From archive (archive) Subject: Alanna: The First Adventure From: haste+@andrew.cmu.edu (Dani Zweig) Organization: Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Date: 7 Nov 89 16:37:14 GMT For years I've been sending people to the Children's Library to read this book, and it's finally out in paperback. If you enjoy reading the best of the fantasy and science fiction that appears on the children's shelves, you'll enjoy this one. This book is reminiscent of Pyle's "Men of Iron" and of Lackey's "Arrows of the Queen", but it's better than either. (In terms of enjoyability I would place it equal to "So You Want to Be a Wizard".) Alanna is a girl who dreams of being a knight. Her brother, Thom, dreams of being a Sorcerer. So naturally *she's* being sent to study sorcery (and ladylike accomplishments) and *he's* being sent to be squired. She talks him into switching places. The First Adventure chronicles her first years, in disguise, learning the knightly skills. AtFA is the first book in the four-volume Song of the Lioness. It is the best of the four (as is usually the case) but the other three are almost as good. (You can find them in your local Children's Library if you can't wait for the paperback :-) Strongest possible recommendation. ----- Dani Zweig haste+@andrew.cmu.edu God helpe the man so wrapt in Errours endless traine -- Edmund Spenser From archive (archive) Subject: Re: Alanna: The First Adventure--P.S. From: haste+@andrew.cmu.edu (Dani Zweig) Organization: Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Date: 7 Nov 89 17:50:15 GMT Oops. "Alanna: The First Adventure" is by Tamora Pierce. I wish I'd paid closer attention to the publisher when I saw it in the bookstore yesterday, because it's not one of the standard list. (I hope this doesn't hurt its distribution.) --Dani Zweig From archive (archive) Subject: Re: Alanna: The First Adventure From: firth@sei.cmu.edu (Robert Firth) Organization: Software Engineering Institute, Pittsburgh, PA Date: 7 Nov 89 17:53:43 GMT In article haste+@andrew.cmu.edu (Dani Zweig) writes: >For years I've been sending people to the Children's Library to read >this book, and it's finally out in paperback. If you enjoy reading the >best of the fantasy and science fiction that appears on the children's >shelves, you'll enjoy this one. Let me second this recommendation wholeheartedly. Incidentally, the author is Tamara Pierce and the four books, in chronological order, are Alanna : The First Adventure In the Hand of the Goddess The Woman who Rides like a Man Lioness Rampant From rec.arts.sf.written Mon Dec 7 20:32:50 1992 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Path: lysator.liu.se!fizban.solace.hsh.se!kitten.umdc.umu.se!sunic!mcsun!uunet!usc!wupost!csus.edu!netcom.com!dani From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) Subject: Wild Magic: The Immortals Message-ID: <1992Dec7.013815.2735@netcom.com> Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1992 01:38:15 GMT Lines: 41 Tamora Pierce's new book, "Wild Magic: The Immortals", is out. I'm quite willing to believe that Pierce has never read any of Lackey's books, but if you think of this books as "Arrows of the Queen" for a preteen audience you'll have the general flavor. It's not as good as "Song of the Lioness". (If you like good juvenile fantasy, try the first book of that four-volume series, "Alanna: The First Adventure", which is available in paperback.) We see many of the characters first encountered in SotL a decade later -- One of the weaknesses of this book is that it relies more heavily than it ought on previously established background and characters as a substitute for characterization. That said, it's a fun read. The main character is Daine, a girl with a unique inborn ability to talk to and command animals. Fleeing her village, she hires on to assist the horsemistress of the Queen's Riders. (If the Heralds of Valdemar were Tortallian, rode regular ponies, and were written for a younger audience, they'd be Riders. Again, I wouldn't be surprised if Pierce has *not* read Lackey's books. They could both be tapping the same vein of wish-fulfillment.) Her abilities get more of a workout than anticipated, however, when previously mythological creatures -- harpies, dragons, griffins, ogres, etc. -- start appearing, many of them evilly inclined. The book is complete in itself, but the larger problems raised in the book are unresolved, so we may expect sequels. As is generally the case with juveniles, this book will appear in paperback in its own sweet time, if at all. The hardcover can be obtained through a good children's library, from a good children's bookstore, or by special order from most any bookstore. If you're familiar with Pierce's other books, you'll know whether or not you want to pay hardcover prices for this one. If not, you may want to try out "Alanna: The First Adventure", which is significantly better, first. ----- Dani Zweig dani@netcom.com 'T is with our judgements as our watches, none Go alike, yet each believes his own --Alexander Pope From rec.arts.sf.written Mon May 2 14:31:53 1994 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Path: liuida!sunic!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!netline-fddi.jpl.nasa.gov!nntp-server.caltech.edu!news.claremont.edu!paris.ics.uci.edu!csulb.edu!csus.edu!netcom.com!dani From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) Subject: Pierce: Wolf-Speaker Message-ID: Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 20:58:03 GMT Lines: 43 I'm enjoying Tamora Pierce's new series, "The Immortals", but it lacks the magic of her first series, "The Song of the Lioness". The two series have the same setting -- "The Immortals" takes place about a decade later, and characters from the first series (Alanna, George, John, a few others) appear in minor supporting roles. The protagonist of the new series is Dane, a girl with a special talent for animals. In the fist book of the series, "Wild Magic", she develops her abilities to communicate with animals, to command them, and even to heal them. (It becomes obvious fairly early, to the reader if not to her, that her unknown father is a forest god.) These abilities prove useful when Tortal comes under supernatural attack: Carthak, which is looking to conquer Tortal, has found a way to release the previously-imprisoned immortals (harpies, ogres, dragons, etc. -- creatures with which Dane can at least communicate) and send them against Tortal. "Wolf-Speaker" opens a year or two later. Within the context of the struggle between Tortal and Carthak it forms an isolated episode, as Dane and her mentor attempt to save a valley from the Lord who is despoiling it, and to oppose his traitorous scheme. For Dane herself, it forms the next stage of her growth, as she learns to extend her powers, and begins to learn how they are intended to be used. I'm not sure I can pin down why I'm relatively luke-warm about this series. Partly because the ecological sensibilities displayed seem too specific to the twentieth century, but that's not necessarily a flaw in a juvenile. More because Dane is a less interesting character than Alanna. Things also come to her too easily (one of the advantages of being a demigoddess, I guess), and the right help or ability always seems to show up when she needs it. I enjoyed it well enough, and will probably get the next book in hardcover as well, but if you're not a particular fan of Pierce's work, I'd wait for the paperback, at least. (If you haven't read her much better first series, try it first, starting with "Alanna: The First Adventure". This assumes you enjoy good juvenile fantasy, of course, which some people do not.) ----- Dani Zweig dani@netcom.com Who didn't melt down, but whose computer did.