Protector of the Small Quartet

"I've been shot at. I can bear it. I'm crying because my friend is unhappy and everything is changing."

"Is that what you're supposed to do?" Tobe asked. "Cry for your friends, though they ain't dead? Cry when things change?"

"If the changes are hard ones," Kel replied. "If they take away the things you knew were good."

I haven't read much of Tamora Pierce's works before, only a book with Daine (the name I cannot remember at the moment) for a school project when I was in elementary school. With my constant complaints about certain tropes of YA to my friend, I was given the Protector of the Small quartet by my friend Rokan to have a taste of what she refers to as "good literature." And with my friends, I never doubt their judgment with show more books, as they never doubt mine.

Protector of the Small is what I would like to call timeless literature. Of course, I feel like the effect would have been more impacting had I read this series as I grew up - to mirror Kel's growth and maturity. Perhaps I would have been a different woman had I read these books back then. But these books have affected me nonetheless.

Keladry of Mindelan wants to be the first Lady Knight in the kingdom of Tortall following Alanna's appointment as the King's Champion. This proves to be a difficult task, because of the stigma that surrounds girls becoming knights. To many, girls are the weaker sex, and knighthood is barred from them. Alanna herself cannot aid Kel, because it will be seen as favoritism.

In First Test, Kel undergoes her probationary year - if she passes her first year, Lord Wyldon will continue to let her train. This is the year Kel learns to face her fears, and her enemies. She befriends Nealan of Queenscove, or Neal and deals with bullying from Joren of Stone Mountain. She passes her first year, after taking command and saving her friends from spidrens during a week-long training session in the woods.

In Page, Kel continues her training as a page, for four years, until she can take the test to become a squire. She also develops a crush on her friend Neal, and hires a maid, Lalasa. She teaches Lalasa how to defend herself, and in the end, must decide between saving her or taking her exam.

In Squire, Kel is under Lord Raoul of Goldenlake's tutelage, where she spends 4 years training with him and his army, learning skills of jousting and command. At the end of her 4th year as a squire, she enters the Chamber of Ordeals in order to become a knight. Having survived the chamber, Kel is officially the first lady-knight in the realm after Alanna.

In Lady Knight, the last of the quartet, Kel and her friends have to fight in the Scanran War. Kel is left to command a refugee camp near the border, but when her camp is left destroyed and its children taken, its up to her to cross over the border to Scanra to save them from becoming a part of the killing devices plaguing Tortall.

Throughout the series, Kel has been shown a great deal of strength and perseverance in the face of adversity. She knows that because she is a girl, she will be treated as though she is some weak and fragile thing. But she proves them wrong, proves that despite being female, she still is just as strong and even stronger than her male counterparts. Time and time again, Kel is shown with a power to lead and take charge, but also, with a humble and modest heart, hence why she is "Protector of the Small." She saves baby griffins, protects her servants, and treats everyone with a sense of equality. Kel is a role model to everyone, and her own courage inspires in me a sense of strength.

Kel also goes through many of the ups and downs of teenager-hood and girl-hood and the way Tamora Pierce describes it - why can't other YAs be like that? Broaching topics of periods and pregnancy with such an openness. Kel had crushes and a boyfriend, but she knew in the end what she wanted, and I loved her for that.

Tamora Pierce writes timeless works that can be read over and over again, to inspire everyone to chase what they believe in, but also to not forget the people who are helping us get there.

"Gods all bless, Lady Knight." show less

Re-reading this (more like skimming, really, but I'm counting it) the second time around, I like the series much better. The first book started off a bit on the weak side but the series gets better exponentially and ends with a solid five stars.

I really like Kel and hope that we see much more of her, and not just the pitiful cameo we got in the Trickster books.

Lovely as always. Four excellent books, tracking Keladry of Mindelan's path from probationary page through her first year as a knight - the first female knight (aside from Alanna, who concealed her sex until she was a full knight) in a hundred years or so in Tortall. She deals with sexism, classism, her own fears, and some really nasty enemies (both human and other) along the way, and she makes a real difference. My favorite Tortallan series.

Detailed reviews on the individual books in my catalog - tagged _Omnibus:PotSmall.

First Test:

Keladry is the first girl to apply to train as a knight since the law limiting knighthood to men was changed 10 years ago, but that doesn't mean that she'll be accepted. The knight in charge of training the pages is dead-set against Kel making it through the first year, and it's hard for any page to find their place in the palace.
I love Kel! She's got the same fighting spirit that I loved in Alanna, but she doesn't have the magic powers or (so far) the interested deities of the other girls in the previous books. She's just a regular girl (besides the martial arts training), and she's so good. I look forward to finishing this series.

Page:

More adventures in Keladry's quest to become a lady knight. This year she takes a maid, show more falls in love, and fights to become a squire.
Still loving Kel. It's hard to know what to say about these books until I finish the series. Looking forward to it.

Squire:

Keladry is taken on as a squire and prepares for knighthood under Lord Raoul who has always been one of her favorites amongst knights. She is believed to be a natural commander and trains to lead forces in her time with the King's Own while preparing for her coming encounter with the Chamber of the Ordeal in which every squire is proved worthy or not worthy to be a knight of the realm.
Kel has fast become my favorite Tamora Pierce heroine, and these books have really held me. It has been hard to put them down. Kel's great story and character are enough to inspire anyone to greatness.

Lady Knight:

Keladry made it through the Chamber of the Ordeal, but it had something extra to show her. Now with a personal mission and threat of a war on the borders of Tortall, she has to choose whether to await marching orders from her king or to head out on her own before they can be issued. When the choice is made for her, she is less than thrilled, but Kel always does what she thinks is right.
I was enjoying reading through the Tortall series before, but this has cemented it among my very favorites. I'm always drawn in and inspired by these books. I was planning on taking a break before starting the next group, but after falling asleep during my lunch hour today with a nonfiction book in my lap, I think I'll pick up Trickster's Choice at the library on the way home. show less

For anyone who likes Tamora Pierce, this is a must-read. Great series about an ordinary girl who wants to become a Tortallan knight - and does! But there are great things in store for her, and she will be a pivotal figure in a northern war.

I could have sworn I read this years ago. Great fun! As satisfying as the original Alanna books

Reading these all together makes it a really big book. (close to 800 pages) And for a such a big book it doesn't have enough to offer, IMO. *yawn* I guess it's just not my interest and I am outside the target age group. I started liking T.P. because of Terrier: Beka Cooper #1 and I guess I assumed I would like all here work but it's proving not to be so.