Trickster's Choice

Great read I have several times! If you enjoy a historical novel feel with a bit of fantasy this is your read.

It's hard to pick a favorite Pierce book, but this might be mine. This book steps up the maturity level, introduces us to new parts of the Tortall universe, and still gives us the deep and enthralling characters we've always loved. I definitely recommend this book, though I recommend starting at the very very very beginning of the Tortall books (Alanna: the First Adventure) first!

First of all, I'd like to offer my congratulations to Ms. Pierce. After years and years of simply awful covers that publishers have slapped onto her books, she has finally been given a decent one. I mean, have you see some of her other covers? I'm not talking about these incredibly cool ones like the one for "Trickster's Choice". I'm talking about the ones created for such classic tales as "Wild Magic" or "Alanna: The First Adventure". Ms. Pierce has paid her bad-cover dues. Now she has truly earned a couple beautiful ones. I admit that much of my attraction to this tale was due to its alluring cover illustration. It was just my own good luck that the story inside was wonderfully gripping and well written as well. This book follows Pierce's "Lioness Quartet", a series of books that centered on the lady knight Alanna. In "Trickster's Choice", Aly (Alanna's daughter) is now the center and focus. Aly is the daughter of a famous knight and a famous spy. Both her parents are fighters by nature, but somehow they just can't get it through their heads that all their sixteen-year-old daughter wants to do is become spy like her dad. When Alanna decides that her daughter has become too bull-headed about the matter, Aly takes off on a small adventure of her own. She gets more than she bargained for, however, when her boat is captured by pirates and she is sold as a slave to a foreign noble family. The fact that she has winded up with this particular group of nobles is no accident, however. The trickster god Kyprioth is determined to use Aly's spy skills to protect the family's children, whatever the cost. Before she knows it, Aly is caught up in court intrigues and a political battle between the dark skinned raka and their white skinned luarin oppressors. I wanted to read my first Tamora Pierce book without having to read through all her previous novels. So I picked up "Trickster's Choice" and hoped for the best. As it happens, you don't necessarily need to have read its predecessors, though it certainly couldn't hurt. Pierce is fond of explaining all past activities and events in such a way that even a person beginning with this book (like myself) catches up easily. Admittedly, I was disappointed with her decision to continually comment on characters and events that had little to no bearing on the current plot. Still, these moments mostly came at the beginning of the book. If you can get through three chapters of this story you'll be successfully hooked and ready to read on. As for the book itself, it's excellent. I was amazed to find it a wonderful spy novel. Forget Modesty Blaise and Emma Peal; Aly is the best female spy I've encountered in a long time. Pierce has a way of making her quick on her feet without rendering her perfect or flawless. She is mature for her sixteen years but very much the teenager. She's smart as a whip but incredibly funny and endowed with an excellent sense of humor. Maybe it was this humor that m

I love all of Tamora Pierce's books and this chapter of the Tortall era is no exception. Aly (Alianne) starts off this two part series with a blueberry-blue head and a plea for work as a spy. This particular plea is adressed to her father Baron George Cooper and later to her mother Alanna, the Lioness. Aly is on shakey ground with her mother, though throughout the book the trickster god Kyprioth (who inlists her aide in gaining control of his kingdom behind the backs of the Great Mother Godess and Mithros)shows her how much Alanna really cares. She gets caught by pirates, sold to a noble family, aides a revolution between raka and luarin, falls in love with a crow turned man, finds her calling, does some major spywork, and still keeps her identity and status a secret. If your looking for a lot of kick-butt fighting sceanes, magical battles or struggle to be accepted as in Pierce's pre-Aly books, watch out because Aly is her own person with very little magic, insecurity, or major fighting skills. Pay close attention to Daine and 'Uncle Numy's new baby, the fact that all the children of Alanna and George are named after Alanna's family [Thom, Alan (Aly's twin),and of course Alianne], and also the discription of the great mother godess.All in all this book is totally awesome. Go and Buy it!!!

I have been reading Tamora Pierce for years now. I first picked up the Alanna series when I was about eleven or twelve and I absolutely loved them, I have enjoyed all of her books, Totallan or not. This is the newest installment in her Tortallan books. The other characters from Tortall include: Daine, Alanna, and Kel. I have read about and loved each of these characters. The newest heroine in Trickster's Choice is Aly, Alanna and George's daughter. Unlike the other heriones Aly as a very noticeable sense of humor, she is more real than the other characters. She makes mistakes, she acts cocky, she loves her mother but gets easily annoyed by her. All of these things make Aly endearing to me. She isn't really good at the physical part of things like the other three heroines were, she uses her mind, her wit, and skill. I really liked the god, Kyprioth, he provides a lot of the humor in the book. I loved catching up on our old friends, Alanna and George, Daine and Numair, and Jonathan and Thayet, it's fun knowing what they're doing now.I didn't really find this book fitting for the nine to twelve catagory that it's placed in. No there is nothing in it that wouldn't be suitable for that age group but I don't know if kids that young could follow the plot. This is a different kind of book than the rest of Ms. Pierce's collection. It is filled with an intricate plot and a lot of political intruige, I find this book more suitable for 12 and up, they would appreciate the plot more than anyone younger than that.All in all, this is a wonderful book and a fantastic installment to the rest of the Tortallan series. Now... When does Trickster's Queen come out?

Wow. Tamora Pierce has written another book that girls like me will love! As a devoted Pierce fan, I was so excited for this book to come out. When it finally did, I picked it up and didn't put it down. For those who already love Tamora, this book is just what you want. And for those who know nothing about Tamora, you shouldn't be wasting you time reading this review, you should be out there experiencing her books for yourself! In this new book, Pierce chronicles the adventures of Alianne (Aly), the daughter of Pierce's first character, Alanna. Aly lives with her two famous parents, but she is bored and wants nothing more to be a spy. When she gets kidnapped by some pirates and sold as a slave in the dangerous and politically unstable Copper Isles, she may just get her wish. Thrown into a shaky situation full of political intrigue and forced to use all her wits, it doesn't help that Aly is the chosen tool of a trickster god, Kyprioth. This book is amazing, not only for its exciting plot, but for its interesting characters and good writing. Everyone should read this book!

I was so excited about this book. I went out and bought it ... well, as soon as I could, since I wasn't able to on the 23. And it definitely didn't disappoint.Aly is very different than Ms. Pierce's other heroines, to be sure. But then, they're all very different. Kel was previously by far my favorite, but now I'm really unsure. I think it's a tie. Aly has a sense of humor, and she doesn't have the blind idealism found with Kel or Daine, for example. She also doesn't have their ambition, their determination, their focus, which keeps her from being too perfect. She's definitely a real character, and one I, for one, can relate to.She also had some good friends, while they can't, of course, compare to Neal and Dom and Owen and such. Nawat is incredibly sweet, and I love him to death. Sarai and Dove are also fun, interesting characters. Alanna, George, Jon, Kel, Neal, and several others make appearances in this book, which is good, although I would have preferred to see more of them, personally, but there's a perfectly good reason for that.The plot has to do with Aly's arguments with her mother over what she should do with her life. Alanna wants her to do something, anything, and Aly's found something - spying - but neither of her parents will let her. She runs off to Port Legann, in the hopes of winning them over, and in the process gets captured by Copper Isle slave runners. She gets sold to a duke and duchess who are related to the royal family and are very kind to her, but they end up being sent into exile. Aly, not being an essential part of their household, would get re-sold except for one thing - Kyprioth. The trickster god appears to Duke Mequen and Duchess Winnamine in the form of Mithros, telling them she is his chosen, and makes a bet with Aly - if she can keep all of the children of the family alive for the entire summer, he'll provide her with a way home at the end of all that, and speak to George about letting her spy. She accepts the wager, and they move into exile. Aly, in her turn, has to figure out why exactly Kyprioth wants them alive, and what the raka (dark-skinned) people have planned for Sarai, the oldest, half-raka daughter of the family. She's provided with help in some of the other servants, Sarai herself and the younger daughter Dove, the duke and duchess, and an assortment of crows, including one who turns into a man.I enjoyed the plot. It had a lot more to do with politics than the previous books, and was much more intriguing. There certainly isn't nearly as much in terms of action, although there is some, but this new thing of multiple secrets, and no one knowing who she really is, is fascinating. There are also some grey areas as opposed to the blindly idealistic views of Protector of the Small, which is good. There's some of the romance that was lacking in Lady Knight, as well, and just as much humor as any of Tamora's other books. The only thing I have a serious objection to is the ending.It wa