Trickster's Choice (2003)

This is the first time I am reading Pierce & thinking, "this is a YA book." This is not a good thing — this is full of simplicity and easily-vanquished enemies who declare themselves to be evil and a charming, patient, straightforward suitor. Not one of her best works. ( )

I have loved every book of Tamora Pierce's that I have read up until this point. Which is why my dislike of this story is so disappointing. The tale is very slow moving and mostly about political intrigue, which I can't imagine holding the interest of adolescent girls when it didn't even hold mine. The protagonist is a teenage girl who runs away from home to prove herself. When her parents find out they don't even mind until they find out she isn't where she said she was.

Where is she? Captured and sold into slavery. Yet she is in no way upset about this, nor under any duress. Her owners are, of course, "nice" slave-owners who treat their slaves very well. Hunh?? She is tasked with protecting the lives of the teenage daughters (did I mention she is just a teenager herself?) It's all very absurd and the weird slave dynamic (being a slave is just a lark to her and the other slaves are all very loyal even though there are both slaves and servants with the resultant hierarchy) just makes for a weird situation.

I listened to this book on cd and the reader's accents were inconsistent and the voices all sounded the same, which certainly didn't help make the book interesting. I finally gave up halfway through.

Don't judge Pierce's books by this one: get her Tales of the Lioness or Terrier or any of her other books but give this one a miss. ( )

I have loved every book of Tamora Pierce's that I have read up until this point. Which is why my dislike of this story is so disappointing. The tale is very slow moving and mostly about political intrigue, which I can't imagine holding the interest of adolescent girls when it didn't even hold mine. The protagonist is a teenage girl who runs away from home to prove herself. When her parents find out they don't even mind until they find out she isn't where she said she was.

Where is she? Captured and sold into slavery. Yet she is in no way upset about this, nor under any duress. Her owners are, of course, "nice" slave-owners who treat their slaves very well. Hunh?? She is tasked with protecting the lives of the teenage daughters (did I mention she is just a teenager herself?) It's all very absurd and the weird slave dynamic (being a slave is just a lark to her and the other slaves are all very loyal even though there are both slaves and servants with the resultant hierarchy) just makes for a weird situation.

I listened to this book on cd and the reader's accents were inconsistent and the voices all sounded the same, which certainly didn't help make the book interesting. I finally gave up halfway through.

Don't judge Pierce's books by this one: get her Tales of the Lioness or Terrier or any of her other books but give this one a miss. ( )

I’d heard good things about this book and its sequel, so despite not having read any Tamora Pierce for years, I decided to give it a try. I liked seeing a different view of the familiar old characters and Aly herself is marvellous. I never was a huge Alanna fan, so it was nice to hear Aly herself articulate some of the things I found frustrating myself. It reminded me in parts of The Thief, which is never a bad thing. ( )

teen fic. i love this author, light enough to read quickly but deep enough to be satisfying and alwaysalways a good tale. ( )