​

[dark-night-star-light]

Two things I wanted to add:

There's also another special edition chapter of Tales of the Great Beasts, called Ninani's Nectar. It was released as a special e-story and you can read it here.

I highly recommend reading the series in the order that I did during my reread. For anyone out there that's thinking about getting into the series, but it feels too overwhelming? Or if you've only read part of the series but don't know how to go from there? This is definitely the way to read it. Although, maybe I would read Ninani's Nectar with the rest of Tales of the Great Beasts.

THERE’S A THIRD SA SERIES??? I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST THE ORIGINALS AND THE WYRM ARC????

Hi!

The funny thing is, it's not actually a "third series", it's more a continuation of the second series. But I've always thought of it as a completely separate series, because it has a completely different arc.

So there are eighteen books total:

First series:

Wild Born

Hunted

Blood Ties

Fire and Ice

Against the Tide

Rise and Fall

The Evertree

Second series:

Immortal Guardians

Broken Ground

The Return

The Burning Tide

Series break (or start of third series):

Heart of the Land

The Wildcat's Claw

Stormspeaker

The Dragon's Eye

Special Editions:

Tales of the Great Beasts

Tales of the Fallen Beasts

The Book of Shane (sometimes you'll see it split up into Venom, Vendetta, Vengeance, and Venture, because it was originally four e-books that got made into one physical copy later)

Hope this helped! If you haven't read it, I highly recommend reading the third arc, because it does go into some stuff that you may consider to be the "culmination" of the main four's character arcs. There are some out there that do think that the way it was executed was a little bit weird, but I think it was definitely worth the read.

[bayofwolves]

it annoys me to no end that the great beast summoners, save for a precious few, were completely forgotten about past the burning tide.

takoda and dawson have supporting roles in the third arc, which is great. but what about the others? why did they vanish?

what happened to tasha, who was such a huge player in the second arc -- to the point of having her own pov chapter? not only was she the summoner of ninani, she was the first greencloak out of stetriol. so many signs that positive change is coming to erdas, all wrapped up in one person. rollan and abeke loved her dearly, i know. but after all they shared, she just drops off the face of the planet and is never heard from again? make it make sense.

what about anda, whose spirit animal is the greatest of the great beasts to the greencloaks? i think worse than him not showing up in the series again is the fact he was present in the burning tide, after a two book absence, and didn't interact with abeke and rollan in any way. rollan notices he's there, remarks on it for two seconds, then forgets about it. what a horrific bit of lost potential. imagine if he was resentful towards them for taking him from his home, letting tellun be infected and practically abandoning him when he needed them most. imagine if they tried to reconnect with him but he shunned them. imagine if abeke and rollan realized where they went wrong and apologized to him, comforted him, sat and talked with him. imagine if he and abeke saw their pain reflected in each other's eyes. he was introduced to tasha and kirat, and rollan trained him along with the others, and when the battle finally came to them, rollan shielded anda with his own body to save his life. and throughout all of this, anda came to forgive them. they had tried their best. they didn't want to leave. they cared about him, and proved it was for more than tellun. god. if only.

niri? her powers are incredible. she could lend invaluable help to our protagonists once again, if the authors remembered she existed. can you imagine if she and mulop linked minds with conor and briggan, two other powerful visionaries? that would change the world, i bet.

and how about raisha, who remains one of the most interesting and tragic characters to me? she was obviously in bad shape in the burning tide. did she live or die? did gerathon return to her? where are they now? we'll never know.

i even have to protest the exclusion of kirat, the bane of my existence. he and cabaro are a nightmare, but with how much the authors hyped him up for being tarik's kin, it's baffling that he didn't make another appearance. he's the nephew of our protagonists' old mentor, is he not? he couldn't have joined the four on one adventure?

and all the others -- they all have interesting stories. so many of them have potential that was never fully realized. it's such a shame they were forgotten.

you would think the children who bonded to erdas's reborn gods would be rather important to the story. and so it will bug me to the end of time that they just weren't.

[patriotismforstetriol]

Drawing a random scene from every Spirit Animals book:

Part 12: Broken Ground

And we get Ninani for the Ninani book. Always enjoy finding those patterns.

The random generator has selected Chapter 10: Stetriol's Welcome.

[zyeshallreturn]

The smile that can melt her Ninang’s fat and toxins. Dinaig mo pa ang sodium hydroxide cokiriet sa pagtunaw kay Ninang!! I know naman na ako ang fave mong Ninang. (Wala kang choice) 😅😂 lysm, cokiriet! More Ninani lullabies and Nursery Rhymes with u ☺️🍼👼👶🐣🦈 @raizabaluyot08 (at Marikina Heights) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUOivgXpoRSJXx-bXtp3pOwBEtFTN-UhtV3HUQ0/?utm_medium=tumblr

[trash-gremlin]

actually back to designate exact species for all the great beasts and say what similar animals can and cant be summoned yayyyy

Briggan the Wolf - grey wolf, nominate subspecies: eurasian wolf (Canis lupus lupus)

can be summoned: red wolf (Canis rufus), domestic dogs (any breed) (Canis familiaris)*, foxes (genus Vulpes)

cant be summoned: tundra wolf (Canis lupus albus), arabian wolf (Canis lupus arabs), himalayan wolf (Canis lupus chanco) and other grey wolf subspecies under Canis lupus

*some argue dogs are actually a subspecies under Canis lupus but as seen in the books and game domestic dogs can be summoned so ive decided to include them as their own species. ive also extended this for all domesticated species as apparently a lot of experts disagree on whether they should be counted as their own species or a subspecies

Uraza the Leopard - leopard, nominate subspecies: african leopard (Panthera pardus pardus)

can be summoned: clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), snow leopard (Panthera uncia), jaguars (Panthera onca)

cant be summoned: amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas) and other leopard subspecies under Panthera pardus

Jhi the Panda - panda, nominate species: giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca melanoleuca)

can be summoned: red panda (Ailurus fulgens), literally any other bear (family: Ursidae) except polar bear (Ursus maritimus)

cant be summoned: quinling panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis)

Essix the Falcon - gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus)

can be summoned: anything else in the Falco genus

can't be summoned: the other three members of the hierofalco subgenus: Lanner falcon, (Falco biarmicus), Lagger falcon (Falco jugger), Saker falcon (Falco cherrug)**

**these were included because gyrfalcon has no subspecies but exists in a subgenus in the Falco genus called hierofalco, which contains only three other species. these species apparently readily interbreed and have fully fertile offspring. theyre also one of the only subgenus (the other being the hobby birds under hypotriorchris), all other falcons exist under the Falco genus

Arax the Ram - bighorn sheep, nominate species: rocky mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis)

can be summoned: mountain sheep (Ovis ammon), barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia), domestic sheep (Ovis aries)

cant be summoned: sierra nevada bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis sierrae), desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni)

Rumfuss the Boar - wild boar, nominate species: central european boar (Sus scrofa scrofa)

can be summoned: common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus), domestic pig (Sus domesticus), red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus)

cant be summoned: north african boar (Sus scrofa algira), Indian boar (Sus scrofa cristatus), central asian boar (Sus scrota davidi) and other boar subspecies under Sus scrofa

Dinesh the Elephant - asian elephant, nominate species: sri lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus)

can be summoned: african bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), african forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)

cant be summoned: indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus), sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus)

Suka the Polar Bear - polar bear (Ursus maritimus)

can be summoned: literally any other bear (family: Ursidae)

cant be summoned: there are no subspecies or extremely close relatives of the polar bear!

Mulop the Octopus - giant pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini)

can be summoned: literally any other octopus ever (order: Octopada, any family, any genus)***

cant be summoned: there are no subspecies or extremely close relatives of the giant pacific octopus!

***that is, if they can actually be summoned. there are no other cases of a non mammalian marine animal being summoned and mulop is an exception as no one is supposed to be able to summon the great beast species

Carboro the Lion - lion (Panthera leo)

can be summoned: mountain lion (Puma concolor)

cant be summoned: there are no subspecies or extremely close relatives of the lion!****

****a subspecies Panthera leo melanochaita does technically exist however experts debate over its validity due to the overlap with Panthera leo leo so ive decided to not count it

Ninani the Swan - mute swan (Cygnus olor)

can be summoned: black swan (Cygnus atratus), black-necked swan (Cygnus melancoryphus) and other swans (genus: Cygnus)

cant be summoned: there are no subspecies or extremely close relatives of the mute swan!

Halawir the Eagle - golden eagle, nominate species: european golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos chrysaetos)

can be summoned: bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) and other "true eagles" (genus: Aquila)

cant be summoned: iberian golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos homeyeri), asian golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos daphanea), japanese golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos japonica) and other golden eagle subspecies under Aquila chrysaetos

Gerathon the Serpent - king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah)

can be summoned: ring necked spitting cobra (Hemachatus haemachatus), indian cobra (Naja naja)

cant be summoned: there are no subspecies or extremely close relatives of the king cobra!

Kovo the Ape - gorilla, nominate species: western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)

can be summoned: any subspecies of eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei), chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii)

cant be summoned: cross river gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli)

Tellun the Elk - elk, roosevelt elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti)*****

can be summoned: european fallow deer  (Dama dama), red deer (Cervus elaphus), whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

cant be summoned: tule elk (Cervus canadensis nannodes), manitoban elk (Cervus canadensis manitobensis), rocky mountain elk (Cervus canadensis nelsoni) and other elk under Cervus canadensis

******the nominate species of elk is the eastern elk (Cervus canadensis canadensis), which is unfortunately extinct

and as a final note - just because its theoretically possible doesnt mean that it has or will happen, this was just an excuse to do a bunch of research and taxonomy is dodgy at best ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

the concept that the great beast species cant be summoned as spirit animals is very interesting to me, because in the game you can summon a red wolf when briggan is wolf. now obviously we can assume that briggan is a grey wolf so summoning a red wolf is theoretically possible, even if they look quite similar in real life.

but that brought me to the question, what animals could you summon that are similar to the great beasts?

assuming uraza is an african leopard, can you summon an amur leopard? these two are very similar and only really differ through their habitat. lets look at their taxonomy. the amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) and the african leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) are actually subspecies of the same species, with the african leopard being the nominate subspecies (repeats the species name as its subspecies, essentially the "default").

is being separated by subspecies enough? lets looks at the taxonomy for a grey wolf (Canis lupus) and a red wolf (Canis rufus). As you can see they are not subspecies but rather two separate species. using this i would conclude that animals must be separated by species (not subspecies) from the closest related great beast.

therefore, because uraza is the nominate subspecies for her species, it can be concluded that all great beast whose species contain subspecies would be the nominate subspecies and thus other subspecies such as the amur leopard can not be summoned.

this is also supported in books when abeke says that people can summon cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), but not leopards. cheetahs are not even in the same genus as leopards and all other leopards in the area are subspecies. other species of "leopard" (eg. clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and the jaguar (Panthera onca)) are all separated by a species if not more.