Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Natalie

I first came across Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness
Book 1) when I was fourteen. I saw it again at the library the last
time I was there and, since Id forgotten a lot of the book, decided to
pick it up.

How could I have forgotten the brilliance of Tamora
Pierce? I read this series years ago, and still enjoyed it immensely
today. Granted, the book is a little elementary for my age (19), but I
still loved it. It provided a very quick, satisfying read.

As a
young girl, Alanna is destined to be sent off to study magic and learn
to be a noblewoman. But this stubborn, vivacious girl has other ideas:
she wants to be a knight! Her twin brother, Thom, wants to be a
sorcerer, so Alanna cuts her hair and the two switch places. Alanna
trains as a page at the palace, making new friends (including Prince
Jonathan, the heir to the throne), and increasing her control of the
Gift, the magical powers she was born with. As Alanna continues her
studies and adventures, she begins to realize that her Gift is much
more powerful than she originally thought it to be. The Gift, along
with her newly acquired skills and friends, helps her along her way to
prove herself as a worthy warrior, despite the (mostly unknown) fact
that she is a girl.

I was surprised by how much I still enjoyed
this book, even though its age range is for middle to high school
readers. Author Tamora Pierce has a magical (yes I know thats a
cliche) way with words, and is able to create a beautiful fantasy world
full of intriguing ideas that still appeals to me today. For those of
you who enjoy fantasy and are looking for a quick (I read it in two
hours) but enjoyable read, I would recommend checking this book out.
Im off to go reserve the sequels and check out other books by Tamora
Pierce. I know that she does write books for older audiences as well,
so Ill see what I find!