Alanna by Tamora Pierce

[meganbmoore]

Alanna of Trebond wants to be a knight. Her twin brother, Thom, wants to be a sorcerer. Their father doesn’t care what they want, or even realize that they want anything, and declares that Alanna shall be sent to a convent to train with priests, and Thom will train to be a knight. So Alanna comes up with a plan to dress like a boy, and change her father’s letter so that he has two sons, allowing the twins to follow their dreams.

The only Tamora Pierce books I’ve read before are the Circle of Magic quartet, which are set on a different world from this one. Alanna is Pierce’s first book (I believe this quartet was originally one long book that Pierce was told to break up, because no one in the target audience wanted to read a book that long) and it shows. Alanna follows all the normal for the “crossdressing girl who wants to be a knight” genre-actually, it probably helped solidify the tropes-right down to setting up what appears to be a future love triangle for Alana that includes Jon, the prince of Tortall (the world the book is set in) and George, a young thief who befriends Alanna.

If I’d first read this in my teens, I suspect I would have responded very strongly to it. As it is, I quite like Alanna as a character and enjoyed her supporting cast, but am less than amazed by the book itself.

Comments

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Pierce improved quite a bit just as a writer over the years. I read Alanna first in my teens, and loved it, but it's pretty easy to see that especially when compared to her later books.

Interestingly, one of her later quartets -- Protector of the Small -- is very interesting as a comparison to the Alanna books: it's set in the same world, and also features a young woman training to be a knight, but its protagonist, Kel, lacks some of Alanna's more, um, over-the-top features (red hair, purple eyes, powerful magic, crazy love triangle, etc. etc. etc). It's much better-written, and the character is more realistic and well-rounded, and as an adult I appreciate it more, but to be perfectly honest when I first read Alanna as a young teen I was so all over the red hair/purple eyes/over the top-ness, so.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Heh. I got to Alanna's coloring and went "Yes, yes, first book from twenty-odd years ago. We shall not speak of it again."

[telophase.livejournal.com]

:) I encountered the Alanna books in 8th or 9th grade, which was really the perfect time for them, and I adored them to pieces.

I've read other of her books, and bounced off a lot of them, but I like the Protector of the Small series better than Alanna now, for it actually confronting the question of what it's like for the second girl to go through knight training, and I adore the first Beka Cooper book, for having a no-nonsense kind of heroine.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think the Protector of the Small books were what first caught my attention. Because there's plenty of the FIRST girl to do something, but not a lot about the SECOND one who has to deal not only with people who aren't used to accepting her, but who also has to deal with the comparisons.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Exactly! When I dig them out of the various boxes they're in, I should re-read them. :D

[estara.livejournal.com]

By the way, the second Beka Cooper is out in hardcover ^^

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I just bought the audiobook, and am looking forward to doing art while listening to it. XD

[kitsune714.livejournal.com]

If I’d first read this in my teens, I suspect I would have responded very strongly to it

As someone who read Alanna at the age of 9, I know precisely what you mean by this. I have very fond memories of the book and of the Alanna character, but I haven't read the book in many years, so I don't know if those visceral reactions I had back then would hold true now. Either way, though, I think it's definitely a worthy book I'd recommend for young female readers, particularly in light of this Twilight business. I admit to having been kind of horrified at the thought that the primary fictional female role model for the nine-year-old daughter of one of my classmates was Bella Swan, so I staged an intervention, completely with AVI's True Confessions of Charlotte doyle, The Summer of My German Soldier, and The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I'm just glad I caught her before she started reading the Gossip Girl series (because seriously, SHE'S NINE).

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

From what I've heard of the Gossip Girl Books, I'D probably be shocked by them! My only concern about your reading choices is that they might end up depressing her!

At least, I was around the same age (well, I think 11) when I first read those, and I was Deeply Concerned about the heroines, and The Summer of My German Soldier made me want to cry! (There's also the sequel to that.)

[oxymoronassoc.livejournal.com]

I was REALLY into those books when I was about 13 and was involved in the author's online message boards which is how I got into the internet hardcore.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

And then you never emerged for air.

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

I adore your icon.

[radiotrash.livejournal.com]

Alanna was my first introduction to Tortall when I was younger as well but I much prefer Daine's story in the Immortals quartet to it. My favorite however is the Beka Cooper trilogy, whose second book just came out this week. Instead of being a glamorous Knight as Alanna or Kel or a shapeshifter like Daine, she's just a city guard/police figure working in one of the poorer sections of the city.

If you were to try another one of Tamora's books I would strongly suggest Terrier. I put off reading it for so long because I was tired of Tortall but when I finally did it sucked me right in. And I already know that this is a series going on my 'To-Be-Read-Over-And-Over' pile.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I actually have Terrier, and it sounds like the most interesting of thr Tortall books to me, but I want to read them in order. (Written, that is. I know Terrier is set a few hundred years earlier. I think.)

[radiotrash.livejournal.com]

Well I think the series get better after Alanna. (I'm actually re-reading/listening to the Alanna books now myself which is something I haven't done for a long time.) The one I really didn't like as much was Trickster's Choice/Queen although the setting was interesting. Overall though I think the Tortall books are one of my favorite YA series and I hope you enjoy them!

But seriously, I could read like ten more books about Beka Cooper and her work.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Word - I listened to the audiobook version of Terrier, and just downloaded the second book audio. Luckily, I've got art commissions to do so I can start listening to it!

[estara.livejournal.com]

ah, you already knew, sorry!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

No prob! If I hadn't known I'd have wanted to know! (if that makes sense. XD)

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

Beka in Terrier is the great grandmother (or soemthing) of George, Alanna's non-Princely love interest.

[the_rck]

I was about twenty when this book came out, and that was too old. I think I managed half a dozen pages. I recently (after reading and liking some of Pierce's other books) tried a different Alanna book and bounced off that, too.

I tried the second one to be sure that my first bounce wasn't entirely due to the fact that I was hugely disappointed that the book wasn't something new by Meredith Ann Pierce. It had appeared on the bookstore shelves right next to Dark Angel and Gathering of Gargoyles, and I'd already been waiting a couple of years for the third book in that series. For years, I was cranky about seeing new Tamora Pierce books, one after another, while there weren't any Meredith Ann Pierce books showing up.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Is there any actual connection between the two Pierces? It seems everyone always compares them, but the only similarity I know of is the last name.

[the_rck]

I'm not aware of any connection apart from alphabetical proximity.

[estara.livejournal.com]

ummm, I was about 38 when I discovered Tamora Pierce and I've liked everything she's written so far (with differing intensity I must admit), but then I can also reread Mercedes Lackey. When I read those books, I simply become a teenager again ^^

[the_rck]

I think 'too old' is something that varies from person to person. I envy your ability to enjoy these books. I think there was a time in my life when I'd have loved them and that, if I'd read them then, I'd still love them. I missed my particular window.

[estara.livejournal.com]

Ah well. I bet there are some books that you've discovered recently that I couldn't get into for the life of me. We all have different twists that tickle our fancies, and that way lots of different authors can make a living, so yay for that ^^. It's just that I don't think age specifically has to be the reason that a person does like a certain book or not, there can be others.

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

I felt about the same way you did regarding these books.

I skipped The Immortals Quartet and went right for Protector of the Small simply because I had managed to score all four off of Bookmooch, and I liked them INFINITELY better compared to the Alanna quartet. I only had a couple quibbles, but I agree with whoever said that it seems Tamora Pierce only gets better with time. Thus far I've only read Tortall books, but I agree by a lot.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I've only read the Circle of Magic series, and this one. I am determined to read the Tortall books in order.

[ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com]

Wow, I first read these when I was 11 or so - I think many people did. Having re-read them last year at my present age, I know exactly what you mean. Pierce's early style falls prey to the irritating pitfall of just saying things are happening rather than describing them - also, she tries to make Alanna Special, which would have turned her into a very large Mary Sue if not for her personality and the fact that most of her success comes from working her butt off. This series most definitely gets better and better as it goes on, as does Pierce's work in general.

Actually, the books were written as one long fantasy novel aimed at adults. Pierce was asked to cut it up and turn it into a series for teens. The ending was actually changed drastically, as were some details.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yeah, she really is just barely saved from being Special.

[ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com]

Daine(the heroine of the Immortals quartet) is probably slightly worse in that respect, but is also saved from it via personality and often wondering whether she's insane, and also due to her utter practicality. Keladry, however, from the Protector of the Small quartet, is just a normal person, albeit hard-working and determined as anything, and able to keep a cool head.

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think you're a few years too late to really appreciate this.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Seems to be the consensus.

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

I adored these books when I read them as a kid - probably about the age of eleven or twelve. And I still have the set sitting on my shelves and reread them every once in a while, because they bring back good memories. The Protector of the Small books are also great, and yeah, probably far more bearable without Alanna's more...excessive attributes. And I still have to read Terrier, because I will likely adore it. But Alanna was one of the first heroines I really got attached to, so she holds a special place in my heart.

I ended up very disappointed with the Trickster books, sadly. Instead of admiring the main character for her gumption, I ended up seeing her as kind of a jerk.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

It's interesting how the Trickster books seem to fall purely into love or hate.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Oh, Alanna! I adore her so much. I have no logical or rational thoughts about these books, because I read them when I was seven and imprinted so hard on them that, even when re-reading as a critical adult, I cannot do anything but squee.

However, as a child I somehow managed to miss the fact that Pierce had written anything else, and so I've only recently been making my way through her other series. I found myself uninterested in the Immortals, and liked the Protector of the Small (although not as much as Alanna), and really adored the Trickster ones (which are about Alanna's daughter).

[xplodey-di.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, I loved the first couple books of Alanna for its over-the-top stuff. It didn't continue, so I didn't really like the rest of the series... which I don't even think I finished. I think there was a lot of quest motif? I can't even remember that either.

But I really do like the other series set in Tortall much better, with the exception of Terrier, but only because I haven't read those yet. The Immortals was more magical, fantasy, I think, and I just really liked the Protector of the Small series. The protagonist, Kel, for me seemed more accesible as a character. I loved the Trickster books too, though I have to agree with a comment before me that the girl really was a jerk. Still, her personality is sort of understandable? I wouldn't say it justified her, but it was still a very enjoyable series for me to read. I think what I enjoyed most about Trickster was the shift in perspective and the world building.

[anime-babble.livejournal.com]

I think I got to them at the right age, because even though Alanna should be a Mary Sue, she somehow isn't to me. Probably because she had to work her ass off to be any good.

I read the Wild Magic quartet first actually and liked it, but on reread Daine is the Pierce heroine that comes off that way.

I echo the posts that say that Pierce has grown with a writer (I think she's said she can't reread Alanna without cringing at some of the rookie things she did), and I think that her Terrier trilogy may be her strongest yet if we go by the first one.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think it was Suzanne Brockmann who said that she found some copies of her first book and wanted to flush them down the toilet so that none of her current fans would know she had written something like that, but she had a contect or something instead, since the book sold for big bucks.

[mistaria.livejournal.com]

I read all the Tortall based books that were out in... 2005ish for the first time. The first set I read was Protector of the Small which I would highly recommend. I absolutely love Kel and her spirit, and especially the fact that she's just a normal girl -- she doesn't have any magical abilities. My second favourite series is the Immortals quartet. I love all of her books but these are the two sets that I reread nearly every year.

Her more recent Terrier was super good too -- can't wait to get my hands on Bloodhound!

As for Alanna I have to say... while I enjoy all of Pierce's books there was always something about Alanna that annoyed me. Maybe it is because she falls into way more of the cliches. Though I have the same sort of "it's good but..." feeling for her daughter in the two Trickster books. ::shrugs::

I've never read any of the Circle books (though I recently read Melting Stones which I think is set in that world), would you recommend them?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Character type preference, maybe?

[mistaria.livejournal.com]

Probably.

So... ::points above:: Circle books?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

*facepalm*

I knew I forgot something. The story is pretty decent, though not necessarily stunning. But I really like most of the characters, and their relationships, and the magic system and its place in society are very interesting.

[mistaria.livejournal.com]

Haha, it's cool.

Someone told me originally that they were more for the youngin's so I never read them but I do like Tamora Pierce's writing/characters so I'll probably check them out.