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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
This was a foundational book for me as a child (as were most that involved women training to be knights). I was happy to re-read it again for the first time in over a decade and find that it was still just as entertaining. The mythology in it is interesting, and Alanna is a bold, brave protagonist who remains inspiring.
**1.5 stars**
The characters were this book's strong suit. I thought Rolan was a good bully, and Alex, George, Raoul, and Jonathan were great friends. The underlying motivation to be friends was fuzzy but I thought they worked well together. Alanna is a weaker character, coming across as strong-headed and loyal, but sometimes straight-up annoying. She develops very little. Coram seemed fairly important to Alanna until he disappears and is never mentioned again.
There were a lot of problems with the storyline. It bothered me that the boys all accepted her so easily. It bothered me that things such as her first period and her horse Moonlight had big moments and were then never mentioned again. It bothered me that she was seemingly struggling to keep up with her work and lacked any talent, but then she not only defeats Rolan but also the mysterious and purposeless Ysandir. Speaking of, where did they come from? Who are they? Why are they in the climax of the book? There was nothing tying them to the plot except that our protagonist had stumbled upon them and gotten herself into trouble.
On a similar note, the Bazhir were equally useless. We know nothing of them except that they are at war with Tortall and have a city friendly to the king, Persopolis. Why are they at war? Where do they come from? Why do Alanna and her friends go to Persopolis? The world-building is non-existent in this novel. I know nothing of the people and places Alanna encounters. I know nothing of their customs, rituals, and ways of life. I do know that Alanna gets everything handed to her like she deserves gold stars for breathing regularly.
Magic plays a small role in this book. It is mentioned Alanna hates magic but then goes on to use it on a large scale multiple times, like saving lives. Many characters are distrustful of magic, but once Alanna saves Jonathan, even the king reverses his opinion and institutes lessons for those with "the Gift." Duke Roger is seen as the greatest magician they know, even referred to as popular, but on numerous occasions is shown to be disliked or distrusted. Maybe Pierce couldn't make up her mind.
One last thing: the crystal sword Lightning. Alanna goes with Sir Myles to the ruins near his house where he tells her he's been having visions of the two of them for the past 7 years. She decides the only logical thing to do is to go down this man-hole type thing alone that NOBODY HAS EVER BEEN ABLE TO OPEN UNTIL THEN where she finds a crystal sword that saves her life from the magical darkness choking her by...lighting up once she accepted her death. Upon returning to the palace, she shows Duke Roger the sword, he flips out about how she got it (literally whether or not she found it or was given it), and then it's over and he never brings it up again.
Adventure? Keep looking. Fantasy? Forget about it. Nothing happens in this book. Alanna splits up with her brother, goes through training for 75% of the book, and then defeats some random villains. That's it. You don't need to read it now because I've told you the whole story. Pierce exacerbates this issue by doing a lot of fast-forwarding. Hours, days, weeks, even YEARS pass by between paragraphs and we are given no clues to it. Sometimes Alanna mentions a birthday, sometimes she doesn't. I could not tell you over how long of a period of time the book occurs.
Some things cannot be commented on, but need merely to be summarized for full intended effect: Jonathan almost dies, but Alanna-the-hater-of-magic draws upon the extremely powerful god magic that she admits that she doesn't know how to use nor should be using, and pulls Jonathan from the hands of the God of Death in the hallway to hell with her special purple magic hands. Yep.
Summary
At times I questioned why I continued to read this book. Poorly developed plot, no world-building, and a seriously bratty main character has turned me off. In reading up on the other books in the series, I am very confident in my choice to abandon the Song of the Lioness series.
The characters were this book's strong suit. I thought Rolan was a good bully, and Alex, George, Raoul, and Jonathan were great friends. The underlying motivation to be friends was fuzzy but I thought they worked well together. Alanna is a weaker character, coming across as strong-headed and loyal, but sometimes straight-up annoying. She develops very little. Coram seemed fairly important to Alanna until he disappears and is never mentioned again.
There were a lot of problems with the storyline. It bothered me that the boys all accepted her so easily. It bothered me that things such as her first period and her horse Moonlight had big moments and were then never mentioned again. It bothered me that she was seemingly struggling to keep up with her work and lacked any talent, but then she not only defeats Rolan but also the mysterious and purposeless Ysandir. Speaking of, where did they come from? Who are they? Why are they in the climax of the book? There was nothing tying them to the plot except that our protagonist had stumbled upon them and gotten herself into trouble.
On a similar note, the Bazhir were equally useless. We know nothing of them except that they are at war with Tortall and have a city friendly to the king, Persopolis. Why are they at war? Where do they come from? Why do Alanna and her friends go to Persopolis? The world-building is non-existent in this novel. I know nothing of the people and places Alanna encounters. I know nothing of their customs, rituals, and ways of life. I do know that Alanna gets everything handed to her like she deserves gold stars for breathing regularly.
Magic plays a small role in this book. It is mentioned Alanna hates magic but then goes on to use it on a large scale multiple times, like saving lives. Many characters are distrustful of magic, but once Alanna saves Jonathan, even the king reverses his opinion and institutes lessons for those with "the Gift." Duke Roger is seen as the greatest magician they know, even referred to as popular, but on numerous occasions is shown to be disliked or distrusted. Maybe Pierce couldn't make up her mind.
One last thing: the crystal sword Lightning. Alanna goes with Sir Myles to the ruins near his house where he tells her he's been having visions of the two of them for the past 7 years. She decides the only logical thing to do is to go down this man-hole type thing alone that NOBODY HAS EVER BEEN ABLE TO OPEN UNTIL THEN where she finds a crystal sword that saves her life from the magical darkness choking her by...lighting up once she accepted her death. Upon returning to the palace, she shows Duke Roger the sword, he flips out about how she got it (literally whether or not she found it or was given it), and then it's over and he never brings it up again.
Adventure? Keep looking. Fantasy? Forget about it. Nothing happens in this book. Alanna splits up with her brother, goes through training for 75% of the book, and then defeats some random villains. That's it. You don't need to read it now because I've told you the whole story. Pierce exacerbates this issue by doing a lot of fast-forwarding. Hours, days, weeks, even YEARS pass by between paragraphs and we are given no clues to it. Sometimes Alanna mentions a birthday, sometimes she doesn't. I could not tell you over how long of a period of time the book occurs.
Some things cannot be commented on, but need merely to be summarized for full intended effect: Jonathan almost dies, but Alanna-the-hater-of-magic draws upon the extremely powerful god magic that she admits that she doesn't know how to use nor should be using, and pulls Jonathan from the hands of the God of Death in the hallway to hell with her special purple magic hands. Yep.
Summary
At times I questioned why I continued to read this book. Poorly developed plot, no world-building, and a seriously bratty main character has turned me off. In reading up on the other books in the series, I am very confident in my choice to abandon the Song of the Lioness series.
A good start. No instant adoration, but I like it. Alanna is very Gender but also a bit anti-gender with all the "you have to learn to be happy as a girl" stuff.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really wanted to enjoy this book more! I really liked Alanna's character and point of view, and found the social dynamics and rituals of childhood violence and honour explored with the squires/pages really fascinating. However the bland, overly direct prose really took away from my enjoyment of the story, even while I was cheering for Alanna to succeed.
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Fine. Alanna definitely set a precedent for the middle grade fantasy protagonists after, but I just couldn't get fully into the writing style or the awful sense of pacing/time. Still, that's just me; I know this a favorite for many people.
adventurous
relaxing
medium-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
I think I would have liked this book a lot when I was younger. There aren't really any problems, but I thought it didn't really stand out for me. There are some interesting aspects to the world, but the plot is a little more straightforward than I like. I thought the prose was fairly unobtrusive, which is pretty good, the author didn't sound pretentious like a lot of high fantasy. It's a pretty light read, so it's not a huge investment to see if you like it. I'd recommend this to fans of David Eddings, but probably not the reverse.
adventurous
fast-paced
I started reading Tamora Pierce when I was a little girl, and have grown up with her characters. Alanna is one of my absolute favorites. I frequently reread these books and feel the same excitement and joy every time.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail