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A review by mediaevalmuse
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
5.0
I stopped reading for fun these past few months as I was focusing all my energy on writing academic job documents. With my brain fried, I needed something fun, and this series was waiting for me after being loaned by a friend. As a medievalist, I’m a sucker for tales of women pretending to be men, and this book pleasantly surprised me in the way it handled such a story. While it is very second-wave feminist in the way it approaches questions of gender, it is a heartfelt adventure that has much of the positivity that I think a lot of readers will appreciate.
Things I Liked
1. Practically Addressing the Female Body: I was pleasantly surprised to find that Pierce didn’t just skip over puberty. Whenever I read medieval tales of cross-dressing knights or saints, I always wonder about how they hid their physical bodies enough to pass as a man, or what they did about menstruation. Alanna answered those questions, which is not only good from a practical standpoint, but helps to make discussion of the female body less taboo.
2. Male Feminist Attitudes: Throughout the book, Alanna herself sees her female gender as a weakness, noting how because she is a girl, that means she is weak or lesser than her male friends. As a result, she views a lot of feminine things as obstacles. By contrast, none of the male characters in the story seem to think the same. When she confides in two friends about her menstruation, they don’t react with disgust, but help her. When her secret is revealed to another, he protests that her gender in no way makes her a lesser pupil - in fact, she’s the best of all of them. It’s refreshing to see male characters with these attitudes rather than the responsibility being on female characters to change their minds.
3. Friendship: With one exception, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of rivalry between the boys training to be knights. I loved that they all seemed to be friends and recognized the strengths in each other without jealousy (or, at least, without so much jealousy that it led to competition and toxic interactions). I also really loved the bridges that were built between the boys of the court and George, the King of Thieves. Bridging that gap showed some effort on the part of the upper-class to understand people who are different. Not only was it pleasant to read, but it offers a model of male friendship that doesn’t rely on toxic masculinity or the idea that boys are inherently rough or violent.
4. Prose: This book is very much written for younger audiences, but even so, I thought the prose was well-done. It showed Alanna being flawed without making her unlikable. It described things in vivid detail, such as the effect of her magic and the majesty of mystical locations. It was enough to hold an older reader’s attention without losing younger readers.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Sudden Break: While the first part of the book is all about Alanna’s training, the second (shorter) part involved her going to a desert city and encountering some magical, mystical beings. To me, the transition between the two felt a bit sudden. We just read more than one hundred pages detailing her daily life and development, and suddenly, we’re dropped into a more narrative-driven mystery towards the end. I know the next few books will build on this encounter, but I wish it had been woven a bit more fluidly into the rest of the first book.
2. Gender Reveal: As much as I loved the way male characters reacted to Alanna being female, I didn’t love
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in stories about girls pretending to be boys, knights, knights-in-training, chivalry, and magic.
Things I Liked
1. Practically Addressing the Female Body: I was pleasantly surprised to find that Pierce didn’t just skip over puberty. Whenever I read medieval tales of cross-dressing knights or saints, I always wonder about how they hid their physical bodies enough to pass as a man, or what they did about menstruation. Alanna answered those questions, which is not only good from a practical standpoint, but helps to make discussion of the female body less taboo.
2. Male Feminist Attitudes: Throughout the book, Alanna herself sees her female gender as a weakness, noting how because she is a girl, that means she is weak or lesser than her male friends. As a result, she views a lot of feminine things as obstacles. By contrast, none of the male characters in the story seem to think the same. When she confides in two friends about her menstruation, they don’t react with disgust, but help her. When her secret is revealed to another, he protests that her gender in no way makes her a lesser pupil - in fact, she’s the best of all of them. It’s refreshing to see male characters with these attitudes rather than the responsibility being on female characters to change their minds.
3. Friendship: With one exception, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of rivalry between the boys training to be knights. I loved that they all seemed to be friends and recognized the strengths in each other without jealousy (or, at least, without so much jealousy that it led to competition and toxic interactions). I also really loved the bridges that were built between the boys of the court and George, the King of Thieves. Bridging that gap showed some effort on the part of the upper-class to understand people who are different. Not only was it pleasant to read, but it offers a model of male friendship that doesn’t rely on toxic masculinity or the idea that boys are inherently rough or violent.
4. Prose: This book is very much written for younger audiences, but even so, I thought the prose was well-done. It showed Alanna being flawed without making her unlikable. It described things in vivid detail, such as the effect of her magic and the majesty of mystical locations. It was enough to hold an older reader’s attention without losing younger readers.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Sudden Break: While the first part of the book is all about Alanna’s training, the second (shorter) part involved her going to a desert city and encountering some magical, mystical beings. To me, the transition between the two felt a bit sudden. We just read more than one hundred pages detailing her daily life and development, and suddenly, we’re dropped into a more narrative-driven mystery towards the end. I know the next few books will build on this encounter, but I wish it had been woven a bit more fluidly into the rest of the first book.
2. Gender Reveal: As much as I loved the way male characters reacted to Alanna being female, I didn’t love
Spoiler
the way it was done with Prince Jonathan towards the end of the book. As the two are exploring a forbidden city, a mystical being reveals Alanna’s secret to the prince by making all her clothes disappear. Given that Alanna’s body is going through puberty, I found the reveal to be uncomfortable.Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in stories about girls pretending to be boys, knights, knights-in-training, chivalry, and magic.