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A review by vampfang
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
3.0
i went into this story expecting a staple of the medieval fantasy genre, especially considering tamora pierce's reputation. while i enjoyed it, i don't think it lived up to that hype. granted, it's the first book in a series, but it felt too much like background for my taste. it started out promising, detailing alanna's journey, but before long became too much summary. it felt like there was too much going on, what with magic, george, and of course alanna's quest for knighthood, and none of it really came to a satisfying conclusion. in addition, i'm a person who likes a carefully thought out magic system. for me, this was just too open-ended, especially in the scene with the . also, and i know this book was written in the 80s, it did seem to other, if not outright vilify, the bazhir, who are arab-coded.
now that i've said that, there were definitely some things i liked in the book. the worldbuilding was really good, but perhaps i'm just a sucker for medieval fantasy and knights. the premise was really interesting, and of course my queer feminist ass loved all the gender fuckery. i know the book was intended to portray a feminist "women can be just as good as men" message, which is true if slightly gender essentialist, but i also think it works as a way to break down the fabric of gender altogether. for instance, as soon as alanna dresses like a man, she is able to fit in with them without question; this would suggest that there is really no barrier to her joining this space except for the fact that she is PERCEIVED as a woman. the fact that she is able to keep up with her peers demonstrates that knighthood was never about gender at all, and that there is nothing inherent to any gender. granted, her ability to keep up with the boys does come from hours of individual practice, but one could chalk this up to a) the fact that the boys were RAISED to be ready for this while alanna was not, and b) alanna's internal sense that as a woman she is not good enough, even though she totally is. on that note, yes, i would like to minor in gender studies in college, why do you ask?
all in all, an enjoyable book, although admittedly not a very difficult one to read as it seems to be geared towards middle-grade readers rather than teens as it says. haven't yet decided if i want to continue the series.
Spoiler
ysandir, i coudln't really tell what was going on there at allnow that i've said that, there were definitely some things i liked in the book. the worldbuilding was really good, but perhaps i'm just a sucker for medieval fantasy and knights. the premise was really interesting, and of course my queer feminist ass loved all the gender fuckery. i know the book was intended to portray a feminist "women can be just as good as men" message, which is true if slightly gender essentialist, but i also think it works as a way to break down the fabric of gender altogether. for instance, as soon as alanna dresses like a man, she is able to fit in with them without question; this would suggest that there is really no barrier to her joining this space except for the fact that she is PERCEIVED as a woman. the fact that she is able to keep up with her peers demonstrates that knighthood was never about gender at all, and that there is nothing inherent to any gender. granted, her ability to keep up with the boys does come from hours of individual practice, but one could chalk this up to a) the fact that the boys were RAISED to be ready for this while alanna was not, and b) alanna's internal sense that as a woman she is not good enough, even though she totally is. on that note,
Spoiler
i really respected alanna's arc of constantly trying to prove herself (though as i said above, there is no real reason to, especially because all of her friends basically say as much) to eventually realizing her own worth and describing why she deserves to be jon's squire. i do wish we had seen more of this growth throughout, however, rather than just at the very end.all in all, an enjoyable book, although admittedly not a very difficult one to read as it seems to be geared towards middle-grade readers rather than teens as it says. haven't yet decided if i want to continue the series.