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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-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:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
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
adventurous
lighthearted
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:
No
Alanna and Thom are twins, Gifted with magic. Yet her father intends to send her to a convent to learn to be a lady and Thom to the palace to become a knight. Neither of these roles suit them, so they pull a fast one: Alanna disguises herself as "Alan" to learn to become a knight, and Thom goes to the City of the Gods to learn magic. Alanna will have to navigate the athletics and Code of Chivalry to become a knight, all while hiding that "he" is actually a "she." Of course, there will be more trials and troubles than she could have expected, and each one will test her in a new way.
It has been far too long since I read the Song of the Lioness quartet, so it was nice to revisit its old familiarity. Which also, unfortunately, meant some distracted reading because life is doing some Big Things as of late. Even with the distractedness, there is something comforting about Alanna's story, and still so very relatable as an adult as when I was a child barely older than Alanna. It also meant that I noticed things that I probably didn't notice in my page years, such as the showing and telling that "Alanna didn't understand people. Myles did, and she turned to him for instruction." (page 142) - between that, and Alanna's hyper-focus on her goals and how to make them happen, how she sometimes forgets to factor in the larger consequences of an action, how she isn't always good at showing her emotions until they boil over, makes adult me wonder if she doesn't fall on the autism spectrum. Maybe I'm stereotyping too much on too little, but I think there's just enough there to stand on. I was also having a little trouble filling in Jon's family tree - Duke Gareth of Naxen is Jon's uncle? And Roger is his father's nephew? - but that might be just because of the speed and distractedness with which I read this book. Then again, I also know that time, and some relationships even, in Pierce's novels tend to be...a little fluid in their application and state.
Another thing which I really appreciated, and realized it tends to be rare in the books I read of late if not in YA these days in general, is how quickly time moves. Roughly three years go by in this book alone! It was refreshing to not get the day-to-day events; rather, to get highlights (such as the Sweating Sickness) and generalized examples (such as summer pool swims) of important events to shaping Alanna as a person, character, and her story. It means that the story moves quickly, but we don't feel as though we're missing important events - it's more targeted and focused this way, resulting in a more efficiently effective means of deliverying story, themes, and ideas.
Quotes:
"Have you thought of the lives you'll take when you go off performing those great deeds?"
Alanna bit her lip. "No," she admitted.
"I didn't think so. You see only the glory. But there's lives taken and families without fathers and sorrow. Think before you fight. Think on who you're fighting, if only because one day you must meet your match. And if you want to pay for those lives you do take, use your healing magic. Use it all you can, or you won't cleanse your soul of death for centuries. It's harder to heal than it is to kill." - page 8-9
"Your place in life you can always change, whether you have the Gift or not. But you cannot change what the gods have made you. The sooner you accept that, the happier you will be." - page 137
Typo:
Duke Gareth's smile did not quite fit under the hand he used to hid it. - page 125 - "hid" should be "hide"
It has been far too long since I read the Song of the Lioness quartet, so it was nice to revisit its old familiarity. Which also, unfortunately, meant some distracted reading because life is doing some Big Things as of late. Even with the distractedness, there is something comforting about Alanna's story, and still so very relatable as an adult as when I was a child barely older than Alanna. It also meant that I noticed things that I probably didn't notice in my page years, such as the showing and telling that "Alanna didn't understand people. Myles did, and she turned to him for instruction." (page 142) - between that, and Alanna's hyper-focus on her goals and how to make them happen, how she sometimes forgets to factor in the larger consequences of an action, how she isn't always good at showing her emotions until they boil over, makes adult me wonder if she doesn't fall on the autism spectrum. Maybe I'm stereotyping too much on too little, but I think there's just enough there to stand on. I was also having a little trouble filling in Jon's family tree - Duke Gareth of Naxen is Jon's uncle? And Roger is his father's nephew? - but that might be just because of the speed and distractedness with which I read this book. Then again, I also know that time, and some relationships even, in Pierce's novels tend to be...a little fluid in their application and state.
Another thing which I really appreciated, and realized it tends to be rare in the books I read of late if not in YA these days in general, is how quickly time moves. Roughly three years go by in this book alone! It was refreshing to not get the day-to-day events; rather, to get highlights (such as the Sweating Sickness) and generalized examples (such as summer pool swims) of important events to shaping Alanna as a person, character, and her story. It means that the story moves quickly, but we don't feel as though we're missing important events - it's more targeted and focused this way, resulting in a more efficiently effective means of deliverying story, themes, and ideas.
Quotes:
"Have you thought of the lives you'll take when you go off performing those great deeds?"
Alanna bit her lip. "No," she admitted.
"I didn't think so. You see only the glory. But there's lives taken and families without fathers and sorrow. Think before you fight. Think on who you're fighting, if only because one day you must meet your match. And if you want to pay for those lives you do take, use your healing magic. Use it all you can, or you won't cleanse your soul of death for centuries. It's harder to heal than it is to kill." - page 8-9
"Your place in life you can always change, whether you have the Gift or not. But you cannot change what the gods have made you. The sooner you accept that, the happier you will be." - page 137
Typo:
Duke Gareth's smile did not quite fit under the hand he used to hid it. - page 125 - "hid" should be "hide"
fast-paced