#Alanna the First Adventure

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[stephaniemccrea]

Omg. So I'm doing a read along with my daughter, and I gotta say I was not expecting to absolutely love this series as much as I do. I'm in book 2 now, but I just gotta give a hell of a shout out to Tamora Pierce for such an enjoyable work.

Also, these new covers are absolutely fantastic. It is very appealing to the anime kids of this age, as I can attest to. My daughter immediately gravitated to this series over the many book options I presented to her. Yeah, try telling an 11-year-old not to judge a book by its cover. But then put this next to the 80-90s mass market paperback editions for Wild Magic, Diana Wynne Jones, Shannon Hale, and a few others, and she's gonna pick this.

Some of the topics are maybe slightly for an older age group than I was expecting, but my daughter is obsessively burning through them. I will have to explain some of the behind closed doors activities and explain to her that there is no such thing as a magical contraceptive charm pendant sadly; well, maybe an IUD is the closest thing we have. 😅

Anyways, I would definitely recommend this set for any young adult readers into fantasy. Hell, even old readers who love a fun fantasy.

I also read Sabriel and would recommend that, it's probably safer for younger ages/general audience as it was only ever glimpses and kisses if that.

And on a darker note reading The Women by Kristin Hannah, because I loved The Nightingale. It's so good. Late, but finally, a part of the 'Kristin Hannah rip my heart out with your historical fictions, and I will say please and thank you, and come back for more' train.

[dontmixpaintinyourcoffee]

Ok there's a lot to be said about the Song of the Lioness Quartet (even as a kid I had issues with it, even though I loved those books) but you know what didn't age poorly or start out as problematic???

These goddamn covers

HELLO???? DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS DID TO MY ELEVEN YEAR OLD MIND?????? THIS WAS STANDARD SETTING, EVERY OTHER COVER OF EVERY FANTASY BOOK GETS SUBCONSCIOUSLY COMPARED TO THIS ONE IN MY MIND

DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS DID TO ME????????? TO MY DEVELOPING LESBIAN MIND????????? I WANTED TO BE HER SO BAD YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND

[the-dust-jacket]

Okay y’all what do we think about the new Song of the Lioness covers?

[starfish-enterprise]

Reasons I think Alanna the Lioness is is autistic:

since realizing I'm autistic, the more I think about it the more Alanna seems autistic to me. the only books I've listened to recently are Tortall books by going through them all then going back to the first one and listening to them all again (Immortals quartet, the Bekka Cooper books, the Song of the Lioness, Protector of the Small quartet, the trickster books, then Tempests and Slaughter.) going through them again and again I notice more things that I didn't when I was a kid (obviously,) and I'm more aware of the signs of autism since realizing I'm autistic. anyway here are my reasons:

is a girl and wants to be a knight, then actually does become a knight which goes against the societal norms of the time

becomes friends with George, and many others in the court of the rogue, who are in a different social class. she does start out believing nobles shouldn't marry commoners but she gets over that. two of her three romantic relationships are with commoners

she also becomes friends with the soldiers she and John are stationed with when they're fighting in the Drell river valley, and she eats with them instead of going to the fort to eat with the other nobles. she thinks it's silly for them to travel so far when it's more convenient to just eat in camp, which illustrates her disregard of social hierarchies. she is also open to learning from people considered to be "below" her

Alanna fights Ralon of Malven over and over even though she keeps losing, which could indicate she has really strong moral beliefs. she also talks a lot about how she hates lying to her friends

she is described as different from her friends, after yelling at them about how she doesn't want to go swimming, Garry (I think) says "you seem to think we won't like you if you don't do what everyone else does, but did you ever think we like you because you're different?" (not an exact quote but basically

most of Alanna's friends are older than her, in The First Adventure when John asks if she can come to Persopolis, the book says she's thought of as more of "a very small squire" than as a page. autistic people often relate better to people who are older or younger than them than to their peers

throughout the series Alanna is distressed by changes in her body like developing breasts and says multiple times she wishes she were born a boy. this is in direct contrast to Kel who states on several occasions she likes being a girl. this could be because she has to pretend to be a boy, but autistics are more likely to be trans or gender nonconforming

she is described as being very uncomfortable at parties and in social settings

autism is highly heritable (1) her father has several autistic traits. he is very focused on his academic pursuits to the point that he neglects everything else, he doesn't have any friends and doesn't seem interested in any kind of social interaction, he has the fixed rigid belief that all magic is bad because it couldn't save the twins' mother. according to Sir Gareth he had been that way since he was a child. (2) Tom seems to share a lot of these traits with his father. he is also very focused on his studies although he is studying magic, he leaves the management of Trebond to Alanna because he is not interested in it just being a mage, he also seems to have no interest in having friends or being social. according to an NIH study that came up when I googled it if one twin is autistic the other is also autistic 96% of the time

Alanna has to very consciously learn the social expectations and rules for being a boy and being a girl

Alanna goes to Miles for advice a lot, in one of the books it literally says she talks to him so he can explain why people act the way they do and for him to explain their motivations

she is known for her temper and saying what's on her mind very bluntly

she has a talking cat who's basically her best friend if that isn't autistic coded idk what is

there are probably more things I can't think of right now so I might add more later who knows. I also wrote most of this post before and it randomly deleted itself so I'm not sure if I remembered all of my points from before unfortunately.

[curlyparmesan]

Library card adventures:

Alanna: The First Adventure

By Tamora Pierce

I LOVED this book. I am such a sucker for young adult novels in fantasy worlds with female protagonists. I went in thinking that the plot would just be 'will they find out that Alanna is a girl on this page?' over and over, but instead Pierce applied different tensions in every chapter. And oh lordy, I was sweating every single chapter. There's death, sinister sorcerers, untrained magic usage, a very mean bully, a first period, and literally telling the god of death 'not today'.

There's so many more questions I have for the world. World building definitely took a back seat to character development, but it really gets you into the mindset of Alanna, who is just a young girl focusing on becoming a knight. It's set mostly in one castle, but there's adventures out in the world, discoveries, and hints at a foreboding history. I like that we get to learn more about the world as Alanna becomes more interested in the world.

Tamora Pierce did a great job with her first book. I love that this was written as a single adult novel, and then edited to be 4 young adult novels. I think that's much better than setting out with the goal of writing a young adult novel. There's just so much more heart and honesty that comes that process. I cried 3 times over the coarse of the book. The heartfelt moments were real.

The First Adventure has very modern concepts of gender and gender identity for a book written in the 70s. I imagine this book could be a really good inspiration for today's authors.

Anyways, go read Alanna. I've got In the Hand of the Goddess right beside me, and I can't wait to start!

[perryseity]

for the second chapter i drew the moment that alanna tries on her new page uniform. it's a shame im doing these in grayscale because the color scheme described is so vivid! i tried to catch that feeling of 'wow... is that really me?'

[kathrins-sketchbook]

I've had the Alanna feels again, so have a doodle of her as a page ^^

[myrtaceaae]

I'm listening to the first Alanna book (Tamora Pierce) , and it's so interesting to see how much the world building changed.

Comparing the ysandir of the first Alanna book to the immortals of the Daine series and there is a massive difference in mythology

[wondereads]

Tamora Pierce Marathon Part 1: Alanna: The First Adventure

In a surge of motivation, I have decided to reread every Tamora Pierce book and then read all the ones I haven’t before, namely Circle of Magic and the Numair Chronicles. I’m going in publication order, and I’m skipping Protector of the Small since I reread and reviewed the whole series less than a year ago.

I've done a review of Alanna before, and my opinions remain much the same. One thing that's really unique about Tamora Pierce's book and that I personally enjoy is the very rapid passage of time. This 200 page book encompasses four years, which may seem way too rushed, but Pierce has a way of making it feel realistic. Alanna is in the process of training, which requires huge swaths of time to pass. My one gripe with this book is that it feels pretty aimless in terms of overarching plot. It seems to be split into three parts: Alanna's arrival and Ralon, the Sweating Sickness, and the Black City. All very interesting, but only loosely connected.

Alanna has one of my favorite arcs in fiction, period. Her development from an intense case of internalized misogyny to becoming an advocate for women everywhere—in whatever manner they might need her help—is just wonderful. She has her moments of sexism in the first book, but she's well on her way by the end. Her quick-to-anger and headstrong personality were also pretty uncommon for female characters back in the 80s.

I forgot just how big the age difference between Alanna and George was. Tamora Pierce is so lucky she's so good at writing romance because otherwise I'd enjoy myself significantly less on this reread. I'm a big fan of George, but what was the reason to make their age difference seven years. Still, I love their friendship before the romance comes in. Speaking of platonic relationships, Alanna and the other pages and squires have such great interactions. Gary and Raoul in particularly are just such fun.

While the Alanna series isn't my favorite of the Tortall books (not even really in my top three), I undoubtedly enjoyed rereading Alanna, which bodes well for the rest of this series. Stay tuned for In the Hand of the Goddess!

[teachingmycattoread]

New episode is up! Alternative titles include "There's A Girl! Loose In The Knight School!" and "While You Were Busy Being Cisgender I Studied The Blade"

Spotify Apple Podcasts

[alwaysfrowningslightly]

If people are sad about The Wizard Facism game coming from someone you used to look up to and admire, may I suggest an author whose books are filled with nuanced characters and strong, dynamic women?

Tamora Pierce has been writing since the 80’s and has two worlds of magic and fantasy and bonus!!! Isn’t a transphobic POS.

[wutheringmights]

After I finished reading The Epic of Gilgamesh today, I entered a fugue state where I sat down and read the entirety of Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce.

On the record, I have had a lifelong love and adoration for Pierce's Tortall books. I first read the Song of the Lioness quartet when I was 11, and they rewrote my brain. I love them so much. I reread them and the other Tortall books on a semi-frequent schedule.

It's been a while since I reread any of the Alanna books, if only because my sister took our shared copies when she moved out. I've been meaning to buy my own set for a long while now but haven't been able to justify the purchase. The other week, I just so happened to find the first two volumes at my local indie bookstore. I bought them immediately, as well as ordered the third and fourth book. (And discovered that the store owner knows me by name-- when I went to pick up my order, she saw me and said, Hi Frankie! I got your books over here.) (I may be spending too much money there.)

So I have been in a bit of an emotional rut these past few weeks. Work sucks. Life stinks. The temptation to run off to Tortall and curl up in the fantasy story that captivated me as a kid has never been stronger.

Ergo, I ran off to read the first book as soon as I could.

If you're looking for any critique of this book, series, or Tortall in general, I will never give it. Sure, it's problematic and dated, and in many ways imperfect, but someone else can list out all of its issues. They're all perfect to me.

Anyway, the book. I should say something about this book in particular.

One thing I appreciate about Pierce's writing is how she handles school settings in fantasy. Learning and training is so mundane. All of her heroines have to work hard and put in extra hours of study in order to improve, much less keep up with their peers. It's so normal that it circles around to being weirdly refreshing.

Also, there is still no other fantasy author who handles period talk and birth control the way Pierce does. We make fun of the trope of fantasy birth control nowadays, but I rarely see it presented as it is here: as a part of normal puberty lessons and given long before sex is in the girl's radar. And even today with the glut of YA fantasy stories out there, I still have yet to see menstruation be portrayed as frequently or as bluntly as Pierce writes it.

There was a period of time publishers really tried to push the Tortall books as straight YA, which doesn't work for that reason alone. You gotta market them to middle schoolers. They're the ones just starting puberty talks, and getting scenes like this is so good for their brains.

Moving on: I fucking love these characters. Alanna was an icon of brash, temperamental heroines that have shaped my taste to this day. I love how even in the first book, Jon is kinda shitty. I adore George Cooper. Talk about a taste maker the way this man sets a standard.

I just can't be coherent when it comes to any Tortall books. I have no thoughts. Head empty. I am going to binge the rest of this series as quickly as I can before my library book comes in. Then normal book content will resume.

Before I go, I need to talk about the book covers.

Growing up, my sister and I had these covers:

Which, god. I love them. The black is striking. The art is incredible. Alanna looks so good. They were the perfect pocket-size too. I was going to buy the same edition for my copies, but instead I got the 40th anniversary reprints:

Not bad at all! These books have had some seriously bad covers, and these look great! Very anime, which will appeal to the 11 year olds who need to have their socks rocked by this series.

But, man. I really miss those black covers. One day I will splurge and buy a second set of them just so that I can stare at the art.

[the-dust-jacket]

[checkoutmybookshelf]

The Quartet That Started It All

As followers of this blog will note, this is not actually the quartet that started it all for me, but it DID launch author Tamora Pierce's career in the 1980s, and Alanna remains absolutely beloved among Pierce's heroines. Let's talk the Song of the Lioness Quartet.

In a classic case of "if I can't do this as a girl, then I'll do this as a boy and I have a handy twin brother to go full Twelfth Night with," Alanna of Trebond begins The First Adventure by dressing as a boy to train as a page in Tortall's royal court. This book introduces all our main characters and establishes Alan the page amongst his peers and Alanna as she finds herself and her place in chivalry.

One of the other amazing things about Alanna's story overall is that she begins it absolutely terrified of her own magical gift. Her arc includes learning to work with her magic rather than to fear it, and that's a twist on magic users that I really appreciated. We often get overly confident magic users--indeed, we'll get TWO of them later in the series--but it's rare that we get magic users who are fully aware of their powers and are still absolutely terrified of them. So of course, the story and the world and Pierce herself keep throwing Alanna into situations where she has no choice but to develop and use her gift. It's so, so good. This first book covers Alanna's page years, and we move into her squire years in book two.

In the Hand of the Goddess really expands on Alanna's key relationship with Prince Jon on Conte, Duke Roger of Conte, and Geroge Cooper. Alanna moves into a wider world of adult politics and stakes in this book. From being able to defeat an older, stronger, and more experienced opponent in a duel to developing her healing skills when a wound puts her out of commission during a war, Alanna cements her skills, connections, and position in society. This culminates with unmasking Roger as an attempting regicide and the accidental reveal of her gender.

This book is really, really good, and extends Alanna's childhood fear of magic to her fear of Roger specifically in a really natural, logical way. I could say more about the details, but these two books have an episodic vibe to them, so I won't spend too much time exploring every single key plot event.

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man sees Alanna spending her first year as a knight in the desert, with a Bazhir tribe. She becomes their shaman by way of self-defense; she murders their first shaman when he tries to murder her for "being unnatural." Then it falls to Alanna to train three magic users for the tribe, and this is where we see more nuance into how different magic users relate to their powers, from sheer hubris to fear to "this is just part of me, let's do this." It's a phenomenal experience for Alanna, and she learns as much from her students as they do

Book three also sees Jonathan bitching to hell and back about having to be king, which is not a great look, and it's one Alanna calls him on. He spends most of the book alternating between pitching a hissy fit, begging Alanna to marry him, and training to take over as Voice of the Tribes. The interesting thing here is that Alanna refuses to marry Jon. He is trying to fit Alanna into his own fairy tale, and she very much goes "That isn't our relationship, I can't do that. We aren't meant to be like that, and that's ok." If I could inject that lesson into humanity's collective head, I would. It's well done and it's great.

Lioness Rampant picks up on Alanna's travels after she leaves the Bazhir, and eventually sees her return to Corus with a magical artifact to help secure Jonathan's position as king.

There's also the teeny tiny complication that Alanna's twin brother, Thom, has resurrected Duke Roger. Absolute chaos ensues, and Roger almost manages to take out the entire court during Jonathan's coronation. Nobody should have to kill an evil sorceror twice, but Alanna did.

If you want to dive into Tamora Pierce's Tortall Universe, starting with Alanna is absolutely a good choice. These books hold a very soft spot in my heart, and they're never not engaging.

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

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