Kitten To Lioness

Now that I have finished my individual ramblings, it is time for me to sum up the series The Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce as a whole.  This is where I put down my feeling about the series as a whole.  I have noticed when I do my ramblings and critique/gush about the books individually that it comes across very differently then when I think of a series as whole.  I think a lot of this has to do with going back and reading books and enjoying them more as an overall story...ok not relating this very well.  Let's talk about the series shall we?   SPOILERS AHEAD.

Biggest thing about this quartet is that it follows our heroine Alanna from the time she is 10 until she is in her 20's.  This makes for a HUGE range in the age these books are appropriate for.  The first book is one I would recommend for any young lady (or man) starting to read chapter books...the later books may have a bit of content we may want to reserve for our slightly older readers.  The books start out very simply, a girl, a dream, and a bunch of quick vignettes showing us as she grows.  As we move on in the series each book gets fatter and more complex with less telling and more showing of our girl Alanna.  I sometimes forget that these were the authors first books, and her ability seems to grow along with her heroine.  I also like watching Alanna's friends grow along with her, especially Prince Jonathan and George Cooper.  In the start Jon is almost as young as Alanna and he grows in his responsibilities as a Prince, and eventually a King.  It is great to watch his transformation from a spoiled teenager to a regal and just man.  George also gets his own arc, going from the carefree King of Thieves to a man who is ready to become "respectable" if it means the ability to protect his loved ones.  Myles, Corum, and the other characters in Alanna's world all grow up in some way or another...even if they were already adults :-).

Alanna herself goes through the biggest transformation...and as the main character that makes sense.  It is interesting to watch this young girl start with the simple dream of being a knight and then realize that there is so much more to life then a single dream.  Her knighthood turns out to be just one aspect of what she wants out of life, realizing that every time she achieves a goal, that it does not fulfill her in the way she thought it would.  The ability to recognize that she needs friends, loves, and a variety of goals helps her become a well rounded person.  This series, being the first in a series of series (wow we are starting to get meta in here) set in Tortall and the surrounding areas really sets up the world for the rest of the books.  The stories we read in this series very much color the future books, making rereads even better as we know what happens far into the future.  This quartet of books tends to hold up better as a whole, then as individual books...at least for me, and I actually enjoy rereading them more then the original read.  I am very glad that I discovered this series and it's message of figure out who you are and be yourself 'cause that is probably your best bet at happiness :-)  Happy Reading Everybody!

Riding Boy Style

Continuing on with my Song of the Lioness reread is the third book, The Woman Who Rides Like A Man by Tamora Pierce.  This book is nice because the story is a bit more cohesive and linear then the earlier books and really launches our girl Alanna into the rest of her life.  Before I get into all that though, as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

In the aftermath of Alanna being knighted, revealed as a female and killing Duke Roger of Conte (the princes cousin) she decides she needs a bit of a breather from the capital and heads out with her man Corum to seek adventure.  She ends up in the desert with a tribe of Bazhir called the Bloody Hawk.  She fights for the right to become part of the tribe and is named as The Woman Who Rides Like a

Man...which is a really long title, but hey it is also very descriptive.  The Bazhir are fierce nomadic people who have a pretty strict division between males and females, and Alanna is setting all that on it's head acquiring a magical crystal sword of potential evil along the way. As she gets to know her adopted people the tribes shaman (who is a bit crazy...ok he's a lot crazy) challenges her and ends up being slain by our lady knight.  According to custom, Alanna takes over as shaman of the tribe until she can train up her apprentices, including two girls to take over.   Prince Jonathan and Sir Myles end up coming from Corus so Jonathan can become the Voice of the tribes and unite the desert people with the kingdom of Tortall.  Myles decides to make Alanna his heir, giving her resources and a home that she did not have before.  Jonathan renews his attentions to Alanna, culminating in a marriage proposal.  After much thinking and fighting, Alanna decides that she does not want to become a traditional lady and declines...which of course makes things a bit awkward between the two.  Alanna leaves the tribe in the hands of her young apprentices, fulfilling the rite to make them full fledged shamans.  She goes to visit George, the king of thieves and her dear friend.  The two start a relationship which lasts until there is an attempt on George's life by a young upstart by the name of Claw.  George returns to Corus to find out what is behind the attacks and Alanna moves on to further adventure.

This book like I said earlier is much tighter of a timeline then previous books.  The story is much more focused and it some ways it makes more sense.  I really enjoyed spending an extended amount of time with Alanna, learning about her and seeing her on a daily basis instead skipping over  months and years at a time.  It is nice to see some of the other cultures that are actually part of the kingdom and not a completely different country.  I will say that I personally found the Bahzir to be a bit stereotypical of a desert/nomadic tribe, but that is just my personal feelings.  I'm still not sure how I feel about Alanna's relationships with Jonathan and George.  I felt Jonathan changed feelings about Alanna very quickly, going from completely accepting who and what she was to demanding she

become a traditional lady.  George's love for Alanna was well established in previous books and he is much more accepting of her as a a person, which is nice, but the speed in which Alanna went from one serious relationship to another is a bit disturbing.  I like watching Alanna come to grips with her own magic Gift, learning to use it and not to fear is cool to see.  This book gives us glimpses into the lives of some of the other characters, showing us what is going on while Alanna is gone, reminding us that just because she is not there does not mean that everybody else's life stops.  We are introduced to the Shang warriors, Thom's increasing magic, and the feeling that all of this is building up to something big in the next book.  Overall it was good to see a story from beginning to end and to not skip around the time  line.  I feel like we have established Alanna's character, likes, dislikes, quirks, strengths and weaknesses making her for the most part a very believable human character.  I enjoyed this installment and feel like we are at the perfect set-up for the final book.  I give this book 7 out of 10 evil crystal swords.
Do you like the longer or shorter time lines in books?  How do you feel about relationship jumping? Do I sound like I am repeating myself in these ramblings?

Purple Eyed Kitty Cat

Continuing my reread of the Song of the Lioness Quartet, I finished up In the Hands of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce the other night.  Of course my extreme insomnia made so I actuallys started and finished the book in the same night, but that's ok.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Our cross-dressing heorine Alanna has made it to the rank of Squire and has also secured the position of squireing for the newly knighted Prince Jonathan.  Jon now know's Alan is actually Alanna and is totally cool with it (yay for semi-enlightened boys).  In the course of her duties as a squire Alanna is out camping when a curious kitten with purple eyes that match Alanna's appears.  Along with this kitten, Alanna if visited by the Goddess, the female head of the Tortall pantheon of gods.  She hangs out for a while and then gives Alanna an amulet which allows her to see when magic is being used.  When she get's back to Tortall, she continues to train for her Ordeal, which if she passes will allow her to become a knight and finally realize her dream.  In the meantime she is busy trying to balance becoming a woman and her love of the knighthood.  Jon and and the King of Thieves George, both make a move, George declaring his love for Alanna and promising to wait until she is ready.  Jon a bit more aggressive, though always circumpspect as to not give away her secret.  After some flirting and uncomfortable moments, Jon and Alanna become lovers.  Alanna continues to be looked after by Sir Myles, an old knight who takes Alanna under his wing.  Jon's cousin Roger the Duke of Conte
continues to teach the young men (and Alanna) how to use their gift and he still creeps Alanna out. Alanna finally gets through her Ordeal, becoming a knight as she has always dreamed.  Her borther Thom comes down to give her the gift of a shield with their family crest on it.  As a surpise he shows her that when she is ready to reveal herself as a female, she can say a spell to change the shield to show a glorious lioness rampant...very very cool. After her suspicions become aroused she uses her amulet to discover that Duke Roger has been keeping the Queen sick and other's ignorant of his true plans through the use of sorcery.  Showing proof of this to the King and Queen, Roger demands a trial by combat and he and Alanna battle.  During the course of the battle, the corset Alanna wears to hide her feminity is cut and she is revealed as a woman.  She wins the battle, killing Roger and chaos ensues.  She decides that she cannot deal with all the aftermath of her reveal and she and Corum decide to travel for a while, as she had originally planned on doing.  They pack up and set of to somewhere warm to await the nest book.

So this is another book where a lot happens, not as much as the last one, but still pretty packed.  I remeber liking this one when I was younger because it mirrored a lot of the conflict I felt and some of my fellow friends felt about being able to kick butt and be strong, and yet still want to wear sparklies and be girly.  This book showed not just the good parts of being both, but the struggle as well.  One of the things that struck me is that both Jon and George were attracted to Alanna for different reasons and showed it in different ways.  In some ways George bugged me, stealing kisses from Alanna, almost by force, which made me a bit uncomfortable, but it end he acknowledges that she is not ready and backs off.  Jon on the other hand, makes more of a game of it and in the end, the less serious

relationship is the one Alanna chooses.  This book shows us a lot of Alanna's fears how she has to face them mostley on her own, which to  me makes her a bit more human then the last book.  Mostly this book sets up the last two books and gives us a solid foundation of knowledge of the land and the primary players.  Ahhh I almost forgot to mention Faithful, the purple eyed kittycat.  Faithful is one of my favorite characters throughout the series.  He technically only meows, but anybody he wants to "talk" to can understand his meows as speech.  Their is obviously something supernatural about him, but for the most part he comes across as a snarky cat.  He is helpful, observant, and adds a touch of humor to the whole proceedings.  Overall, I enjoy this book as part of the series and give it a 7 out of 10 picture changing shields and recommend it to anybody who likes kick-ass conflicted heroine, or has already started the series :-)
Do you thing being a favored of a god/goddess is cheating?  How relieved would you be to finally have your long kept secret out?  What snarky supernatural animal companion do you want?

It's Ok To Be A Girl

One of the few good things about the holiday's being over is that I can get back to my normal reading pattern.  I always feel a bit nostalgic right after the holidays and since for once I didn't have a deadline looming over me, I picked up one of my favorite series by one of my favorite authors.  I read Alanna: The First Adventure, the first book in the Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce.  How did it hold up over the years?  I'll tell you, but first, as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Alanna and Thom are pre-teen twins with a crappy father (as all good MG/YA books start).  They both have the Gift, a form of magic certain people posses in the realm of Tortall.  To this end, Thom wants to become a mage, and Alanna wants to become a night, the problem being that females can't become knights, and their father insists that Thom go become a knight instead of a mage.  They decide to switch places and Thom goes on to the City of the Gods to become a mage ('cause both guys and gals can practice magic) and Alanna becomes Alan and signs up to be a Page at the court in Corus, the capital of Tortall.  Only Corum, Alanna's trusted friend and guardian knows her secret and helps her when he can.  Alanna works extremely hard to overcome her smallness and the beatings of a much larger bully.  In town one day Alanna (in the guise of Alan) meets George Cooper, the King of Thieves who takes her under his wing and teaches her how to fight.  Between this and all her extra work at her Page lessons, Alanna earns her place among her fellow Pages and Squires.  She

eventually befriends the Prince Jonathan, and her ability with the Gift is revealed when she uses it to heal him after an awful illness called the Sweating Sickness sweeps through the city, killing many.  It is thought that the illness was sent by a sorcerer, who may have targeted the royal family.  After saving the prince, he and Alanna, along with a few other guys get to be good enough friends that she introduces them to George, who in turn helps them by keeping an eye on the city.  Eventually Alanna gets older, and as it goes, hits puberty.  Since she has no mother, and not female to talk to, Alanna is understandably freaked out by her first period and goes to George's mother, a healer to find out what is what.  Mrs. Cooper explains the birds and the bees to her and gives her a charm against pregnancy and encourages her to be a girl when she can. She also let's George in on the fact that she is a girl.  The prince's cousin, Roger the Duke of Conte arrives to teach the pages/squire's with the Gift how to use it. A bunch of stuff happens (don't you love how I skip over all this stuff in every rambling :-) )   The bunch of them head off to hang out at Persopolis, an oasis city in the middle of the desert.  In site of the encampment is the Black City, an evil place that compels people to come and they are never seen again.  Roger, goad/tricks Jonathan into going to the city and Alanna follows him.  They confront an ancient evil called the Ysandir and defeat them using Alanna and the princes combined Gifts.  In the process, Prince Jonathan discovers that Alanna is really a girl.  He decides he is ok with this, agrees to keep it a secret and the book ends with him choosing her as his squire once he is knighted.

This is one of those books where a lot of stuff happens very quickly.  If I remember correctly just this book spans the course of at least 5 years and each page if packed full of stuff.  Most of the events are pretty simply described, with out a whole lot of detail or angst, and while this makes things a bit quick, it keeps the pace up.  This book, and series in general is pretty cool in that the main message is that it is ok to be yourself.  Alanna is hellbent on being a knight, even at the tender age of 11 and she thinks this means she pretty much has to turn herself into a boy.  While this is true to some degree, she learns that it does not have to be her whole life.  Through out the book, she is lucky enough to have several people encourage her to be who she wants to be, if that's a knight, great go for it, but don't let that completely squash your femininity if you don't want it to.  I really like the idea that it is ok to be whatever, a girl who likes to swing swords and wear a pretty pair of earrings.  A boy who wants a quieter life of study, but is still able to ride a horse like a pro.  Just because you like one thing, or are good at something, does not automatically mean the rest of your life has to follow suite.

 I also really like how hard Alanna has to work to achieve her goal.  Besides her Gift (which she is afraid of AND many other people also have), she is not all that special.  She is small so she has to work extra hard just to be as good as the other guys.  Through out the book (and the series) she makes no secret of the fact that there are some things she will probably never be good at.  The only real "convenient" part that bugs me a bit, is her ability to have people fall head over heels to help her out of most situations.  George Cooper, while a great character, for some reason decides to take the scrawny little Page under his wing even before he knows she is a girl, same with the Prince (though I guess saving his life helped with that).  It is a bit convenient for her to have a lot of support in a time and place where she should have very little.  As this is a reread, I always like to compare the first time I read it to subsequent rereads.  In this case, I still love the book, but found it to be a bit simpler then I remember.  The time frame in which it is written makes it go fast, and certain things go unexamined and stuff gets glossed over. I think it is a great first book in this series and is a great pace for a younger reader to really get into.  I love it for anybody who struggles with reconciling who they are with what they do, or what they like.  It has adventure, intrigue, swords and magic and it will always have a spot on my shelf.  I give it 7 out of 10 crystal swords.
What books do you feel like rereading this year?  Do you have changing feelings about books you reread?  What would a sword fighting tutu look like?

Best Weekend EVER!

I had the most incredible weekend, it was everything I could have hoped for, in fact it was so great that I will have to spread out it's awesomeness over several posts...and then hopefully it will be the weekend again :-).  It started with a cup of coffee in bed while I finished a book, got some chores done, made the whole house smell like cinnamon and apples and then curled up to start a book I have been saving for the perfect weekend...but more on that later.  I watched an amazing episode of Sherlock, played a little Lego Harry Potter, went to bed to read some more and woke up to most glorious of mornings.  You see not only was it the official first day of fall, but it was the day I was going to the 2013 National Book Festival!!!!!! So I pulled on my new bookworm socks, stocked my backpack full of books and embarked on this new adventure!

This was my first time at the festival and I have to tell you I was not disappointed.  It is one of the best organized events I have been to in a really long time.  The main point of the festival is to go and listen to various authors, librarians, and other bookies as I like to call them.  Everybody seemed to be in a good mood, all the speakers were well attended, the bookstore was a little sparse and crowded, but that was to be expected.  I again have to mention the weather, because if I could have ordered it, I could not have done a better job, it was a breezy 70ish degrees with just enough puffy clouds to keep one from being blinded by the sun.

There was an amazing variety of authors and topics to choose from, Science Fiction and Teens and Children were where I spent most of my time.  We got to hear Lynda Barry who is not only hilarious but totally shares my views on the arts and her talk on imagery was very interesting, I am now hooked on all her comics/books.  We then moved on to Elizabeth Moon who I was originally interested in for her connection to the late Anne McCaffery (they co-authored some books when Ms. Moon was a young author), but have

come to love her in her own right as well. Her talk on her journey to becoming a recognized and published author was informative and entertaining, I love an author who can look back at there younger self and chuckle.  She also seems to be embracing aging (not that she looks a day over 30 ;-) ) and uses it to write more experienced characters in her newer books.  We then rushed over to the crowded Teens and Children tent to hear Tamora Pierce who informed us right off the bat she is not a nice person...and then proceeded to prove herself wrong.  She spent a lot of time answering as many questions as she could, even going over and waving off the moderator to try and squeeze in one more question, a very nice gesture for her myriads of fans.  Ms. Pierce also has a wicked awesome sense of humor, especially about her self which makes me a very happy fan.
The conclusion to this trip was racing all of the teeny-boppers to get in line to get my book signed by Ms. Pierce, there were a couple signatures I wanted, but they were all signing at the same time and the lines were ridiculous (which is totally awesome because it shows that books are alive and kicking, and that we still honor authors as important people in our society).  I decided to wait for Ms. Pierce's autograph because of all the authors there, her books meant the most to me.  The wait ended up being 2 hours, but it did not feel that long for a couple reasons.  The first being that the event staff cheerfully, helpfully and efficiently kept the lines orderly and informed.  It is amazing how much patience a giant crowd can have when they know what it going on and what is expected (good job event staff).  The second reason was again the weather, it was

perfect reading weather and all zillion of us, just sat down and read while we waited our turn, in fact it did not even feel like waiting, it felt like a giant readers picnic (it helped that Hubbin was amazing and kept me supplied in food and drink during the wait, actually Hubbin was amazing the whole day, schlepping my books around, getting me nourishment, waiting not only patiently, but happily with me in line for the whole time LOVE YOU HUBBIN!), it would probably not have been so enjoyable had the weather been crappy.  The best part about waiting in line is that we got to make friends with other people while we waited (Hi to the world traveling, Danish girl, and tall stripey shirt girl, both of you have excellent taste in books!).  It was fun to talk to other people about books, where they were from, the longest they have waited in line to see a beloved author, it was really cool.  In the end I could only get one book signed with no personlization, but we all agreed to that so that everybody in line would get a chance to see Ms. Pierce.
I am already excited for next year, though now that I now how it works I will try and plan it a little better so that I can see more authors.  I might even volunteer, we will have to see. Also big thanks to the Library of Congress for putting on such an amazing event! (Also Harry Potter works at the Library of Congress I know because I saw him)

Finished off the day with homemade chili and my favorite red wine, drifting off to sleep, book in hand, happily relieving the best weekend ever!
Oh yeah and the Ravens totaled the Texans which was the yummy cherry on this perfect Sunday (get it Sunday/sundae?!?!?  OK I'm gonna go drink my coffee now)
What is your idea of the perfect weekend? Have you been to a major book festival?  I wonder if would frown upon me stealing a staff shirt and sneaking into all the authors tents to talk with them one on one?

Kick-A** Girl Power In All Forms

Getting excited for the National Book Festival coming up next weekend!  One of the things I am most excited about is the possibility of meeting Tamora Pierce, one of my favorite authors.  I have to admit it took me a while to get into this authors works, my baby sis had actually read her Circle of Magic books and tried to get me interested, but it wasn't really my thing right then.  Later I picked up the Song of the Lioness quartet and then promptly kicked myself for not getting into them sooner.  There are a zillion reasons to love the works of Tamora Pierce, her world building, characterization and plot are all wonderful, but what I want to talk about in this post is how she writes her heroines.

I know you have heard me gripe before that most heroines come in two forms, either SUPER AWESOME KICK-ASS ALL POWERFUL SUPER SKILLED WHO CAN SHOOT A GUN BETTER THEN ANYBODY RUN FASTER THEN ANYBODY FIGHT BETTER THEN ANYBODY ALL WHILE MAINTAINING A 'TUDE!!!! Yes I had to put that in all caps because that is what it always feels like when you read these characters.  The other heroine is the sweet, lovely, perfect, obviously special girl that everybody falls all over themselves for, you know the type that looks at you with big blue eyes and just can't thank you enough for letting her cut class for the zillionth time with out getting into trouble.  These two types actually do have there place in some stories, but let me tell you they get old very quickly.  This leads me to why I love Tamora Pierce so much, her heroines are as varied as a box of chocolates (the good kind from Godiva, not the stale ones you get from the drug store) and while they all have special skills it is balanced out by plenty of flaws and insecurities.
Let us go heroine by heroine and I will show you what I mean. (Warning, there may be minor spoilers ahead that are unavoidable so read with caution...but I don't think it will be to bad)
Lets start with the Tortal series:

Song of the Lioness
Alanna-Our heroine for this first quartet makes the bold move of disguising herself as a boy to become a knight.  She is great because while she is probably one of the more outgoing and feisty of our girls, she also comes with some of the most identity issues.  Aside from wanting to become a knight, our girl also wants to be...well a girl.  One of the best scenes shows Alanna in the guise of Alan waiting upon the Prince as he dances with girls all decked out in there finest.  Alanna struggles with jealousy that they can freely act like women, while at the same time refusing to give up her dream of becoming a knight.  This struggle continues all the way through the series, even after she is revealed as female and no longer has to hide it.  She has numerous romantic liasons, controlling her own sexuality and clearly stating her intentions of never being tied down.  She is loud, tempermental, stubborn, determined, spirited, confused, and oh yeah she does have magic that also gives her amazing amounts of trouble.  See along with trying to balance her need to be free and violent with her desire to be seen as a female, she also has to balance her magic (and her reluctance to use it) with her need to prove herself aside from the Gift as it is called in Tortall. Again numerous things to love about this first series, but I think what I would want people to get out of it the most is the fact that you don't have to choose to be one thing or another.  If you want to be a tutu wearing knight go for it, if you want to wear fatigues while you whip up a souffle I say more power to you.  This book really showed me that it was ok to indulge my girly for a while and then go hop on my ambulance or fire truck without feeling conflicted.

The Immortals
Daine-Our heroine in this series reminds me a bit of the old fashioned Caddie Woodlawn type main character.  She is spunky, fun, loyal and motherly.  After reading about our warrior princess in the previous series, Daine more innocent views are refreshing.  Intially thought to be insane because of her little understood brand of magic (she can talk to, heal and even eventually transform into animals) she learns to not be afraid of her magic.  Daine is a bit of the super special trope of heroine, she finds out eventually that she is the daughter of a minor god, but it is handled really well and is just one more piece to our girls story.  This series also highlights the importance of depending on your friends, not always having to go it alone.  A lot of times our heroines have this crazy urge to prove themselves by doing every thing on there own, making themselves closed off and cold in an attempt to prove how bad-ass they are, and it is only after some poor sop has broken down those walls...blah blah blah, our girl has absolutely none of that, she loves her friends with a ferocity of a mamma bear and will do anything for them.  In return she believably has people willing to help her out, again not because she is a sweet, perfect girl, but because she has already proven her loyalty to them.  Daine is also one of the most open minded heroines I have seen, able to put aside her initial feelings and prejudice to try and understand other people and creatures.  This makes for some interesting questions and answers about prejudice against groups as a whole and how an individual may or may not further that.  What I would want people to get out of this book is that being loyal and open minded will get you much further in the world then being a close minded blowhard.  It is ok to change your mind about people, and the whole Lone Ranger thing is not as cool as you think.

Protector of the Small
Keledry-This is where I really started to notice how different all of these girls are. Kel has decided to try and become the first sanctioned Lady Knight in hundreds of years, after Alanna broke the gender barrier, the King declared any female who wanted to train as a knight would get the chance.  Enter Kel our quiet, determined, justice seeking, hights fearing heroine.  At first glance she is almost the exact opposite of Alanna, tall, reserved, calm, only sharing the trait of determination.  As time goes on we see our Kel put these traits that most authors would never write into a knighted heroine to good use.  We see that her nature actually lends itself to becoming one of the best knights ever, and not just for a girl, but for anybody.  She deals with a lot of the same am I a woman or a knight issues that Alanna did, but her approach to dealing with it is much different then Alanna's was.  Being a loud mouth myself I found it fascinating to read about this quiet dignified girl who pushed through the ranks of brash and loud naysayers, to not only achieve her dreams, but to save a country as well.  What I would want people to get out of this story is to quit discounting the people who don't have to make a lot of noise.  In our culture it seems the louder and brasher you are, the more people seem to think you are the top banana, but let me tell you as one of those loud people, a lot of the times it is really the quiet people standing behind us who are getting the real work done, and if given the chance will astound you.

Trickster
Ally-This series is about Ally, Alanna's teenage daughter and I love it for so many reasons (hm this seems to be a theme here).  Right off the bat I love the interaction between mother and daughter, how they are similar in some areas and completely different in others, causing them to butt heads more often then not.  It explores what I am sure is every parents biggest issue, balancing what you want for your kids, with what your kid wants, with what you want your kid to want.  Ally takes after her dad is more impulsive and fun loving then her mother, she does not think of consequences on a regular basis and would rather spy with her dad, then fight as a knight.  After Ally's capture by pirates and is eventually sold to a family far away with a completely different culture, she uses her skills of observation and trickery to help protect the family she serves.  Ally is probably the most "fun" character to read, she has the most relaxed and natural rhythm of any character and seems to be the most comfortable in her own skin.  Her greatest challenges come from having to on occasion suppress her natural tendency to speak her mind at any time and learn when to use her powers of observation vs her powers of persuasion.  She also comes to appreciate her parents and the differences between them, instead of seeing the differences as flaws, she see's how each person needs to use there own way to solve problems.  What I would want people to get out of this book is to learn to feel comfortable with yourself, regardless of what other people want you to be.  If your a girl, it is just as ok to want to be at home and raise your children as it is to want to go out and become the first female presidant...or both. If you are a guy you can dream about becoming an NFL player, or the worlds best RN...or both.  It doesn't matter what other people tell you what you should want as long as YOU are happy with your choices.

Provost's Dog
Beka-Beka is a different sort of heroine, she lives hundreds of years before the other series when it was still ok for females to be knights and warriors so her struggle is vastly different then the other heroines in this post (I love how women's rights actually went backwards over time as the nobility "refined" itself, very interesting concept).  Beka is mostly on her own, earning a living as a Dog, which is essentially a police officer.  While most of our other heroines spent their time at court or in noble houses, Beka patrols, lives, and plays in the more slummy part of the city.  Our girls biggest issue is her shyness, she can barely speak in front of people she does not know which hinders her ability to give testimony in court...a big part of her job.  She is able to overcome it with some difficulty and is able to do her job.  Beka is shy, quiet, generous, and resourceful. She never forgets where she comes from and is constantly helping out people less fortunate then she is.  She also has the ability to talk with ghosts that ride with pigions, giving her an eccentric crazy bird lady vibe which suits her perfectly.  What I would want people to get out of this is that you don't have to be a big bad knight, or a super duper magic wielder to be a hero.  It is the people who get out of bed and go to work to provide for their families, or protect the common folk, or answer the individual call for help that really makes the world go round.
Wow this is getting super long, so I will save the girls from her other books for another time, but needless to say they all have there own personalities and kick ass as well.  Hopefully this long rambling ode to the females in Tamora Pierce's books gives you an idea of why I love her so much!

What female hero is your favorite?  What traits do you think often get overlooked when writing heros/heroines?  Is the ability to read anywhere at any time a super hero trait?

Cover Model

While I was on my Internet spree of book buying the other day, I noticed a bit of a disturbing trend. I was looking specifically for some older books and when I found them it took me a moment to recognize them because some of the covers had been updated.  Now I understand the need to update covers, especially some of those cheesy/sexist/silly old school scifi/fantasy ones, that was not what bugged me.  What bugged me was some of the beautiful artwork was being replaced with photo shopped photos of young pretty models who were probably not even alive when these books were written.  It's not just old old books either, books that have come out a couple of years ago, or beautiful hardcovers being released in paperback, all of these can be turned into photo shop monstrosities of doom.  And don't even get me started on the movie adaption book covers!  I realize that in the grand scheme of things this does not really matter, as long as the content of the book remains the same, and the cover model isn't whitewashed (the practice of putting a blah nondescript person on the cover when the story is clearly about a character of some sort of color to try and sell more books...which is not only a whole other post, but if you look up the terms you will find some great pieces already written about it) will probably not actually impede my enjoyment of the book, but I still, it's my blog and I will rant if I want too :-)  Here are some examples of what I am talking about.

Freedom's Landing

In the one on the left you have a beautiful landscape of possibilities, on the right, a generic "kickass girl" who looks to be about half the age of the main character in the book. The other problem with this is that this is the only book updated in the series so it does not match the rest which is a huge pet peeve of mine (I know first world problems)

The Two Princesses of Bamarre

On the left an artist rendition, that captures the look and mood perfectly, on the right two tweeny bopper looking girls in a princess costume (seriously the darker haired one does not even have an attempt at a medievalish hairstyle)

The Rowan

This one is not as bad as some, they at least kept the white hair, but the expression on the right...bugs me.  It makes it look much more "I am the great and powerful sorceress who is prone to shoot lightning bolts out of my eyes" rather then "I am a lonely, yet hardworking telepath who was orphaned at a young age, but can still quietly and calmly kick all of your assess" that the character is really about.

The Immortals

Again we have an artists rendition on the left, a scene straight out of the book, given the tone may be a bit dated, but still a decent cover.  Cover on the right gets the coloring of the character right, but again that expression of pained model just makes me want to laugh, the rest of the updated covers on this series are pretty much the exact same expression, just from different angles, so not only silly, but uncreative as well.

Beautiful Creatures

Here is an example of how movies ruin books (full disclosure I have not read the book yet, but it is on my shelf on the short list)  The cover on the left is haunting and sinister and just makes you want to open up the book to see what is down the road.  The cover on the right is generic pretty people who are cast in the movie because they are pretty people and now they are on the cover of my book to remind me that everything must get made into a mass media form at some point!

Updated covers are not always a bad thing, in fact I think I own at least three different version of The Lord of The Rings trilogy and who knows how many of the Chronicles of Narnia because for the most part every new update is awesome (hmmm maybe I'll do a post with a progression of awesome covers).  I am just sick and tired of every book I love and grew up with being blanded down (that's a real word/term I swear) to try and attract more readers.  I however do not want a bookshelf full of pout teenagers staring back at me, I want some creativity and thought.  This is why the publishers should allow the author more input into the covers of their own books.

What is your favorite kind of book cover?  How much does the cover play into the nostalgia factor for you? Do you prefer the pouty pretty people?  Do I have way to much time on my hands to be this upset over a stupid book cover?