Review of "Alanna: The First Adventure"

"Part of her wanted to stop this before it got out of hand, but not a very big part."

     Meet Alanna, the star of Tamora Pierce's novel Alanna: The First Adventure. Alanna of Trebond and her brother, Thom, are about to be sent in separate directions--Alanna to the convent to become a lady, and Thom to the palace, destined for knighthood, as custom dictates. Neither spirited Alanna nor magically inclined Thom are happy with their lot, so they hatch a plan: Thom will go to the convent to become a sorcerer and Alanna, posing as his "brother" Alan, will become a knight. Think of the glory, the prestige, the adventures! The future looks bright, but what Alanna doesn't realize is that there is more to knighthood--and hiding her gender--than she realized, and it will take more than sheer willpower to achieve her dream. And the consequences of discovery are far worse than she could ever have imagined.

     This is a book that is definitely geared toward kids. The prose is very basic and doesn't fill in a whole lot of worldbuilding details. There's very little in the way of sensory information, building the culture and kingdom through action and descriptions of city layouts rather than how Alanna interprets her surroundings. Despite all this, her world is fascinating. The kingdom has a larger-than-life quality about it, and the rules of magic are very strict and easy to understand. It's easy to sympathize with Thom and Alanna, right from the start, which is something plenty of books have a hard time setting up. However, it would have been nice if the writing style had been a little less juvenile.

     Alanna is a great character. She's tough, tomboyish, and willing to do whatever it takes to achieve her goals. She is accompanied by several friends, including the crown prince, Jonathan, and the less-than-reputable King of Thieves, George Cooper. Each is a great, unique character with a distinctive personality. One of Pierce's greatest achievements in this book is that the characters interact just as teenaged boys do in real life, a feat much more difficult than one might think. There is very little development of these characters, but Alanna changes a great deal over the course of the book, learning to stand up for herself and to not fear her magical powers.

      One thing this book has going for it is the plot. Although Alanna is a page, she goes through several adventures over the course of one story. From a vicious bully to the Sweating Sickness to a fight with near-immortal beings, Alanna faces conflict after conflict in the first few years of her journey. Even in the moments when she isn't fighting for her life, or for someone else's, our heroine faces countless challenges. How can she avoid swimming with her friends? What happens if she's caught visiting George? And why are her bedsheets suddenly soaked in blood? Each is unique, pulling readers in with ease and keeping the pages turning with very real stakes.

     I would recommend this book to tween-aged girls looking for a relatively short read about a proud, strong heroine with plenty of spunk. Although the characters don't develop overmuch and the prose leaves something to be desired, Alanna: The First Adventure works magic through its character interaction and powerful plot. Tamora Pierce has created a great heroine in Alanna, and this series is not to be missed. It deserves four stars out of five.