Alanna: The First Adventure, by Tamora Pierce

This is the start of a new series for Tamora Pierce. It is set in the country of Tortall, a pseudo medieval world, but with magic. The writing is simplistic enough for young ages: middle school is an appropriate level. But even though I am long past middle school, I still enjoy it when I happen to reread the Song of the Lioness Quartet.

Alanna and her twin brother Thom both wish to be in each other’s shoes. Alanna is a girl who would love to become a Knight of Tortall, and Thom is a boy who would love to become a Sorcerer. Both have the magical Gift, but Alanna is to be sent to a convent for young noble girls, and Thom is to go to the palace to become a knight. At the convent Thom could learn magic, and at the palace Alanna could become a knight. So they start a scheme which would likely to take years to untangle. Alanna would pretend to be Thom’s younger brother ‘Alan’ and start her page’s training. Thom would go to the convent (not pretending to be a girl, they take young boys too) and eventually become a Sorcerer. But life is not easy, no matter where you are, even when you think you have attained your dream. Alanna must face many challenges to become a knight, not the least of which is learning to accept who she is, and what she will become.

Do you like adventure? I like adventure. Do you like some good female heroes? (ordinarily called heroines but I like the term female hero: sounds less…silly). I certainly do. And it always is an entertaining time when females masquerade as men: there are so many opportunities for irony that are absolutely delicious. (as a side note it’s kind of like watching Superman movies when you know Clark Kent is Superman but everyone else doesn’t). Alanna is a little fireball who just happens to be a small girl who wants to be a knight. There have been female knights before, but that was a long time ago, and the practice is not generally acceptable. I for one would never have attempted something like that, but then again I am not Alanna.

It’s kind of funny that Alanna has such a temper, because you think it would get her into more trouble pretending to be something she’s not. But it doesn’t, and maybe it even helps in some way. I do not think that this is Pierce’s strongest book in terms of writing; there are a few contradictions that could have been sorted out better. But they are relatively minor and only bother perfectionists like me. The picture of this young Alanna struggling to be what she wants to be is very thrilling. Books like this make me wish I could become a knight—bookworm/couch potato that I am. I long to learn to sword fight and do hand to hand combat: it just seems so cool! But I usually just settle for another reread, because swords are hard to find.