Alanna. The First Adventure Song of the Lioness, Book 1

Customer Reviews

Modern Classic for Young Adult Fantasy Readers

2008-07-20
A tale of growing up and acceptance with a strong female lead who shows, without being ultra feminist, that girls can accomplish anything that boys can.

A heroine that fails to disappoint.

2008-07-11
Admittedly a huge fan of the "women-warrior, disguised as a man" characters, I have been disappointed time and again by peoples take on them, but not this time. The take on magic, the involvement of the gods, and the world, which holds different morals, gave to a very interesting atmosphere for the books to be set in. Alanna is a character that I couldn't help cheering for, and identifying with.

Granted as others point out, this is very obviously a first novel that will kick-off a series. And while I did enjoy it, I do prefer to have series of novels have the ability to be stand-alones.

A terrific kick-off, to what I hope to be a wonderful series.

Good read, too short.

2008-03-01
I did not realize when I bought these books that they were for young adults, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading about Alanna's adventures, friends and family. Alanna proved to the men again and again that "anything you can do I can do better". A great message to put out there for young girls. And even though it took me 1 day to read each book I just couldn't stop until I was done!

Basic moral values

2008-02-04
Is no one bothered by the essential lack of values in this book? Getting what you want is more important than honesty or respect for others. The main character threatens others with horrible, supernatural punishment, tricks her father, lies outrightly, and that's just in the first chapter.
What about integrity, justice, truth as foundations of doing right?
Compare this heroine with Jonas in The Giver, Frodo in The Lord of the Rings, Andy in Wolf Rider, or Karana in The Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Life Changing at 12

2007-11-29
When I first picked up this book, I was the typical bookworm. I knew every corner of my middle school's library. Most often, I'd find myself in the mythology section or classic plays. However, one day, I took a fateful journey into the fantasy section.
I was 12 years old, timid and accepting of even the worst opinions of me.
When I read it, I was enlightened. A whole five foot one, (four foot eleven at the time), I was keenly aware of her height issues and the jokes her friends made.
The way she shaped her own life made me feel as if I could do the same. And I have. I took control -- or as Alanna would say "rode the tiger" and I've made my own way in the world and I don't think anyone would call me timid now.
I'm in college now, and I know if I start to feel down or like I'm losing confidence in myself, I can just pick up my old worn out copy of Alanna (or any of the subsequent sequels) and feel better, feel like a stronger woman because of it. Tamora Pierce was a saint for writing this book. Sometimes I even feel like she wrote it just for me!

Parents beware

2007-08-24
"From now on I'm Alan of Trebond, the younger twin. I'll be a knight."

And so young Alanna of Trebond begins the journey to knighthood. Though a girl, Alanna has always craved the adventure and daring allowed only for boys; her twin brother, Thom, yearns to learn the art of magic. So one day they decide to switch places: Disguised as a girl, Thom heads for the convent to learn magic; Alanna, pretending to be a boy, is on her way to the castle of King Roald to begin her training as a page.

But the road to knighthood is not an easy one. As Alanna masters the skills necessary for battle, she must also learn to control her heart and to discern her enemies from her allies.

Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil, Alanna's first adventure begins -- one that will leard to the fulfillment of her dreams and the magical destiny that will make her a legend in her land.

Alanna's journey continues...

choppy with lots of erros 2007-06-01
This book started with a great IDEA. I liked the idea of Allana becoming a knight in her brothers place. It sounds like a book that can have SO MANY possibilites. However, the auther's choppy writing and typing errors were just sad. The author moves from one scene to the next, with no flow whatsoever, and simply skims the surface of the character's identity. There is no depth, and no description. It is almost a simple statement of facts throughout the whole book. Though I really want to know what happens in the series, and HOPE very much that the auther's writing has improved, I think I'll just look at the library for the rest of the series.

"From now on I'm Alan of Trebond, the younger twin. I'll be a knight." 2007-03-30
Alanna is just a ten-year-old girl with dreams. Her father is a tight, strict man who cares about nothing but his studies. He wants Thom, Alanna's twin brother to be a knight at the palace and wants Alanna to go to the convent to learn how to be a lady. Both the children disagree with this decision. Thom has the magical gift and wants to become a sorceror while Alanna has dreams of becoming a knight and protecting her king. So Alanna and Thom switch places.
"Tomorrow he gives the letters for the man who trains the pages and the people at the convent. You can imitate his writing, so you can do two new lettersm saying we're both boys, You go to the convent. Say in the letter that you're a sorceror. The Daughters of the Goddess are the ones who train boys in magic, remember? When you're older, they'll send you to the priests. And I'll go to the palace to become a knight!"
This is what Alanna says and they really do carry out the plan. Alanna gets to the palace and figures out that life there is harder than she thought but she's a stubborn girl and will do all it takes to achieve her dream to become a real knight.

Wonderful 2007-03-12
I really enjoyed Tamora Pierce's Alanna:The First Adventure. Out of the quartet, I think that this is the best one! The ideas are original and interesting. It was very well written and is an excellent teen fantasy. I'm 13 and I really loved it. If you enjoy fantasy and adventure, you'll love this book! It's an amazing coming of age story.

Cornwall, NY Sixth Grader 2007-03-01

Cornwall New York, Sixth Grader

I am a sixth grader.I have really enjoyed Tamora Pierce's writing, especially Alanna the First Adventure because of Alanna's intricate viewpoint on the dichotomy of right and wrong moral choices.

Alanna's father, Lord of Trebond, sent Alanna to a convent school to become a lady. Alanna, a rebellious girl by nature, wanted to be a knight. Thom, Alanna's twin brother wanted to be a sorcerer; to slay demons and walk with the gods. His father, who didn't care about what either of them wanted, sent Thom to the palace to become a page. The impact of this on Alanna was catastrophic.

There was the possibility of her dream not coming true, and Alanna was desperate. She realized that if she and Thom switched places, they would get what they desired. She decided to talk with Maude, the village's healing woman. When Maude asked the gods to give her guidance, what she saw made her agree with the twins. She aided them in the switch, and cleared her conscience.

Maude had some tough choices to make. She had never seen in the fire, and could only heal. Maude had taught Alanna and Thom all she knew, but they could still learn much more. Maude had to choose whether or not to follow her liege lord, or her pupils who she had taught for almost all of their lives. The responsibility she felt towards her lord was nothing compared to the comradeship she felt towards the twins.

Coram, Alanna's escort to the palace and great friend, was deep in controversy. He knew that Thom was such a poor bowman, tracker, and hunter that it would make a soldier cry. Alanna, on the contrary, was a wonderful bowman. She excelled at tracking and hunting. A grown man couldn't skin a rabbit faster than she could. Coram also knew that Thom disliked him, while Alanna was much friendlier. When Alanna threatened him with seeing things that weren't there for the next ten years, he was torn. He had his duty to his lord: to bring Alanna back. Coram was also scared of magic, but he was even more scared of the embarrassment of taking Thom to the palace.

Alanna was torn between her duty to her father, or to herself. Her father wanted her to be a proper lady, but Alanna wanted to be a knight. It was illegal for a girl to be a knight, but Alanna already knew that. How irksome it was that just because she was a girl, she was considered weak and helpless. In order to do what her father wanted, she had to deny her own wants. Was that truly the right thing to do?

Thom had his own problems as well. He wanted to be a sorcerer, but his father wanted him to be a knight. Thom knew that he had an obligation to himself, and to his father. He hated most people. He only loved himself and Alanna. Thom knew that he and Alanna had much more power than most gifted people, and this made him rather cocky. Thom was hard to like, but he was always a steadfast friend.

I would recommend this book to fantasy readers, because of everything that goes on in it. It is an amazing tale full of wonder and suspense. I have enjoyed it tremendously.