I gudindens hånd (1984)

Another good installment in the series. It's a quick read and enjoyable. I've got book 3 lined up and ready to read. ( )

I read this for the "A Teen As The Main Character" part of my 2019 reading challenge. I love Tamora Pierce, and this is one of my favorite series for sure. I devour her books every time. ( )

Recounts Alanna's adventures as a Squire, preparing to become a knight and revealing her sex to all of her friends who have known her only as a boy.

I wasn't as enthralled with this second book in the quartet finding the plot a bit too episodic with an insufficient sense of time between events. I'll definitely be finishing the series but I'm hoping the writing and plotting in the next book is much smoother. ( )

I was glad to get back to this series and wasn't disappointed. Alanna is now a squire to Prince Jonathan and slowly growing up. She still knows that there is a sorcerer out there who wishes the royal family ill. However, she also knows she is in the hand of the goddess, although she never takes it for granted. In some ways this reads like a "good parts" version as most of the boring, daily routines of a squire's life are skipped over. I'm good with that -- after all, I don't really want to read "Alan got up, did squire stuff, and then went to bed. The next day was much the same."

As an adult reader, much seems obvious because I've read it before. However, it was still "new" to the young adult fantasy genre back when this book was written. To me, the fun was in the details of how everything was happening. Were there many surprises? No. But what shone through was that friendship and ties to other people are important. The real heroes are in many ways the ones who keep the story's hero grounded, much as Samwise did for Frodo.

Highly recommended as young adult fantasy, although I think adult readers familiar with the genre will also enjoy it. ( )

I loved seeing the next steps for Alanna as she became a knight and told everyone the truth. ( )