Tamora Pierce

I have read some of Tamora Pierces' books before and enjoyed them. I have even met the author and was fascinated with the swarm of adolescent, gifted girls who clustered around her, effectively shielding her from adult contacts. At the time, I wasn't a huge fan, so had no real need to talk to her personally, but I did enjoy observing the kids surrounding her. Now, fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I decided to try reading the Protector of the Small series, because I had heard that my nieces were so fascinated by all of her books. I have been really trying to be more balanced in my reading - including books that I think would appeal to boys, to kids of various backgrounds, etc. So I had been kind of thinking that this series was too girl-focused and that I should spend more time reading books that would appeal to a wider range of readers. But then I just decided to read these totally for enjoyment - without my critical mind attacking them for having such narrow appeal. And, lo and behold, I find myself rather hooked on them. I am going back and trying to get all of the Song of the Lioness series and the Immortals series, too. For now, I am sticking to the books about the Tortall kingdom, but who knows, maybe I will branch out later. The problem with that is that Tamora Pierce is very prolific and I like hard cover books. Even though I get used books, this really mounts up.

The two series I am reading now (Song of the Lioness and Protector of the Small) follow girls who want to become knights through their training. This is a time, in the kingdom, when girls aren't seen as potential knights, so they have to work through all of the prejudice against girls - both their own inner worries and the prejudices of the world. Now, personally, I find the battle scenes rather boring, but I find it absolutely fascinating how the characters manage to deal with various human conflicts.

Some people find the way that Tamora Pierce deals with sex to be too promiscuous for their tastes. I have typically reacted rather negatively to books set in "modern" times where the MC seems to have sex in order to resolve the books main conflict. But I find the sex in these books to be rather lower key. It is there and it is not really hidden, but it is not the major focus of what is going on at any time. The focus remains on the personal goals and trials of the main characters. This is in itself rather refreshing. I remember hearing of a student who said that, although hormonal urges were important in adolescence, they still did think of other things, too.

Of the two series, I seem to like Protector of the Small better - probably because the focus is less on magic and more on strength and courage and making good decisions.