The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, by Tamora Pierce

Alanna has left Corus after attaining her knighthood and foiling Duke Roger’s plot to gain the throne. Hating the cold of winter, she decides to go through the Great Southern Desert. Unfortunately, life never works out very smoothly and she finds herself first battling for her life against desert hillmen, and then becoming a Bazhir herself! Coram is less than pleased about this turn of events, but he is even less pleased when he goes away for a while only to return to find Alanna shaman of their tribe and teaching three Bazhir how to be shamans. But the real surprise is when Jonathan shows up with Sir Myles, and then asks her to marry him! Alanna went away from court to escape complications, but they followed her. And even though she loves Jonathan, what about George? And what would marrying Jon do to all that she has worked so hard to gain?

I just want to say hallelujah for Alanna coming to her senses just a little bit. I know this could really spoil half the story, but I’m too happy about it. She finally realizes that George is the better man! And he is, which makes it wonderful. But that is basically the high point of the book for me, because the rest of the story just seems like filler. If I had to describe this book with regards to the rest of the series, I would call it a filler book. It has no great bearing on the previous plots, and it doesn’t really move us that far except for a few minor things. Which are important, don’t get me wrong, but they aren’t enough. This is not my favorite book in the Lioness series, but I still keep reading it. Go figure.

I am really coming to the realization that the Lioness series really isn’t that greatly written. I’m shocked I never really saw this before, but I never really was looking. This continues to puzzle me, because I am having a hard time disliking these books, even though their quality isn’t stellar. The adventures and plot twists must really do it for me, because I love the story itself. The story is so much fun to read, and the characters so interesting that it almost makes up for the not-so-grand writing. I still want to recommend this series, and this book also, but I wonder now how much I would recommend it. I’d rather recommend some of her other works that are better written, but this series has it’s own charm that I do like. What a quandary, and a muddle. I really don’t know what this review is going to make you think about this book, or even the author. Just don’t judge her on this series: she has many better.