○Book 1 of Song of the Lioness series
○Genres: Fantasy, YA, Magic, Fiction, Adventure
○Written By: Tamora Pierce
○Published By: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
○Published On: September 1st, 1983
○Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook
○5 hour 14 min. audio by Trini Alvarado
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-Synopsis-
Becoming a legend is not easy, as young Alanna of Trebond discovers when she disguises herself as a boy and begins training to be a knight. Alanna’s skills and stubbornness help her befriend Prince Jonathan and alienate his evil uncle, Duke Roger. Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil, this book is a rousing introduction to the intensely satisfying story of Alanna.
-Review-
This is the first book I have read from Ms. Tamora Pierce. I actually have two of her other series on my TBR: Daughter of the Lioness and Immortals, that I am excited to read as well.
I listened to the audiobook read by Trini Alvarado on Libby. It was one of the shortest audios I have listened to in a while so this is very easily finished within a day or two. That being said, I was not a big fan of the audio version of this book, as there was quite a bit of mouth noises, particularly in the beginning. I understand this was recorded back in 2003, but it was beginning to drive me a bit crazy. If you get some sort of ASMR or do not mind the wet mouth sounds, you should enjoy it. I did enjoy the emotion Trini showed with all the characters, so I am blaming the technology for the less enjoyable sounds.
This book is mainly through the perspective of Alanna, with certain other POVs scattered in. I was interested in this story initially due to the premise of a young girl dressing up as a boy in order to become a knight. This plot is why I enjoyed Mulan so much after all. Unlike Mulan, Alanna is only 10 or so at the beginning of the book which is crazy to me since I would not have willingly made that decision at that age. Also given the fact she was from a noble family, I appreciated her gumption to potentially put herself in harm’s way like that.
This series is set within the kingdom of Tortall. As this book mainly covers the various studies and knight training, the majority of the book takes place in the castle. There are a hand full of scenes that take place in the neighboring town, as well as a bit of an adventure Alanna takes with the prince at the end. I enjoy the more medieval feel of settings like this and the special use of magic just increases the enjoyment factor. There is also this highly mysterious Black City that makes a couple different appearances in this book. Very interesting place!
Speaking of magic, this book did not dive too much into that facet. In fact, Alanna and many others seem to have a fear of those who can do magic due to some sort of assumption of seedy intentions. That being said, magic cannot be ignored for too long, as it does have its time to be useful, particularly when lives are at stake.
One aspect I struggled to grasp was making a connection with most of the characters. Besides Alanna, I remember just a couple other characters and that includes the Prince, mainly due to his title. I feel like there were too many names and titles to remember, so I found myself losing focus on the story multiple times while listening. This is a shame since there were some awesome people who were helping Alanna out in her studies and conflicts, I just cannot remember their names.
The overall pacing was also difficult to keep track of. This book spans the length of time of about three whole years. On one hand, this can give the reader a sense of experiencing the characters grow up and mature, which you do since they start off so young. On the other hand, feeling years go by like the drop of a hat, was a bit much for me. I began to feel as though I had missed out on so much character development if you will.
Speaking of character development, Alanna has some of the best in the book. I am not going to lie, she was a complete brat at the beginning. Her motivations to play dress up seemed a bit silly to me as she just did not want to go the traditional route the ‘normal’ young girls take at that age. She found out real quick that becoming a knight was not all fun and games, and almost left within the first couple of days. The being said, she stuck through with it and the rest is history. As the book went on, her patience and willpower increased drastically while the instances of childish behavior declined. I began to feel more and more proud of her myself as she was able to overcome hurdle after hurdle.
I will say due to her ending the book around pre-teen age, there was a rather awkward point in which she gets her period and has a very age appropriate start of ‘the talk’ conversation with a woman character. I was taken aback at first, but I also enjoyed the way she dealt with this issue, being that she is supposed to be a boy. It was a bit humorous and completely appropriate might I add.
All in all, I enjoyed this book just maybe not as much as I was hoping. I would recommend this for younger audiences, just maybe be prepared for questions of periods and where babies come from if you let your children read it. I think this is a great coming-of-age story girls and boys can all enjoy 🙂
-About the Author-
Tamora Pierce is a bestselling author of young adult fantasy books that break past the traditions of the fantasy genre to feature teenage girls as knights, wizards, and above all: heroes. A #1 New York Times bestseller and the recipient of the 2013 Margaret A. Edwards award, Tamora has written over 30 books, including the newly-released TEMPESTS AND SLAUGHTER.
Tamora was drawn to books from a young age. Raised in rural Pennsylvania, the child of a “long, proud line of hillbillies,” her family never had much. “We were poor, but I didn’t know it then. We had a garden where my folks grew fruit and vegetables and our water came from a well,” she explains. But one thing they did have was plenty of books. So Tamora read.
A self-proclaimed “geek,” she devoured fantasy and science fiction novels, and by the age of 12 was mimicking her literary idols and writing her own action-packed stories. It was thanks to her father that Tamora began writing. “He heard me telling myself stories as I did dishes, and he suggested that I try to write some of them down,” Pierce says.
But Tamora’s novels had one major difference: unlike the books she was reading, her stories featured teenaged girl warriors. “I couldn’t understand this lapse of attention on the part of the writers I loved, so until I could talk them into correcting this small problem, I wrote about those girls, the fearless, bold, athletic creatures that I was not, but wanted so badly to be.”
Seventeen years later, after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, a brief career in teen social work and some time spent writing for radio, Tamora Pierce held true to her childhood crusade, and published ALANNA: THE FIRST ADVENTURE, the first in a quartet about a valiant, young, female warrior. Pierce’s heroine struck a chord with readers across the country and quickly earned her a loyal following.
Now, with over 30 critically-acclaimed books to her name, Pierce lives in upstate New York with her husband Tim and their menagerie of nine cats, two birds, a flock of pigeons, various raccoons and squirrels, and one opossum. “It’s a pretty good life, if I do say so myself. Struggling along as a kid and even through my twenties, it’s the kind of life I dreamed of but never believed I would get. Yet here I am, after a lot of work, a lot of worry, a lot of care for details, and a massive chunk of luck, the kind that brought me such strong friends and readers. Pretty good for a hillbilly, yes? And I never take it for granted.”
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