Trickster's Choice

To the great joy of her many fans, Tamora Pierce's Trickster's Choice begins a new saga of Tortall to add to The Song of the Lioness Quartet, the Immortals Quartet, and The Protector of the Small Quartet.

At the center of each of these books is always a strong and resourceful young woman who masters the arts of swordplay and knightly warfare in the magical medieval country of Tortall. Alianne, or Aly, daughter of the warrior queen Alanna the Lioness, has all these skills, but also a delicious sense of humour, which serves her well when she is chosen by the trickster god Kyprioth to serve as his secret agent and a slave for a year in the embattled Copper Isles. There the dark-skinned natives, or raka, have been conquered and crushed by the laurin, light-skinned people from the mainland. The burning raka resentment is fuelled by prophecies of a twice royal queen who will free them, aided by the "wise one, the cunning one, the strong one, the warrior, and the crows". Just how each of the colourful characters and Aly herself fit into this prophecy and Kyprioth's tricky plan keeps readers guessing. Aly plots to show her skill at spying as she flirts with the god and is courted by Nawat, a crow transformed into a handsome young man, who is puzzled when she rejects his attempts to mate-feed her with grubs and ants.

The pages of this long but fast-paced adventure zip by, enlivened by intrigue, skirmishes, comedy, romance and lots of dramatic clothes. (Ages 10 to 14) --Patty Campbell, Amazon.com

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Ali, the only woman with a backbone?? - Rated
Through all of the Tamora Piece's books, there is no other heroine that quite matches to Ali. I am a self confessed Pierce fanatic (or perhaps fan is a less harmful word), and from the many readings Trickster's Choice has received I have never once become bored with Ali's antics.

Pierce offers here a character that, unlike many past heroines who appear confined by a rigidly outlined plot, will bumble along with you. On the first chapters we are greeted by someone that does not yet understand her place in life, and perhaps never will. From there on it seems as if we help her to make the decisions that ultimately decide her future.

The useful skills Pierce has equipped Ali with make for exceptionally interesting reading. For me it wasn't so much a story but a handbook. I'm not sure, and will definitely never try it out, but I think I could possibly be an extremely accomplished spy.

I welcomed this series with open arms. If you're looking for a light, witty and intriguing beginning to a new angle of the Tortall books, or simply something to introduce you to them, then Pierce certainly delivers. My only complaint was the brief nature of some explanations. However with a bit of imagination this really wasn't a problem, and in many ways added to the story.

Ok, but can be done without - Rated
Try as I might I can't be enthusiastic about any of Pierce's books after the Lioness quartett. Aly is a fairly interesting character, but after a promising beginnning the book lags and lags. It's meant to have a spy theme, but isn't really clever enough. (I know these books are meant for kids, but so is Artemis Fowl) Aly is also supposed to be funny, but not with overwhelming success.
But then it's all a matter of taste. If you are a fan, you will like this, even though it is not set in Tortall. If you haven't read anything from Pierce before: Go for the Lioness quartett. Of all the work I read (Immortals, Protector, this one and one of the Magic Circle) they have the most fire.

Pierce - still got it. - Rated
First and foremost may I just write a small response to one of the above reviews (mentioning no names of course and in the nicest way possible) that this is a FANTASY novel. Yes, the heroine is attracted to a "crow-man" but then Aly is a completely different heroine to Pierce's former female protagonists.

Still, the most important thing to say here is that the books are fantastic! I was looking forward to them for so long (and at the age of 18 this it is one of the most embarrassing things - going into bookshops into the children's fantasy section) and I was NOT disappointed. Once again Pierce combines her extensive knowledge of medieval warfare, a witty writing style, subtle amounts of feminism and satisfying links back to her more 'famous' characters to provide us with another enjoyable perspective into the Tortallan world.

Decent book - Rated
Alianne, daughter of the Lioness, Alanna,is floating through life until Kyprioth, the trickster god of the Copper Isles, interferes. After being captured by pirates and sold as a slave, she makes a wager to look after half raka, half luarin royalty. The skills her father taught her come in useful, as she is sent away from court in exile because the eccentric King suffers from paranoia.

I feel while this book is not as great as some of her others, i still think it is a decent book. The plot is quick to start and the characters are intriguing and somewhat entertaining.

different but good - Rated
Having (I think) read all of Tamora Pierce's books to date, I have to admit that this was not my favourite - it simply did not appeal to me as much as those of her earlier quartets did (although I think that this was probably largely due to changes in taste). 'Trickster's Choice' (and 'Trickster's Queen,' which I have also read) were both really enjoyable books with, as per usual, a great heroine - plausible and strong without being overtly feministic. It certainly seems that Pierce's writing is becoming more complex and more suitable for older readers, both in terms of content and attention to detail - the explanations of Aly's work as a spy were incredibly detailed. Furthermore, anyone who has read previous books in the Tortall series will love the cameo roles of the older characters, particularly with the obvious link to Alanna. 'Trickster's Choice' and its sequel do not have the feel of sagas as the quartets do, and I suspect that they would not stand alone as well as Pierce's other books might, but are a definite must-read for any fan of this author.