Hey, look at who's alive! And with another book review as well! Amazing.
Well, this is a review for the first book in the Lioness Rampant Chronicles, by Tamora Pierce, which is another beloved book series of mine. It, like the Transformers Universe, helped me through some tough times that would have normally left me depressed.
...I have a feeling without my robots and books I would have been a sad sad little child.
Alanna and Thom of Trebond are the twin children of a neglectful and single noble father, who is plans to send Thom to become a knight, and Alanna to a special school to become a proper lady. There's just one problem though.
Maybe if their neglectful and slightly unstable father had actual raised them instead of breaking down when their mother died during childbirth, he would have realized that neither would ever fit the roles he plans for them
Alanna is a rough and tumble tomboy who knows how to hunt and run with the best of the boys. Thom hates physical activity and wishes to test his mind and powers with magic. So, naturally, the two decide to switch places.
The school that Alanna would have been sent to also has monks who train young men to be wizards, much to Thom's delight, and Alanna cuts her hair to look like a boy and takes on the alter-ego of 'Alan'. Thom makes a quick change to the letters their father had written, and after much threatening to a poor guardsmen with magic, the two set off on their way, one to become a mage, another to pretend to be male and become a knight.
The rest of the book becomes entirely focused on 'Alan', who is ready to put her money where her mouth is. I don't want to give to much away, but as a whole, the book shows how Alanna struggles with her body, and the challenges the path to knighthood is littered with.
To be honest, I want people to read this, and I'm really hesitant to say anything more. I feel words can't do it justice, and as a fellow woman to Alanna, I relate very well to her struggle with the sexism and prejudice of the nobles toward other people and each other. It leaves a lot of emotion in my chest every time I think of this, and to this day, I'm still not sure what exactly I'm feeling
~L. Alma
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