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Trister's Choice by Tamora Pierce
Book #1 in the Daughter of the Lioness duology, #13 overall in the Tortall series
Year: 2004
Page Count: 453
Genre: YA fantasy
Warnings: slavery, racism, general fantasy violence
Summary: Alianne is the teenage daughter of the famed Alanna, the Lioness of Tortall. Aly is bold and brave like her mother, but she has no wish to become a knight. Instead she longs to follow in her father's footsteps as a spy, an ambition her parents vehemently oppose.
After a furious argument Aly runs away, with disastrous consequences. Captured and sold as a slave in the Copper Isles, she discovers that this whole nightmare has not come about by chance - the Trickster God, Kyprioth, has plans for her...
My god, I don't know what it is, but publishers seem to choose the most ugly covers for Tamora Pierce books. She deserves better!
Okay, so after reading Aristotle and Dante, I was caught in an intense book hangover. A good one, but nonetheless still a hangover which I would say is mostly to blame for my trying to read Zoo City and failing hard. I found that the best remedy for that is to not start something new, but to jump back into something familiar. The perfect excuse to read Tortall again.
I loved reading about Alanna. I loved and admired Kel. I enjoyed Daine's books. But when it came to Alanna's daughter, Aly, I was less than impressed.
I read the book very quickly and I enjoyed it in the beginning. But as the book went on, I got bored with it because Aly as a protagonist is way too competent. Here's the deal. She's got two very interesting and capable parents who are the best at what they do. Not to mention a whole host of adopted aunts, uncles, and grandparents who are also intelligent and talented people. No doubt they've raised her to be prepared for whatever the world throws at her. And at 16, Aly is ready to prove herself. So it's a brilliant plot to have her running away plan turn into a full blown get-captured-by-pirates-and-sold-into-slavery thing, especially once she gets embroiled into the rebellion of another country. But what would otherwise be a harrowing and terrifying experience is just a chance for Aly to prove her skills?
What I mean is that it never feels like Aly is in any real danger. She handles becoming a slave in a calm, collected way. She suddenly finds herself becoming the spy she always wanted to be and handles it all like a seasoned pro, not like an inexperienced 16 year old who's never been out in the field. She's assured and mischievous. When people say she needs to watch her step, she replies with a cheeky quip. You expect her to fail at something or make a miscalculation but she never does.
Alanna, Daine, and Kel all had their flaws and failures and tragedies. Aly is almost perfect and almost everything she tries to do succeeds. It does not make for a character that I care about or a story I'm too invested in.
Also, personally did not feel much about Nawat Crow or their romance. That was kinda bleh.
Another big issue that Tamora Pierce seems to run into is the white savior complex. Triskster's Choice takes place in the Copper Islands where the original inhabitants, the brown skinned raka, have been colonized for centuries (I think? I'm a little foggy on that) by the white luarin. It's been long enough that there are plenty of biracial children between the raka and luarin but it's the luarin who continue to rule the land. For some time now, the raka have been secretly plotting to reclaim their lands by keeping a line of their royal family safeguarded. When Aly enters the picture, it seems like the rebellion can truly get started.
Now the issue with that is Aly is white and its a troubling implication that these brown people just aren't able to take back their lands without the aid of some random white girl. This is something that Pierce has done before. In the third Alanna book, Alanna goes out to the desert to live with the Bazhir tribes and eventually bring them into the Tortallan society. The Tortallan king (a white man) eventually becomes an important, mystical role for the Bazhir which encourages them to join Tortall. There are of course justifications for each situation. Aly's presence in the rebellion is because the Trickser god himself chooses her with the idea that if we're going to bring down the white oppressive people, let's have some white people in our ranks to trick them. I applaud Tamora Pierce including people of color in her books. They're mostly side characters in Tortall but I know they are there. But no matter what justification you have, it doesn't stop the implication of what you're writing. Which is white people need to come in and "save" the poor brown people.
I feel as though I would have loved the story in Trickster's Choice had been it been told from the point of view of someone who lived in the Copper Isles. Aly could have been around but as a side character. Or maybe even a book where they share point of views. I would have loved that. I would have loved getting a main character who was desperate to win back their homeland, desperate to keep alive the last of their royal line. And their god is like I'm gonna get you some awesome help but it turns out to be some white girl and you're lke wtf this can't be right. And they have to learn to work together begrudgingly because this girl can't possibly understand what this rebellion means to you and your people. But then you guys BOND and at the end of the summer she's like, you know, I'm gonna stick around and help you.
God, I should just write it myself.
I was so meh about this book that I just googled what happened in Trickster's Queen. Some things I guessed right. Some things threw me a curveball and kind of pissed me off.
Also I'm still salty about Numair getting a prequel series.
I DON'T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT THE COLLEGE YEARS OF NUMAIR. HIGHLY ANTICIPATED MY ASS.
GIVE ME A BOOK ABOUT KEL AND HER SQUIRE. GIVE ME A BOOK ABOUT DAINE'S KIDS. GIVE ME A BOOK ABOUT MAURA OF DUNLATH.
GIVE ME ANOTHER GODDAMN EMELAN BOOK ABOUT TRIS AT LIGHTSBRIDGE.
Rating: 2.3
Liked: seeing familiar characters, the idea and plot, the Copper Island characters
Disliked: Aly's lack of flaws
Okay, so after reading Aristotle and Dante, I was caught in an intense book hangover. A good one, but nonetheless still a hangover which I would say is mostly to blame for my trying to read Zoo City and failing hard. I found that the best remedy for that is to not start something new, but to jump back into something familiar. The perfect excuse to read Tortall again.
I loved reading about Alanna. I loved and admired Kel. I enjoyed Daine's books. But when it came to Alanna's daughter, Aly, I was less than impressed.
I read the book very quickly and I enjoyed it in the beginning. But as the book went on, I got bored with it because Aly as a protagonist is way too competent. Here's the deal. She's got two very interesting and capable parents who are the best at what they do. Not to mention a whole host of adopted aunts, uncles, and grandparents who are also intelligent and talented people. No doubt they've raised her to be prepared for whatever the world throws at her. And at 16, Aly is ready to prove herself. So it's a brilliant plot to have her running away plan turn into a full blown get-captured-by-pirates-and-sold-into-slavery thing, especially once she gets embroiled into the rebellion of another country. But what would otherwise be a harrowing and terrifying experience is just a chance for Aly to prove her skills?
What I mean is that it never feels like Aly is in any real danger. She handles becoming a slave in a calm, collected way. She suddenly finds herself becoming the spy she always wanted to be and handles it all like a seasoned pro, not like an inexperienced 16 year old who's never been out in the field. She's assured and mischievous. When people say she needs to watch her step, she replies with a cheeky quip. You expect her to fail at something or make a miscalculation but she never does.
Alanna, Daine, and Kel all had their flaws and failures and tragedies. Aly is almost perfect and almost everything she tries to do succeeds. It does not make for a character that I care about or a story I'm too invested in.
Also, personally did not feel much about Nawat Crow or their romance. That was kinda bleh.
Another big issue that Tamora Pierce seems to run into is the white savior complex. Triskster's Choice takes place in the Copper Islands where the original inhabitants, the brown skinned raka, have been colonized for centuries (I think? I'm a little foggy on that) by the white luarin. It's been long enough that there are plenty of biracial children between the raka and luarin but it's the luarin who continue to rule the land. For some time now, the raka have been secretly plotting to reclaim their lands by keeping a line of their royal family safeguarded. When Aly enters the picture, it seems like the rebellion can truly get started.
Now the issue with that is Aly is white and its a troubling implication that these brown people just aren't able to take back their lands without the aid of some random white girl. This is something that Pierce has done before. In the third Alanna book, Alanna goes out to the desert to live with the Bazhir tribes and eventually bring them into the Tortallan society. The Tortallan king (a white man) eventually becomes an important, mystical role for the Bazhir which encourages them to join Tortall. There are of course justifications for each situation. Aly's presence in the rebellion is because the Trickser god himself chooses her with the idea that if we're going to bring down the white oppressive people, let's have some white people in our ranks to trick them. I applaud Tamora Pierce including people of color in her books. They're mostly side characters in Tortall but I know they are there. But no matter what justification you have, it doesn't stop the implication of what you're writing. Which is white people need to come in and "save" the poor brown people.
I feel as though I would have loved the story in Trickster's Choice had been it been told from the point of view of someone who lived in the Copper Isles. Aly could have been around but as a side character. Or maybe even a book where they share point of views. I would have loved that. I would have loved getting a main character who was desperate to win back their homeland, desperate to keep alive the last of their royal line. And their god is like I'm gonna get you some awesome help but it turns out to be some white girl and you're lke wtf this can't be right. And they have to learn to work together begrudgingly because this girl can't possibly understand what this rebellion means to you and your people. But then you guys BOND and at the end of the summer she's like, you know, I'm gonna stick around and help you.
God, I should just write it myself.
I was so meh about this book that I just googled what happened in Trickster's Queen. Some things I guessed right. Some things threw me a curveball and kind of pissed me off.
Also I'm still salty about Numair getting a prequel series.
I DON'T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT THE COLLEGE YEARS OF NUMAIR. HIGHLY ANTICIPATED MY ASS.
GIVE ME A BOOK ABOUT KEL AND HER SQUIRE. GIVE ME A BOOK ABOUT DAINE'S KIDS. GIVE ME A BOOK ABOUT MAURA OF DUNLATH.
GIVE ME ANOTHER GODDAMN EMELAN BOOK ABOUT TRIS AT LIGHTSBRIDGE.
Rating: 2.3
Liked: seeing familiar characters, the idea and plot, the Copper Island characters
Disliked: Aly's lack of flaws
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