Author: Tamora Pierce
Rating: 3/5
Alanna of Trebond is now squire to Prince Jonathan himself. She must continue proving herself and face her three biggest fears as the Goddess’ chosen one.
Spoilers ahead.
Detailed Summary
Alanna is camping on her way back from Corus. She finds a small black cat whom she names Faithful. He has the same violet eyes as her. The Great Mother Goddess comes to her and gives her an amulet that lets her see magic working around her. She also identifies Alanna’s three fears which are Duke Roger, love and the Ordeal. Alanna realises she wants to dress as a woman so she gets George’s mother to teach her. George kisses Alanna and expresses his wish to be her husband. However, Jonathan and Alanna kiss after he rescues her from the nobles from Tusaine. (There was this whole plot where they had to fight a war and they win by holding the antagonist’s brothers captive.) They have sex after. Alanna passes the Ordeal and her twin brother Thom gives her a shield with their home emblem on it. When she reveals she’s a woman, the crest will disappear and will show a golden Lioness instead. Alanna figures out Duke Roger’s plan to kill the royal family (he was magicking dolls in the form of the people he wanted to kill). He challenges her to single combat and during the fight, cuts off her corset (unintentionally). It’s revealed Alanna is a woman. She kills Roger and sets out immediately after with Coram and her horse Moonlight, looking for adventure.
Review
When I first read this series, I remember feeling so disappointed that Alanna wanted to be womanly and that the instant she put on a dress, she became beautiful and all the boys were salivating over her. I had hoped that she would retain that stubbornness to conform to societal norms and I wanted someone ugly for once! Alas. That’s not to say Alanna isn’t a great character. I can totally see why she was a good role model for girls especially when not a lot of fantasy at the time featured strong and brave female protagonists. Something about this series just doesn’t sit right with me anymore. Perhaps it’s the writing style. I didn’t remember there being so much head-jumping the first time I read this. Also, some parts read very choppy and I swear the squires of knights changed every chapter or so. The overall plot wasn’t super appealing either. Everything really happened at the end of the book with Alanna uncovering Roger’s dolls.
There are certain moments of this series that feel like flashbulb memories–when George kisses Alanna when her hands are full or when Alanna’s corset falls off revealing that she’s a woman. Reading them over didn’t impact me as much as they did the first time and I was left wondering what about those scenes had stood out to me so much. I’m not going to continue the rest of the series because I know that I won’t enjoy it. I found a short review I had written of the quartet after I had finished it and even younger me preferred the first two books over the last two books. To quote myself, “The first and second books were REALLY good. The third and fourth weren’t as good. […] I could really connect with her except for the part where she had a million people liking her and the fact that she liked a million guys too.”
Ah well, adieu Lioness.
Earnestly Eccentric 