Author
Biography
Tamora Pierce
has written numerous renowned fantasy novels, set in either the “Tortall”
universe or the “Circle” universe. In 2013 she received the Margaret A. Edwards
award for her body of work.
Published
By: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Year:
1986
ISBN:
0-689-31117-6
Reading
Level: Grades 7 and up
Reader’s
Annotation:
Now a full-fledged lady knight, Alanna wanders the
desert and finds herself adopted by a Bazhir tribe. The following months see
her struggle, learn, teach, and grow both as a warrior and as a woman.
Plot
Summary:
Eighteen-year-old
Alanna of Trebond, the only female knight in the realm of Tortall, has left the
royal court – and her secret lover Prince Jonathan – in search of adventure.
Travelling through the desert, she encounters the Bloody Hawk tribe of the
nomadic Bazhir people, who initially mistrust her, but adopt her as one of
their own after she bests one of their warriors in a trial by combat. Still,
the tribe’s shaman despises her, calling her “masculine” ways blasphemy. But
when the elderly man tries to attack her with too-powerful magic, he depletes
his own life force and dies. Now, by Bazhir law, Alanna must become the new
shaman.
Alanna quickly puts her position to
good use, training three outcast children in the art of magic and helping the
tribe to defend itself against its enemies. Then, one day, Jonathan arrives to
unite the Bazhir under the crown’s rule by training to become their highest
leader, the Voice of the Tribes…. and asks Alanna to marry him. Is she ready to
accept? What will her future be?
Critical
Evaluation:
This third book of the Song of the Lioness quartet is arguably the series’ “problem novel.”
Not because it’s any less well written or exciting than the other entries, but
because it largely revolves around the White Savior trope. Alanna gains power
among a Bedouin-inspired tribe and uses her new status to “improve” their
culture, particularly the status of women and magic-users. Even more
uncomfortably, the “renegade” tribes are forced to acknowledge Tortall’s white,
Western-style royalty as their rulers and this is portrayed as both necessary
and right. Still, despite the problematic aspects, there seems to be no
intentional racism. The Bhazir are fully human and dignified, with both heroes
and villains among them, and for all they learn from Alanna, they teach her just as
much. While their culture is portrayed as flawed in some ways, it’s
ultimately no worse or better than Alanna’s own.
Meanwhile,
our heroine proves as heroic a warrior as ever and continues to grow as a
person. She matures from mentee to mentor, sheds her lifelong fear of her own
magical powers, and steadily realizes that femininity isn’t weakness or
innately oppressive. She also takes a mature approach to her complicated love life, chafing
against Jonathan’s increasingly arrogant, demeaning behavior and carefully
questioning whether they truly belong together or not… while also grappling
with the mutual attraction she still shares with her friend George Cooper. As
in In the Hand of the Goddess, her complex
feelings (and the fact that through them all, her sex life is unabashedly
healthy) are handled with no slut-shaming, nor do they matter more than her duties and goals as a shaman and a knight. The ending
is an uncertain one, but Alanna herself puts it best: if there’s trouble ahead,
she’s ready for it.
Curriculum
Ties:
•Fantasy worlds
•Feminism
Challenge
Issues:
•Violence
•Sexual
references
•Menstruation
references
•Racial
issues
•May-December romance
Why
This Book?
While
slightly problematic from a racial perspective, the third Song of the Lioness book is still a worthy addition to Tamora
Pierce’s classic feminist fantasy series.
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