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julieabe89's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
This book makes my heart ache. The loss of a certain character is heartrending. It hits me just as hard every time I read it.
fuchsiarascal's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Alanna comes back strong for this final installment of her series. Finally, we see her actually going off on a knightly adventure like the ones she's always talked about, and having all the unexpected rescuing and character growth that comes with it. While I do think some things should have been fleshed out more—Liam is almost obnoxiously afraid of magic, yes, but Alanna should have faced character growth repercussions of letting Faithful magically spell him to sleep—I'm still mindful of how this book was truncated for the acceptable length of YA fantasy books of the time. That's the main flaw with all of the Alanna books, they have a great core of the story but are unfortunately a product of publishing standards of the 80s.
I love all the character growth we see here. We see Jonathan grow into his role instead of being the spoiled prince he was in The Woman Who Rides Like a Man. We see Georgelose most of his loyal supporters and lose his taste for the Rogue in pursuit of other people and things (like loyalty to Jonathan). We see the opposite of character development in Thom, but framed in such a way amidst everyone else's growth that it's stark and wrong... oh, how I hated Thom when I first read these! I understand Alanna's emotional attachments to him now, but I still don't feel sorry for what he brought upon himself. I love the introductions of Thayet and Buri—Buri more, to be honest—and the K'mir. If I had any sway in future Tortall books, I would like some set in the Eastern lands to know more about the K'mir... or the far lands across the Inland sea, to know more about the Old Ones, the Ysandir, and what lies beyond our current scope. But anyway, I'm getting off topic. The K'mir are fascinating to me, and are thankfully written in a less appropriative way than the Bazhir.
In the end, we see Alanna grow into who she is, not just a warrior but also a person, someone who embraces her femininity as well as the "masculine" traits she always had to uphold as a warrior. She finds herself the most in this book, and does so in a way that doesn't so much compromise who she is but redefines what she wants. A conversation with Faithful sums this up perfectly, where Faithful (chidingly) points out that all Alanna wanted when she was young was to have adventures and not think about love, and Alanna responds that she was young and foolish (and idealistic) at the time. (Sorry, I didn't mark the exact quote, but you get the gist. I'll update here if I find it later.) Alanna is still, you know, fairly immature as all 21 year olds are, but she has grown up a lot between the beginning of the previous book and the end of this one.
Semi-related content note:I lost my black cat, Felix Felicis, this week, in the middle of this Alanna re-read, and somehow blocked out the fact that Faithful dies in this until it was too late. Probably not good timing for me. Oh, how I sobbed the first time I read that part... and the second... and the twentieth... Still, knowing what I know with Beka Cooper's story, it was less of a blow now. But still terrible timing!
I love all the character growth we see here. We see Jonathan grow into his role instead of being the spoiled prince he was in The Woman Who Rides Like a Man. We see George
In the end, we see Alanna grow into who she is, not just a warrior but also a person, someone who embraces her femininity as well as the "masculine" traits she always had to uphold as a warrior. She finds herself the most in this book, and does so in a way that doesn't so much compromise who she is but redefines what she wants. A conversation with Faithful sums this up perfectly, where Faithful (chidingly) points out that all Alanna wanted when she was young was to have adventures and not think about love, and Alanna responds that she was young and foolish (and idealistic) at the time. (Sorry, I didn't mark the exact quote, but you get the gist. I'll update here if I find it later.) Alanna is still, you know, fairly immature as all 21 year olds are, but she has grown up a lot between the beginning of the previous book and the end of this one.
Semi-related content note:
protoman21's review
3.0
This book started out better for me than the rest in the series. The fact that Alanna was away from court and away from a lot of the characters that I never got attached to really helped me get more into the story, but once her quest for the Dominion Jewel was over and we returned to court, I almost completely lost interest. Even with this being the ultimate climax to the series and the resolution of all that came before, I just didn't care. I'm happy to be done with this series!
brendalovesbooks's review
4.0
This was a fantastic end to the Song of the Lioness series. It was longer than the others, so Tamora Pierce was able to give more details, and not skip large chunks of time like in the other books. It had court intrigue that I loved, and the action never stopped.
I also just adore the characters in this series. Alanna grew so much, and I admit, I cried at the ending. It was good and I really loved it. The secondary characters are good, although the one small downside for this one was that I just wasn't feeling the relationship between Alanna and Liam. He grew on me as a character, but sometimes I feel like Alanna really doesn't have to have a relationship with every man she comes in contact with. (That doesn't really happen, though)
I would highly recommend this series to fantasy lovers. Especially young ones. All but this last book are fairly short and very quick reads. I will definitely read more by this author.
I also just adore the characters in this series. Alanna grew so much, and I admit, I cried at the ending. It was good and I really loved it. The secondary characters are good, although the one small downside for this one was that I just wasn't feeling the relationship between Alanna and Liam. He grew on me as a character, but sometimes I feel like Alanna really doesn't have to have a relationship with every man she comes in contact with. (That doesn't really happen, though)
I would highly recommend this series to fantasy lovers. Especially young ones. All but this last book are fairly short and very quick reads. I will definitely read more by this author.
starcrossedstacks's review
5.0
My childhood favorite. Nostolgia completely has decided the 5 star rating but I have no shame.