Alanna: The First Adventure
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 Original Atheneum U.S. hardcover of the book featuring the title character. |
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| Author | Tamora Pierce |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | David Weisner |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Song of the Lioness |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Atheneum |
| Released | September 1983 |
| Media type | (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 231 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-689-30994-5 |
| Followed by | In the Hand of the Goddess |
Alanna: The First Adventure is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the first in a series of four books, The Song of the Lioness. It details the start and early days of Alanna of Trebond's training as a knight, hiding her real sex.
[edit] Plot introduction
Brothers and sisters are often alike, but twins Alanna and Thom are night and day different. Brave Alanna wants to be a knight, but her ambitious brother Thom prefers magic. Despite these differences, the twins are virtually identical.
When their father sends the twins from their home of Trebond to study (Alanna to become a lady and Thom to become a knight), they decide to switch places. Thom goes on to the City of the Gods to learn magic and Alanna disguises herself as her own brother "Alan", hides her true gender, and trains to be a knight.
The book follows Alanna's growth as a page: from learning to cope with the magic she detests and becoming friends with the heir to the throne and the King of Thieves to beating Ralon of Malven herself and struggling with the suspicious Roger of Conte, to making a trip to the Bazhir desert where something malevolent awaits them.
[edit] Plot summary
Alanna and her twin brother Thom decides to switch places and succeed in talking around their two caregivers: Thom off to the City of the Gods to train his magic and Alanna sets off for the royal palace under the name Alan. There she trains as a page, meeting many friends, such as Raoul of Goldenlake, Gareth of Naxen the Younger, Francis of Nond, Alex of Tirragen, and Prince Jonathan of Conte. She also makes an enemy her first day in the palace, Ralon of Malven. Rather than have her companions beat him, Alanna secretly trains with George Cooper, the King of Thieves, until she can beat him herself. When she does, he leaves court.
During Alanna's page years, a new disease, the Sweating Sickness, spreads within the capital city, and nowhere else. This disease is different than all other known diseases in that it drains healers, and even kills them. There is talk that it was sent by a great sorcerer. Alanna has a powerful healing Gift, but is frightened to use it, and so doesn't tell anyone that she can heal. Due to this refusal of her abilities, Francis of Nond, a good friend of theirs, dies of the sickness. When Prince Jonathan falls ill, Alanna, recognizing herself as the only undrained healer in the city, tries to heal him. She succeeds through evoking the Great Mother Goddess and fetching Jonathan from the place in between the living world and the Realms of the Dead. In so doing, she unknowingly reveals herself as a female to Sir Myles of Olau, one of her mentors. Immediately after, Jonathan's powerful sorcerer cousin, Duke Roger of Conte, comes to live at the palace and teach the Gifted pages and squires magic.
Alanna goes to George Cooper's mother, the healer Eleni, after she has her first monthly bleeding. She tells George the truth about her sex. Jonathan also discovers the truth during Alanna's last year as a page, when she comes on a trip for the squires on the bequest of Prince Jonathan to Persopolis, the Bazhir desert city. All the squires were warned to stay away from the Black City, a city just within view of Persopolis, by Duke Roger. However, Jonathan decides to ride for the city to defeat whatever evil lies there, and Alanna went with him to help him in his quest. The two arrived at the city to find it completely deserted, that is, until they entered the large, central temple. There they found the Ysandir, beings who would not age or starve as mortals would, but that could be killed. Jonathan and Alanna began to fight, but things began to go awry when one of the Ysandir magically removed Alanna's clothes to reveal her true sex. Jonathan saves his shock for later, as Alanna and Jonathan must combine their powers to defeat the Ysandir. With the help of her magical sword, Alanna defeats the last of the Ysandir, and Jonathan and Alanna head back to Persopolis.
The book ends at an oasis near Persopolis, where Alanna suggested that perhaps Roger had wanted Jonathan to go to the city. Jonathan said that yes, he had, but only so that Jonathan could rid the Tortall of a great evil. When Alanna pointed out that perhaps Roger had not expected him to come back alive, Jonathan refused to listen. After this, Jonathan chooses Alanna to be his squire when he is knighted that year. He says he does not care that she is a girl, because she is the best page regardless.
[edit] Characters
- Alanna of Trebond - heroine and focus of the book/series; instead of becoming a lady, she prefers to become a warrior and hides her real sex to be able to train as a knight
- Thom of Trebond - Alanna's twin brother who goes to the City of the Gods to learn how to be a powerful mage
- Coram Smythesson - Alanna's first teacher, and accompanies her to the capital as her manservant
- Jonathan of Conté - the heir to the throne of Tortall
- Gareth of Naxen the Younger - one of Alanna's friends, he acts as her sponsor when she arrives
- Raoul of Goldenlake - another one of Alanna's friends
- Alex of Tirragen - yet another friend of Alanna's
- George Cooper - the King of Thieves who befriends Alanna
- Myles of Olau - the court drunk as well as their history professory, Alanna and he strike up a close friendship
- Roger of Conté - Jonathan's powerful magician cousin, Alanna has her own suspicions about him
- Ralon of Malven - one of the pages who bullies Alanna when she arrives; she beats him and he leaves the court palace
