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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Re-read 2023 (exactly 20 years after I first read it).
I had such a wonderful time re-reading this series. This is such an absolutely fantastic fantasy series that you can read again and again (trust me, this was my 7th). Filled to the brim with brilliant characters, action, adventure, magic and high-stakes: what's not to love?! I recommend these books all the time - a must read for any burgeoning fantasy fan.
I had such a wonderful time re-reading this series. This is such an absolutely fantastic fantasy series that you can read again and again (trust me, this was my 7th). Filled to the brim with brilliant characters, action, adventure, magic and high-stakes: what's not to love?! I recommend these books all the time - a must read for any burgeoning fantasy fan.
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This series is what started my obsession with fantasy in my teens! I could not put these books down, I remember when I was driving the 29 hours from Manitoba to BC, I was so carsick but I could not stop reading!
The world-building is done so well, I love that all the series are inter-connected and you get to follow the characters as they support one another and continue to grow!
The world-building is done so well, I love that all the series are inter-connected and you get to follow the characters as they support one another and continue to grow!
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
fast-paced
I love this book. I love this series. Alanna is the best and deserves the best. Rereading this series has been an incredible dive back into one of the most important series to me. I love it now as much as I loved it then.
Now, SPOILERS AHEAD.
I love how multi-faceted Alanna is, and she is a fantastic role model. She shows how you can embody many different aspects of who you are and that the most worthwhile people are those who accept all of you.
“You scare him… just when he thinks he understands you, you do something new. He can’t put you in a neat little box the way he does the rest of us.”
Liam was an interesting contrast to Jonathan in terms of his relationship to Alanna. While Jon in the last book accused Alanna of not being “womanly enough,” Liam scorned Alanna for wearing dresses given how “impractical they are for fighting.” It highlights how both men are wrong in their dismissal of parts of Alanna.
I also am highly wary of male characters who immediately use pet names for a highly capable woman. It was interesting to read Pierce’s Afterword where she discusses her inspiration and influences as she also talks about the struggles a couple can face when both people work in the same field.
“What if both spouses are artists, and one always wins awards, while the other does not? Such things can wear away at relationships.”
It was also interesting to read Pierce’s response to commenters saying that raising Roger from the dead was a weak plot point. I disagree whole-heartedly. Alanna continuously struggles with societal oppositions: people saying women can’t be knights, that knights can’t wear dresses or like pretty things, that women are only fulfilled in marriage and child rearing, etc. Roger is emblematic of all of those obstacles and of the way they rear their ugly head over and over. It is never a singular battle. So, it was deeply cathartic to see Alanna fight him again and succeed, succeeding because she is and does the unexpected. She not only out-fights Alex, but outsmarts Roger. She suffered greatly and had lost many loved ones in the battle, but she won in the end. She protected her kingdom and herself.
And, in the end, she found that all-accepting love.
I will always love this series.
Now, SPOILERS AHEAD.
I love how multi-faceted Alanna is, and she is a fantastic role model. She shows how you can embody many different aspects of who you are and that the most worthwhile people are those who accept all of you.
“You scare him… just when he thinks he understands you, you do something new. He can’t put you in a neat little box the way he does the rest of us.”
Liam was an interesting contrast to Jonathan in terms of his relationship to Alanna. While Jon in the last book accused Alanna of not being “womanly enough,” Liam scorned Alanna for wearing dresses given how “impractical they are for fighting.” It highlights how both men are wrong in their dismissal of parts of Alanna.
I also am highly wary of male characters who immediately use pet names for a highly capable woman. It was interesting to read Pierce’s Afterword where she discusses her inspiration and influences as she also talks about the struggles a couple can face when both people work in the same field.
“What if both spouses are artists, and one always wins awards, while the other does not? Such things can wear away at relationships.”
It was also interesting to read Pierce’s response to commenters saying that raising Roger from the dead was a weak plot point. I disagree whole-heartedly. Alanna continuously struggles with societal oppositions: people saying women can’t be knights, that knights can’t wear dresses or like pretty things, that women are only fulfilled in marriage and child rearing, etc. Roger is emblematic of all of those obstacles and of the way they rear their ugly head over and over. It is never a singular battle. So, it was deeply cathartic to see Alanna fight him again and succeed, succeeding because she is and does the unexpected. She not only out-fights Alex, but outsmarts Roger. She suffered greatly and had lost many loved ones in the battle, but she won in the end. She protected her kingdom and herself.
And, in the end, she found that all-accepting love.
I will always love this series.
Nostalgia trip. But many parts of this book (and the series) have not aged well, for instance, the character Liam is terrible and absolutely gaslighting Alanna. Still a good read for a YA audience.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated