Alanna: The First Adventure
Original Atheneum U.S. hardcover of the book featuring the title character.
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| Author | Tamora Pierce |
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| Cover artist | David Wiesner |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Song of the Lioness |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Atheneum |
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Publication date
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September 1983 |
| Media type | (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 231 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 9219289 |
| LC Class | PZ7.P61464 Al 1983 |
| Followed by | In the Hand of the Goddess |
Alanna: The First Adventure is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce. Originally published in 1983, it is the first in a series of four books, The Song of the Lioness. Set at a time and place where girls are forbidden from becoming knights, the novel details the beginning of Alanna of Trebond's training as a knight as she hides her real gender from teachers and fellow pages.
In 2013, Pierce received the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association in recognition of her two quartets Song of the Lioness and Protector of the Small. Edwards Committee Chair Jamie Watson commented that the books in both these quartets "have been influencing both readers and writers of fantasy since their inception".
The book, set in the fantasy kingdom of Tortall, follows Alanna's growth as a page in the royal court, where she keeps her gender a secret, while learning to fence, fight, ride, and study alongside the male pages. Alanna befriends the heir to the throne and the charming King of Thieves, copes with the magical power she possesses and her mistrust of it, faces the palace bully, struggles with her suspicions of the prince's cousin Duke Roger, and finally travels to the southern desert, where the Bazhir tribesmen guard a Black City that has invaded her dreams. There, she and her friend Prince Jonathan defeat the much-feared Ysandir, a race of demons that has kept the Black City captive for generations. In the process, Jonathan learns that Alanna is a girl. Despite this, he chooses her as his squire when he has become a knight.
Alanna of Trebond and her twin brother Thom may be twins, but are very different; Alanna is a tomboy who dreams of being a knight, and Thom wishes to become a sorcerer. Unfortunately, Alanna is shortly to be dispatched by her inattentive father to a temple in the City of the Gods, to learn to become a young lady - to her, a fate worse than death - whilst Thom is similarly destined for the royal palace, where he will train as a knight; his worst nightmare.
To avoid their respective fates, Alanna and Thom hatch a plan; Alanna will disguise herself as a boy, call herself Alan, and take Thom's place as a knight. Thom will go to the City of the Gods, where he will hopefully be able to train as a sorcerer. After convincing their two caregivers, the healing woman Maude and the soldier Coram, that their plan will succeed, they set off.
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