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A review by petealis
Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce
5.0
This series remains my favorite of Pierce's books that I've read. I decided to do a read through of what I own of hers this year, and soldiered through Alanna, Daine, and Keladry-- all good enough in their own right, and all predecessors to this one-- but this one, the first I ever read by this author, remains a standout to me.
Having now read all of the predecessors and understood the references to novels past, I think that element done very well. George and Alanna's characters age both in general and into parenthood in a way that makes sense. The "letter home" scenes are thoroughly enjoyable both before and after you actually understand them, remaining a part of the plot while also playing homage to those not involved in it, such as Daine and Kel. One of my favorite things about Pierce as a whole is her willingness to check on characters past, even giving them new depths and life events, and she does so very naturally.
That being said, one of my biggest problems with Pierce's writings as a whole is the treatment of Tortall. After Alanna's series, the country is a celestial city and the characters gods before or as soon as their series end (literally in Daine's case). In some ways, this is fine and even good, but what it comes down to is that Tortall as a general can do no wrong. There is never any legitimate criticism of Tortall or its monarchs. The only criticism at all has to do with people disliking their bolstering the lower classes or making things more equal for woman, which is never given by any character you're not supposed to adamantly dislike. The closest there comes to any legitimate political conflict from two characters actually given any weight is when Jon makes Kel take a probationary year, and that is not ultimately much of a plot point as Kel holds in most feeling about it until she talks to Jon about the compromises that must be made in order to make change and all that feeling pretty much disappears. Even with the little time it was given, having that alongside Kel's conflict with the training master that eventually comes around to her actually makes the early Kel books, in my opinion, some of the strongest I've read of Pierce's. It does not stop the fact that altogether, every understands what a paradise Tortall is, even if it's a paradise constantly under attack. External conflict is constant and there is no legitimacy and rarely a complicated reason to it.
I could elaborate, and perhaps I will go back and review a few of the others to do so. However, I needed to make the point to say that I think Trickster is stronger for doing the most to veer away from that, even if it only manages to do so by taking place in a different kingdom entirely. Aly harkens back to Tortall as the perfect way of doing things, and Sarai and Dove (like many bright young women from other countries featured from time to time) sing its praises and thirst for stories due to its apparently idyllic treatment of women with Jon and Thayet in charge, but the Copper Islands themselves are a mess. Because the raka are the ones launching a revolution, and they have a cause, the investment in the conflict of the story is stronger than it is in previous stories. Both sides are given a face, the revolution with the sympathetic characters of the Balitang household, and the conquerors with the mad Rittovens, who we do spend a little time on in the form of Kyprioth's carry-overs and Broneau, and whose role grows into the next books. The reasons the Balitangs were exiled could've used some more time devoted to it, but even rushed the plot point itself sets the stakes rather well, showing how temperamental this atmosphere is.
Of course, it isn't perfect. True to form, there is little critique given to the Balitangs within the narrative, despite the fact that they are, when it comes down to it, slave owners. It is the culture they live in, and they rebel by treating their slaves and servants well as is unexpected, but no thought is given to the subject besides that, which is especially interesting considering how Mequen and Winna were supposedly able to entirely overcome their cultural bias against the raka enough to befriend and/or marry Sarai and Dove's mother. And there lies the fact that the main drawback of the raka's cause is the possibility of revolution turning to slaughter, something Aly constantly lectures about. While she is not wrong that removing luarin from the isles wouldn't really work nor, if slaughter is how it is done, be specifically right, scenes where she lectures people like Ochobu on their hatred of a people whose rulers have literally made it not only legal, but the precedent, to slaughter local populations of her people when something happens to their luarin overlords, no matter what it was that happened, sit incredibly wrong. I can even understand how these scenes turn people off from the story as a whole. Peace and equality between all people, including the conquered and the conquerors, is a difficult subject, and one I think the story is stronger for tackling. However, that was not the way to address it.
I know another of the biggest criticisms for the story is Aly herself being too perfect, things being too cut out for her. While this is a fair criticism, I don't think it can be called a unique one for Pierce's other heroines. Alanna may have to work to earn her place as a knight, but she happens into friendships with the prince, a god decides with no explanation (and to my surprise, I do mean no explanation, it is never addressed) to become her pet, she knows Roger is evil from the first time she looks at him, and even the supposedly mega-sexist Bahzir come to respect her with relative ease. Daine similarly happens into the lap of all the characters of the previous series and her power over animals is textually constantly exclaimed over for its convenience. Kel happens to have stayed with the Yamani, who are suddenly of great political importance, and builds on Daine's convenience with uber smart animal companions that help at every turn, including a griffin that eventually turns into lie-detection goggles.
So is Aly conveniently shunted over into the Copper Isles? Yes. But that is, for once, actually entirely explained. Kyprioth chose her and wanted her so he spirited her away. Does she have all of this training for spy work? Yes, that's why he wanted her. And while it's a bit strange that George gave her all this knowledge, to the point where he spent time helping her learn how to work against truth spells, while also refusing to let her be a spy, it also makes some sense. We see in Daine's books how places like Pirate's Swoop can come under attack, and multiple other instances of Aly being somewhere dangerous were hinted at. And they were okay with her becoming a knight or a queen's rider, both shown to be dangerous jobs where these type of skills might also come in handy. George is simply giving her the tools that he possesses until she decides to specialize somewhere else, and she happens to like those tools in particular. And Kyprioth, having an actual personality aside from a sense of superiority and all-knowingness (though he certainly has those too), and actual motivations to go with it (unlike the other gods, who I adamantly dislike on the whole), provides a path for Aly and some extra tools, including smoothing her way over with the other revolutionaries. Is this a nitty-gritty pull up by the bootstraps story? No. But Aly's wit is compelling, and as are the motivations of the revolution, and it works.
Having now read all of the predecessors and understood the references to novels past, I think that element done very well. George and Alanna's characters age both in general and into parenthood in a way that makes sense. The "letter home" scenes are thoroughly enjoyable both before and after you actually understand them, remaining a part of the plot while also playing homage to those not involved in it, such as Daine and Kel. One of my favorite things about Pierce as a whole is her willingness to check on characters past, even giving them new depths and life events, and she does so very naturally.
That being said, one of my biggest problems with Pierce's writings as a whole is the treatment of Tortall. After Alanna's series, the country is a celestial city and the characters gods before or as soon as their series end (literally in Daine's case). In some ways, this is fine and even good, but what it comes down to is that Tortall as a general can do no wrong. There is never any legitimate criticism of Tortall or its monarchs. The only criticism at all has to do with people disliking their bolstering the lower classes or making things more equal for woman, which is never given by any character you're not supposed to adamantly dislike. The closest there comes to any legitimate political conflict from two characters actually given any weight is when Jon makes Kel take a probationary year, and that is not ultimately much of a plot point as Kel holds in most feeling about it until she talks to Jon about the compromises that must be made in order to make change and all that feeling pretty much disappears. Even with the little time it was given, having that alongside Kel's conflict with the training master that eventually comes around to her actually makes the early Kel books, in my opinion, some of the strongest I've read of Pierce's. It does not stop the fact that altogether, every understands what a paradise Tortall is, even if it's a paradise constantly under attack. External conflict is constant and there is no legitimacy and rarely a complicated reason to it.
I could elaborate, and perhaps I will go back and review a few of the others to do so. However, I needed to make the point to say that I think Trickster is stronger for doing the most to veer away from that, even if it only manages to do so by taking place in a different kingdom entirely. Aly harkens back to Tortall as the perfect way of doing things, and Sarai and Dove (like many bright young women from other countries featured from time to time) sing its praises and thirst for stories due to its apparently idyllic treatment of women with Jon and Thayet in charge, but the Copper Islands themselves are a mess. Because the raka are the ones launching a revolution, and they have a cause, the investment in the conflict of the story is stronger than it is in previous stories. Both sides are given a face, the revolution with the sympathetic characters of the Balitang household, and the conquerors with the mad Rittovens, who we do spend a little time on in the form of Kyprioth's carry-overs and Broneau, and whose role grows into the next books. The reasons the Balitangs were exiled could've used some more time devoted to it, but even rushed the plot point itself sets the stakes rather well, showing how temperamental this atmosphere is.
Of course, it isn't perfect. True to form, there is little critique given to the Balitangs within the narrative, despite the fact that they are, when it comes down to it, slave owners. It is the culture they live in, and they rebel by treating their slaves and servants well as is unexpected, but no thought is given to the subject besides that, which is especially interesting considering how Mequen and Winna were supposedly able to entirely overcome their cultural bias against the raka enough to befriend and/or marry Sarai and Dove's mother. And there lies the fact that the main drawback of the raka's cause is the possibility of revolution turning to slaughter, something Aly constantly lectures about. While she is not wrong that removing luarin from the isles wouldn't really work nor, if slaughter is how it is done, be specifically right, scenes where she lectures people like Ochobu on their hatred of a people whose rulers have literally made it not only legal, but the precedent, to slaughter local populations of her people when something happens to their luarin overlords, no matter what it was that happened, sit incredibly wrong. I can even understand how these scenes turn people off from the story as a whole. Peace and equality between all people, including the conquered and the conquerors, is a difficult subject, and one I think the story is stronger for tackling. However, that was not the way to address it.
I know another of the biggest criticisms for the story is Aly herself being too perfect, things being too cut out for her. While this is a fair criticism, I don't think it can be called a unique one for Pierce's other heroines. Alanna may have to work to earn her place as a knight, but she happens into friendships with the prince, a god decides with no explanation (and to my surprise, I do mean no explanation, it is never addressed) to become her pet, she knows Roger is evil from the first time she looks at him, and even the supposedly mega-sexist Bahzir come to respect her with relative ease. Daine similarly happens into the lap of all the characters of the previous series and her power over animals is textually constantly exclaimed over for its convenience. Kel happens to have stayed with the Yamani, who are suddenly of great political importance, and builds on Daine's convenience with uber smart animal companions that help at every turn, including a griffin that eventually turns into lie-detection goggles.
So is Aly conveniently shunted over into the Copper Isles? Yes. But that is, for once, actually entirely explained. Kyprioth chose her and wanted her so he spirited her away. Does she have all of this training for spy work? Yes, that's why he wanted her. And while it's a bit strange that George gave her all this knowledge, to the point where he spent time helping her learn how to work against truth spells, while also refusing to let her be a spy, it also makes some sense. We see in Daine's books how places like Pirate's Swoop can come under attack, and multiple other instances of Aly being somewhere dangerous were hinted at. And they were okay with her becoming a knight or a queen's rider, both shown to be dangerous jobs where these type of skills might also come in handy. George is simply giving her the tools that he possesses until she decides to specialize somewhere else, and she happens to like those tools in particular. And Kyprioth, having an actual personality aside from a sense of superiority and all-knowingness (though he certainly has those too), and actual motivations to go with it (unlike the other gods, who I adamantly dislike on the whole), provides a path for Aly and some extra tools, including smoothing her way over with the other revolutionaries. Is this a nitty-gritty pull up by the bootstraps story? No. But Aly's wit is compelling, and as are the motivations of the revolution, and it works.